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It’s not often you can confidently say that a record will never be broken, but we may have reached that point with Rafael Nadal’s incredible 10th French Open victory last weekend.
And at 31 years old, the Spaniard may not be finished yet.
Nadal has incredible 79-2 career singles record at Roland Garros. The two men who have beaten him? Sweden’s Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the quarter finals in 2015.
Last weekend was the third time Nadal has won the tournament without dropping a set over the two weeks. It’s worth reflecting on his incredible run by looking at his ten French Open final victories.
2005: Beat Argentina’s Mariano Puerta in 4 sets
2006: Beat Switzerland’s Roger Federer in 4.
2007: Again beat Federer in 4.
2008: Beat Federer in straight sets.
2010: Beat Robin Soderling in straight sets.
2011: Beat Federer again in 4.
2012: Beat Novak Djokovic in 4.
2013: Beat fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in straight sets.
2014: Beat Djokovic in 4.
2017: Beat Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.
He withdrew before his third round match in 2016 due to injury.
Nadal’s ten French Open victories is unprecedented for the men’s singles event at all four Grand Slams. In the Open Era, his closest rivals for winning a single slam event are American Pete Sampras and Federer (each with seven Wimbledon titles), Djokovic with six Australian Open crowns, and American Jimmy Connors, Sampras and Federer with five US Open victories.
Nadal now sits at 15 career grand slam singles victories, three behind 36-year-old Federer on the all-time list and three ahead of 30-year-old Djokovic. Federer surprised many by winning the Australian Open this year, but whether he has another one left in him remains to be seen.
Judging by his dominant performance on his favourite surface over the past two weeks, one thing is for sure. Barring injury or retirement, Nadal has a few more French Open titles left in him if his desire to continue remains strong.
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