Rafael Nadal (photo ©Sylvain WEBER) reached the final defeating Robby Ginepri, Dominic Thiem, Leonardo Mayer, Dusan Lajovic, David Ferrer and Andy Murray. So far he lost only one set to Ferrer. This is his ninth Roland Garros final and won the previous eight ones.
Novak Djokovic reached the final defeating Joao Sousa, Jeremy Chardy, Marin Cilic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Milos Raonic and Ernests Gulbis. So far he lost two sets: one to Cilic and one to Gulbis. This is his second Roland Garros final after the one he lost in 2012.
At the beginning of the match both players serve well and exploit that advantage to win their service games. The seventh game is the first advantage game when Novak Djokovic is serving but Rafael Nadal is unable to exploit the situation. In the eighth game the Spaniard makes a few mistake and loses his service game. Djokovic serves for the set, offers two break points but eventually manages to win the first set 6-3.
The second set starts like the first: neither player is able to impose his game so the service makes the difference. In the sixth game Rafael Nadal breaks Novak Djokovic but in the next game is broken back. In the eighth game the Spaniard has another break point but the Serb manages wins his service game. Djokovic is suddenly less reactive and in the twelfth game Nadal breaks him to win the second set 7-5.
In the third set Novak Djokovic tries to react but Rafael Nadal seems to have more energy and in the second game breaks his opponent. The Serb takes more risks and in the fifth game has a break but the Spaniard wins his service game. In the seventh game, the Spaniard has some problems with his service and offers a break point but at the end of a game that lasts more than ten minutes wins his service game. In the eighth game Djokovic forces his service but his first serve doesn’t always work and Nadal breaks him to win the third set 6-2.
In the fourth set both players make a lot of mistakes and neither of them is able to take the lead. The match is intense but the level is honestly lower than the previous sets. In the sixth game Rafael Nadal breaks Novak Djokovic but feel the tension and gets broken back in the seventh game. The Serb seem to find new energy but the Spanish is stimulated as well and if possible the match becomes even more intense. In the tenth game Djokovic offers a break point which is also a match point and, also because gets disturbed by the crowd, makes a double fault. Nadal wins the set 6-4 conquering the match and his ninth Roland Garros title.
It seemed that this year Novak Djokovic could finally defeat Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros but today he wasn’t as aggressive as usual at the return and in the end this may have been the decisive factor in breaking the balance. For the Serb it’s another disappointment but certainly he won’t give up trying to win the only Grand Slam title he’s still missing.
This year’s clay season was poor for Rafael Nadal, who only won the Madrid tournament where Kei Nishikori had physical problems in the final after dominating the Spaniard. Instead, Nadal showed once again that tennis best of 5 set is another sport and beating him on clay in the long run is almost impossible. Today he confirmed he’s the greatest player of all time on this surface exactly because he won again even without playing his best.
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