With a 3-0 victory, Nadal makes history at Roland Garros: his 8th title.
Spaniard crushes compatriot David Ferrer in straight sets (6/3, 6/2 and 6/3) and becomes the greatest winner of a single Grand Slam in history, surpassing Pete Sampras; Rafael Nadal accumulates 59 victories on the clay courts of Paris, surpassing Guillermo Vilas and Roger Federer; what else can the "Raging Man" do?
Band Sports - Spaniard Rafael Nadal confirmed his favoritism over compatriot David Ferrer and won his eighth Roland Garros title this Sunday (9). On the day that tennis player's day is celebrated, the "Raging Bull" defeated Ferrer in straight sets, 6/3, 6/2 and 6/3, and became the greatest winner of a single Grand Slam in history, surpassing Pete Sampras' seven titles at Wimbledon.
Furthermore, Nadal is now the most successful player on the Parisian clay, with 59 wins, leaving behind Roger Federer and Guillermo Vilas. This was the fourth Roland Garros final decided by Spaniards. Bandsports – channel and website – broadcast it exclusively.
On the Philippe Chatrier central court, the duel was balanced until the sixth game of the first set, when Nadal had two break points and applied the first break of the match. Subsequently, the Manacor native held serve and repeated the break, closing the set 6-3 after 40 minutes of play.
In the second set, the scenario was more favorable for the world number 4, who broke his opponent's serve twice and managed to open up a 3-0 lead. Soon after, he capitalized on Ferrer's errors to break serve in the seventh game and win 6-1.
In the decisive stage, the balance returned, and the 3-3 tie was almost exploited by Ferrer, who had the opportunity to break his opponent, but Nadal held serve and broke Ferrer once more, serving for the match and closing out the final in 2 hours and 16 minutes.
This was the 24th meeting between Nadal and Ferrer as professionals, and the world number four secured his 19th victory, his 17th on clay. The last time Ferrer won a match was in January 2011, in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open; on clay, it was in 2004, in the quarterfinals of the Stuttgart ATP tournament.
On the other hand, Ferrer will overtake his compatriot in the ranking even with the defeat. This is because Nadal had to defend points in France, as he was the current champion of the tournament, while Ferrer reached an unprecedented round, and therefore will assume fourth place next Monday (10).