Rafael Nadal, colossus of the clay court, was not to be denied his record-breaking seventh French Open title at Roland Garros. His vicious top spinning forehands, somewhat nullified by Sunday’s rain in Paris, were back to their muscular best and climbing at the Serbian’s throat in the fourth set Monday. The Spaniard crushed Novak Djokovic’s hopes of becoming only the third man in tennis history after Don Budge and Rod Laver to hold four Grand Slams all at once while making history of his own in passing “Iceman” Bjorn Borg’s memorable streak in Paris.
The depth of the modern men’s game is so much that players winning four Slams in different years itself has become rare, with champions like Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Nadal being the ones to manage it. Just 26, with 11 Grand Slams to his name already, Nadal may have it in him to do the calendar slam one day if only he can defy knee and ankle
trouble.
Nadal’s amazing hold on the French title, broken once in 2009 in his only loss in 53 matches on clay, gives him a huge advantage when it comes to trying to emulate Laver and Budge, although with the “Djoker” reaching the top echelons, the real slam might get harder with the passing of seasons. Their head-to-head meetings are well on their way to epic status even if the Spanish icon had been at the receiving end in the previous three slams at the hands of the World No. 1.