Rafael Nadal wins 14th French Open title after beating Casper Ruud

Following today’s victory over Norwegian Casper Ruud at Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal has claimed his 14th French Open title, regaining the championship from Novak Djokovic following last year’s semi-final defeat to the Serbian and cementing himself as the undisputed ‘King of Clay’.

For many, that tag would’ve been already cemented, but now, there is no doubt.

Since first winning the tournament back in 2005, just two days after turning 19, Nadal has failed to win the French Open just four times since.

Through defeating Ruud, the Spaniard has also maintained his incredible record of having never lost in the final of the French Open, the only clay court Grand Slam tournament of the circuit.

The victory for Nadal has been made all the more sweeter considering his current injury issues with his foot and ribs, with Marca reporting after Friday’s semi-final that the 36-year-old would miss Wimbledon.

Last year’s French Open four-set defeat to Djokovic was also plagued by Nadal’s struggle with injury, and so to retain his title this year after defeating the Serbian in a thrilling quarter-final, and through the perseverance of his foot pain, is testament to the sporting character that Nadal is.

Nadal’s perseverance and spirit is most likely influenced greatly in his bid as part of the debate determining the greatest player out of the ‘Big Three’ of himself, Djokovic and Roger Federer, who have dominated the sport since the 2003 Australian Open.

Following Nadal’s reclamation of his most familiar title, he has extended his all-time men’s record number of Grand Slam titles to 22. Furthermore, he has thus doubled his lead on Djokovic and Federer in Grand Slam Championships, with both his Serb and Swiss rivals holding 20 titles each.