Rafael Nadal further etched his name into the history books by winning an eighth Roland Garros title, and holding his nerve to survive the challenge of first-time Grand Slam finalist David Ferrer in a match played in constant drizzle and marred by several courtside distractions.
Ferrer played the tournament of his life to set up a third all-Spanish final in Paris, winning all six of his matches without the loss of a set and spending a full six hours less time on court than his opponent. Much of that discrepancy was due to Nadal’s epic semi-final victory over world #1 Novak Djokovic, which lasted almost five hours and saw the Spaniard triumph 9-7 in the fifth set. In a final that was twice briefly interrupted by anti-government protestors, Nadal quickly dispelled any thoughts that he might be under-par physically as a result of his greater exertions, recovering from an early loss of serve to claim the first set and immediately breaking to assert his authority in the second.
As rain threatened to delay the match, Nadal kept one step ahead of his compatriot and took advantage of a double fault in the eighth game of the third set to earn the crucial break before serving out for a 6-3 6-2 6-3 win that he called “one of the most special ones” of his career. "In the last year I have had some low moments but without my family I would not have done this. Without my physio I could not have done this. I never realised something like this could happen for me," he said.
Nadal’s eighth Roland Garros title is his twelfth Grand Slam overall, and his achievements this year since returning from a 7-month layoff to recover from his chronic knee injury leave little doubt that he can legitimately claim to be the best clay court player of all time. He is now the only player in the Open era to win a Grand Slam title on eight occasions, and his 59 match wins in Paris are more than any other player in the history of the tournament. Away from Paris, Nadal has now played nine tournaments this season since his comeback from injury, winning seven titles from nine finals. He has a 2,000 point lead in the Race to the ATP World Tour Finals and despite dropping to fifth in the rankings behind Ferrer, has no points left to defend. The world #1 ranking could well be within his sights for the end of the season.
A day earlier, Serena Williams had continued to cement her status as one of the greatest ever female players, wrapping up a 16th Grand Slam title with a 6-4 6-4 victory over world #2 Maria Sharapova. Williams had only once reached as far as the semi-finals since her title run in 2002 and arguably her desperation to win again in Paris had held her back in the past. Now firmly ensconced at the top of the women’s rankings once again, Serena played confident tennis throughout the fortnight, faltering only in the quarterfinals, when a slow start saw her concede a set to 2008 champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. She was in total command of an almost comically one-sided semi-final against Sara Errani, and never looked in danger of allowing her 13-2 head to head record with Sharapova decline, even after losing the first two games of the final.
There was another US win in the men’s doubles, where Bob & Mike Bryan extended their own record as the most successful partnership of all time by winning a 14th Grand Slam title. They had a straightforward run to the finals but were made to work hard by the unseeded French pair of Michael Llodra and Nicolas Mahut, who led 4-2 in the final set tie break before eventually going down 6-4 4-6 7-6(4). The win is the second Roland Garros title for Bob & Mike, who look set to hold on to the world #1 spots for many months to come.
The women’s world #1 pair was not quite as successful as the men’s, as Sara Errani & Roberta Vinci fell at the final hurdle in their attempt to defend their title and win a fourth consecutive Grand Slam. They were beaten by Russians Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina, who overcame a 0-4 head to head record to avenge losses during Errani & Vinci’s title-winning runs in Melbourne and Paris.
The mixed doubles championship went to Czech pair Lucie Hradecka and Frantisek Cermak, winners in a match tie break over 2009’s home junior champion Kristina Mladenovic and Canadian veteran Daniel Nestor.
Juniors
Christian Garin became the third Chilean winner of the boys title, and first since Fernando Gonzalez in 1998. He strung together a series of upset wins, knocking out four seeds including German #6 Alexander Zverev in the final. Zverev took over as the Tennis Europe 16 & Under #1 earlier in the week but was unable to counter the clay court expertise of his 17-year old opponent, and capitulated 6-4 6-1 in just over an hour.
Garin also appeared in the doubles final, alongside compatriot Nicolas Jarry, but the pair were comprehensively beaten by Kyle Edmund of Great Britain and Frederico Ferreira Silva of Portugal, who won their second Junior Grand Slam title together at the final junior tournament they intend to play.
Belinda Bencic continued her rapid ascent through the junior ranks, becoming the first Swiss player since Martina Hingis in 1993-4 to win at Roland Garros. The 2011 European 14 & Under doubles champion brushed past Antonia Lottner, who claimed a second runner-up spot for Germany, to win her first Junior Grand Slam and take ownership of the world #1 ranking after the tournament.
The girls’ doubles went to second-seeded Czechs Barbara Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova who survived a tight first set to defeat 2012 runners-up Domenica Gonzalez of Ecuador and Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil in straight sets.
The tennis world now makes its annual brusque transition to grass ahead of an intriguing third Grand Slam of the season at Wimbledon, due to start in two weeks’ time. Some of the top threats for the title have already been practising hard, with two of the most recent Slam champions, Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro, returning to the circuit at this week’s Aegon Championships in London having missed the French Open.
2013 Roland Garros Roll of Honour
Men’s Singles
(3) Rafael Nadal (ESP) d. (4) David Ferrer (ESP) 6-3 6-2 6-3
Men’s Doubles
(1) Bryan/Bryan (USA) d. Llodra/Mahut (FRA) 6-4 4-6 7-6(4)
Women’s Singles
(1) Serena Williams (USA) d. (2) Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-4 6-4
Women’s Doubles
(4) Makarova/Vesnina (RUS) d. (1) Errani/Vinci (ITA) 7-5 6-2
Mixed Doubles
Hradecka/Cermak (CZE) d. (5) Mladenovic (FRA)/Nestor (CAN) 1-6 6-4 1-0(6)
Boys’ Singles
Christian Garin (CHI) d. Alexander Zverev (GER) 6-4 6-1
Boys Doubles
Edmund (GBR)/Silva (POR) d. Garin/Jarry (CHI) 6-3 6-3
Girls’ Singles
(2) Belinda Bencic (SUI) d. Antonia Lottner (GER) 6-1 6-3
Girls’ Doubles
Krejcikova/Siniakova (CZE) d. Gonzalez (ECU)/Haddad Maia (BRA)
Men’s Wheelchair Singles
(2) Stephane Houdet (FRA) d. (1) Shingo Kuneida (JPN) 7-5 5-7 7-6(5)
Women’s Wheelchair Singles
Sabine Ellerbrock (GER) d. Jiske Griffioen (NED) 6-3 3-6 6-1
Men’s Wheelchair Doubles
(1) Houdet (FRA)/Kuneida (JPN) d. Reid (GBR)/Vink (NED) 3-6 6-4 1-0(6)
Women’s Wheelchair Doubles
(1) Griffioen/Van Koot (NED) d. Ellerbrock (GER)/Walraven (NED) 6-2 6-3