Rafael Nadal’s ninth French Open title – 2014

A back injury during the first Major of the year, persistent pain that forced him to serve slower and worrisome form, didn’t bode well for Rafael Nadal as he headed into the 2014 French Open.

However, when he finally lifted the record-extending ninth Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy on June 8, perhaps, the only one surprised by the victory was himself.

For Nadal, playing the best of five sets of tennis on red clay at Roland Garros is a combination that has only failed once in the past decade.

Nadal’s clay-court season ahead of 2014 French Open

Nadal’s first clay-court event of 2014 was the opening of the Rio Open. Returning from a back injury sustained in a four-set loss to Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the Australian Open final three weeks ago, Nadal knocked out compatriot Daniel Gimeno-Traver 6-3, 7-5 in the final. First round in the Brazilian capital. England followed it up with consecutive wins against Spaniard Albert Montanes (6-1, 62) and Joao Sousa of Portugal (6-1, 6-0) before facing the man. compatriot third in world number 40 Pablo Andujar in the semi-finals.

Photo: Rafael Nadal of Spain (right) congratulates Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland (left) on winning the 2014 Australian Open championship. – BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS

Andujar broke Nadal twice in the first set to take it 6-2 before Nadal came back to take the second 6-3. Andujar is on track to become the first man to beat Nadal in a clay-court semi-final since losing to today’s coach Carlos Moya as a teenager at Umag in 2003. Andujar had two points in the third set. tie-break but Nadal saves both before winning 12-10. “It was almost because he played well, and I didn’t play my best. The tiebreak was a lottery, but I played it better than the rest of the match,” Nadal said after the match.

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The final was a more comfortable match for Nadal as he beat Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-6 (3) to lift the trophy.

No one knew that Rio would be one of only two clay-court titles Nadal won in the lead up to the 2014 French Open.

During the 2014 European clay court season, Nadal suffered defeats in places where he had ruled for nearly a decade. At Monte Carlo, where he won the title eight times in a row before Djokovic beat him in the final in 2013, the Spaniard (who was split in the first round) had no trouble passing. over Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia and Andreas Seppi of Italy in the second match. and the third round. Victory over Seppi was Nadal’s 50th in Monte Carlo and 300th on clay. In the quarterfinals, however, Nadal was beaten 6-7 (1), 4-6, by world No. 6 David Ferrer, his first loss on clay to his compatriot since Stuttgart in 2004.

If 2013 was Monte Carlo, 2014 was Barcelona.

An eight-time champion, Nadal suffered a loss in the Catalan capital for the first time since 2003. In a repeat of the 2013 final, Nadal came back from the competition against compatriot Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals. World No 20 Almagro has never beaten Nadal in 10 previous meetings, while winning only two sets. But on April 25, 2014, Almagro finally got that elusive victory. After the 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 win, he said, “I think I played a really good game against the best player on that surface and that win has It could be a really important victory in my career. ”

FILE PHOTO: Rafael Nadal of Spain plays against Kei Nishikori of Japan after he was forced to miss out in the 2014 Madrid Open final. – BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS

Next week, Nadal could also lose in Madrid. In the final against Spaniard, Japanese world No 12 Kei Nishikori was leading 6-2, 4-3 when he injured his back during a service match. Nishikori lost the second set 4-6 and took a 0-3 lead when deciding to retire from the match. Nadal, who has just won his fourth Madrid Masters, sympathizes with his younger opponent. He said, “I suffered a similar situation in Australia this year. So I know what I’m talking about and how bitter it is, especially when you’re playing an important game.”

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Nadal’s final clay-court event before heading to Paris is the Italian Open. The struggling left-hander had to play a grueling three-set duel with Frenchman Gilles Simon [7-6 (1), 6-7 (4), 6-2]Russian Mikhail Youzhny [6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1] and British world No. 8 Andy Murray (1-6, 6-3, 7-5) en route to the final against Serbian world No. 2 Novak Djokovic. Nadal took a 5-1 lead in the opening set before Djokovic turned the tide. The Serbian beat Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to lift the title and go to Paris with a psychological advantage in the event they face each other, which they ultimately did can do.

2014 French Open

The defending champion and top seed Nadal received a comfortable draw in the first rounds. Leaving behind his clay court struggles against 2014 Roland Garros, he began his campaign by defeating American Wildcard and Robby Ginepri into the 2005 US Open semifinals 6-0, 6-3, 6- 0.

In the second round, Nadal’s opponent is Dominic Thiem, of Austria, with whom he will face in the finals of the French Open 2018 and 2019. However, in 2014, 20-year-old Thiem barely caused any damage. posed any threat and was eliminated 2. -6, 2-6, 3-6 to the Spaniard.

Nadal was on a 31-match unbeaten streak at Roland Garros with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 win over Argentine Leonardo Mayer in the third round before he revealed that back pain had started to bother him for a while. again and force him to serve. Slower.

Victory over Mayer was followed by an act of pure affection, kindness, and respect. “After the match, Nadal led the crowd in applause for Jérôme Golmard, who was in a wheelchair watching the match. The 40-year-old French man, a former world No. 22, was diagnosed with a motor disorder earlier this year. He has set up a fund to help fight the disease,” reports The Independent.

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Nadal shoved Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 aside in the fourth round to set up a quarter-final against Ferrer in a repeat 2013 summit clash. Ferrer, perhaps buoyed by the win over Monte Carlo, got off to a good start and scored the opening goal 6-4. From there, Nadal leveled all the way as he leveled everything for the first time with a 6-4 second-set victory before running away with the next 6-0, 6-1.

In the last four clashes with Murray, Mallorcan played a near-perfect match to win with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 draw in just one hour and 40 minutes, a short span of time. ridiculous for a Grand Slam semi-final.

For the second time in three years, Nadal’s final opponent is Djokovic.

Second-seeded Djokovic took a relatively tougher draw but apart from his third-round match against Croatian Marin Cilic, he easily dominated every player he faced.

Djokovic made it to the finals beating Nadal in his last four meetings – the ATP500 Beijing final and the 2013 ATP Finals finals, and the Miami and Rome finals in 2014. But other than those four matches, this is one Grand Slam match and Djokovic was 0-5 against Nadal at Roland Garros.

FILE PHOTO: Novak Djokovic of Serbia during the men’s singles final against Rafael Nadal of Spain at the 2014 French Open. – BEAUTIFUL PHOTOS

The Serbian got the first set (6-3) in the final at Philippe Chatrier by breaking Nadal’s serve in the ninth game. Both players managed to keep serve in the second set and Nadal won 7-5.

Both players wore bandages around their necks when changing, but perhaps, the heat affected Djokovic more than Nadal.

Djokovic, who needed to recover from his 2013 semi-final defeat, where he dragged the Spaniard to five sets, looked tired and broken as he lost the next two sets 2-6, 4-6.

Nadal becomes the first man to win the French Open title for five years in a row. He also managed to maintain his No. 1 ranking with the win.

“It was a very difficult moment, so today tennis gives me back what happened in Australia,” Nadal said after the final.