Nadal defies injury woes to win French Open again

PARIS: Rafael Nadal was a doubt to even play at the French Open due to a chronic left foot injury, but the 'King of clay' ended the fortnight in Paris with a record-extending 14th Roland Garros crown.

The 36-year-old has carved out one of sport's greatest-ever careers despite persistent injury troubles, a pattern that has continued in 2022.

He took his career tally to 22 Grand Slam titles on Sunday, thrashing Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the final, moving him two clear of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic at the top of the all-time list.

Nadal said earlier in the week he would rather have a new foot than another French Open trophy, but vowed to fight on after lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires again.

"I never believed I would be here at 36, being competitive again, playing in the most important court of my career one more time in a final," Nadal said during the trophy presentation.

"I don't know what can happen in the future, but I'm going to keep fighting to try to keep going."

The left foot problem caused Nadal to miss last year's Wimbledon, US Open and Olympics in Tokyo and he did not return until the build-up to the 2022 Australian Open, which he went on to win for the second time.

But after losing to Taylor Fritz in the Indian Wells final, the Spaniard had to skip the start of the clay-court season in Monte Carlo and Barcelona with a rib stress fracture.

He returned on home soil for the Madrid Masters, but was knocked out by teenager Carlos Alcaraz before losing to Denis Shapovalov in the Rome last 16.

Nadal arrived in Paris with question marks over his fitness and title credentials, only to still come through long matches against Felix Auger-Aliassime, Djokovic and Alexander Zverev en route to the final.

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