French Open Clay Court Tennis final was billed as a classic match-up

As expected, the Sunday morning men’s French Open Clay Court Tennis final was billed as a classic match-up,  number one seed Novac Djovitch of Serbia versus second-seeded Rafael Nadal of Spain, but the expected became the unexpected on the red clay at Paris’ Roland-Garros court.

Not only was it unexpected, but it turned into a decisive 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 sweep for the 34-year-old Nadal. From the opening game to the final point, Nadal dominated with his serve, his rapid forehands, aggressive defense, and all-around play. No excuses said the stunned Djovitch, Rafael was just the better player today.

It was the 13th French Open championship for Nadal, and he became the oldest winner here since 1972. It was also the 59th time he was paired against 31-year-old Djovitch in a grand slam, with the last a 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 sweep over the Serbian in the 2019 Australian Open final, but has also lost 14 of the last 18 encounters between the two.

Nadal won the French for the first time in 2003 after going 0-4 on the clay. The same year, Roger Federer won his initial Grand Slam at the Australian, as both began that year with zero Grand Slam successes.

Since then, Nadal has been dominating on his favorite surface. He won the French four-straight times from 2005-08, and again from 2010-14, and in the semifinals he has gone 26-0. The bagel first set took only 45 minutes. It was only the fourth time Djovitch had lost this way in 341 Grand Slams. Against Nadal, he remains 29-26 over the Spaniard.

For Nadal, he became the third player to gross $100 million. He is now 17-7 in major tournament finals. He is also the first man to win a Grand Slam over 11 times. At the French Open he has been 22-0 in the last two rounds.

When he wrapped this one up, he pumped his arms high and dropped to his knees with a broad smile as Djovitch strolled to the net for the racket-to-racket touch in these times of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Rafael just played super,” Djovitch said. “He just moved so well, sent forehands and backhands down the line or deep to the baseline. He also served very well, and so it was his day, no doubt about it, and I can just congratulate him for a job well done. Today he showed why he is King of the Clay.”

This was said by Djovitch at the trophy presentation and appreciated by Nadal, who also received congratulatory tweets from Roger Federer, Billie Jean King, and Rod Laver.

it was his 20th Grand Slam championship, tying him with Federer. In Paris, it advanced his finals record to 100-2. He has also won four US Opens, a pair of Wimbledons, and one Australian.

Said Nadal: “I beat a great player today, and I had to play well to do so.”

Play well, well it showed quickly when he bagel-ed Djovitch with a stunning 6-0 first set trouncing. That set the stage. He maintained his quick advantage by playing incredible crispy and cleaning on both ends of the court.

In the women’s singles final, it was also a surprise outcome when 19-year-old unseeded Iga Stiatek of Poland rolled past 4th-seeded 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin of the United States, 6-4, 6-1, Saturday morning. Kenin might have been hampered by the huge bandage she wore high on her left leg, but she, too, had no excuses.

“What can I say, she is just playing red-hot tennis,” said the 21-year-old Kenin about the 5-foot-9 Stiatek who dresses in each match in an all-white top and knee-deep white pants. Until this, her biggest win in this tournament was in straight sets (6-2, 6-3) over No. 1-seeded Simona Halsep of Germany in the fourth round.

Kenin said the bandage was there for her last two matches because of a tightened muscle, but she said it was Stiatek who beat her, not the bandage.

“I’m just so happy, so overjoyed, so proud,” said Stiatek. “I was able to hoist this championship trophy to go with the winning check, and it was against a tough field that included Halsep and Kenin, both Grand Slam winner, and now I have my first at that level. I also have to thank my coaches for preparing me for this.”

She also joined in to celebrate the Nadalstraight-set triumph.

“I have no idea if I’m allowed to say this,”Stiatek said, “but I must say how happy I am for Nadal, and for me to share this with a great player like him.”