King of clay: Why Nadal's 14 French Open title wins make him the GOAT

Rafael Nadal hardly broke a sweat when he defeated first time Grand Slam finalist, Casper Ruud in straight-sets 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 to win his record 14th French Open title in Paris on Sunday, June 05, 2022. The 'King of Clay' once again showed that he is the real deal as far as domination in a single Grand Slam is considered. 

Nadal impressed upon the fact that even a hard grinder like Novak Djokovic, who has the experience of winning 20 Grand Slams, or a young sensation like Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, was not going to deter him from achieving the unthinkable- A record 14th title at a single Grand Slam.

The importance of this French Open title win for the 36-year-old can be gauged from the fact that now Nadal’s French Open titles are equal to Pete Sampras’ total career slam titles put together. And Pete Sampras is one of the greatest to ever have played this game.

This however is not the only unique feat that Nadal has achieved with his 22nd Career Grand Slam and 14th French Open title. Here are a few facts that make this victory of the King of Clay an unprecedented one in history.   

Oldest French Open champion

At the age of 36 years and two days, Rafael Nadal has now become the oldest ever player to win the French Open. He broke fellow countryman Andres Gimeno’s record who had won the Roland Garros at the age of 34 years and 9 months in 1972. 

In terms of all-time oldest grand slam winners, Nadal sits fourth on the list behind Australian Ken Rosewall and Swiss great Roger Federer. While Rosewall won the Australian Open of 1972 at the age of 37 years, 1 month and 24 days, Federer won at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne at the age of 36 years, 5 months and 7 days in 2018. 

Rosewall occupies the third spot on the list as well, having won the Australian Open at the age of 36 years 4 months and 05 days in 1971. 

Most wins in a grand slam event 

If breaking records were a game, Nadal would have trumped in that too. This French Open was a record-breaking spree for him. The Manacor born now has 112 wins and just three losses at the French Open. He overtook Roger Federer with whom he was tied at 105, the number of most wins at a single Slam. Federer has 105 wins at Wimbledon while Nadal now has 112 at the Roland Garros. 

14-0 at a grand slam Final

Winning the single slam even five times was unthinkable even after Bjorn Borg’s sixth French Open win in 1981 and Jimmy Connors’ fifth US Open victory in 1983. It took 15 years before such a feat was repeated as Pete Sampras won his fifth Wimbledon title in 1998. He won it again in 1999 and 2000 to make it the most single slam victories by any player. 

Now that Nadal has 14 titles and that too at Roland Garros, it is hard to imagine someone surpassing it. But more than just 14 titles, It is Nadal’s record of not losing even once in the French Open final that makes him special. He has a 14-0 record in the French Open finals. 

Apart from Nadal, Novak Djokovic has nine titles in the Australian Open and Roger Federer has eight at Wimbledon.

22 grand slam titles: Nadal supremacy at peak

In colloquial terms, Nadal has been GOATed after his record 22nd Grand Slam and 14th French Open title win. There are not even close seconds in terms of competing with him at clay. At 36, and him being able to play through the pain, Nadal seems to have at least 1-2 years of Tennis left in him and he might just touch or even get past the record of 23 slam victories created by Serena Williams. 

In terms of competition, Nadal only has Djokovic to fear as the Serbian player has age on his side and is a beast to compete with. He is just two grand slams away from catching up with Rafa. On the other hand, Roger Federer who also has 20 grand slam titles to his name, is already past his prime. So apart from Djokovic, there is no real challenge to Nadal’s supremacy. 

Most grand slam titles won after the age of 30

With this win at the Roland Garros 2022, Nadal equalled Djokovic for the most Grand Slams won after the age of 30. Federer stands second tied alongside Rod Laver and Ken Rosewall. 

Nadal, 36, has won eight grand slam titles after turning 30 and so has Djokovic while Federer, Laver and Rosewall have won four each. 

Rafael Nadal won it with an injured feet

It is no secret now that Nadal has suffered because of his feet a great deal more than any other Tennis player. Just a few weeks before the start of the French Open 2022, the great southpaw had suffered an injury and his perennial pain in the foot had aggravated. He pulled out of the preparatory tournaments and it was only with the self-belief rather than 100% fitness that he decided to enter the French Open after having already missed out on his favourite grand slam in 2021. 

The pain was so much for Nadal that he even went on to say, “I would prefer to lose the final without a doubt. In the end, a new foot would allow me to be happier in my day-to-day life. Winning is lovely and it fills you with adrenaline for a short moment but life goes on. Life is much more important than whatever title.”

Explaining his situation after the 22nd Grand Slam victory, Nadal further said, “I had been off the practice courts for a month and a half with a stress fracture on my rib, and then I had [a problem with my] foot. It stayed there all the time.”

“We played with no feeling in the foot, with an [pain-killing] injection on the nerve. The foot was asleep, and that’s why I was able to play,” added the Spaniard. 

Nadal beat four top 10 seeded players to win the Grand Slam

When Ruud was beaten in three straight sets with much more ease than expected, Nadal became only the third man in history to beat four players seeded top 10 during a winning run at a Grand Slam. He joins Roger Federer (2017 Australian Open) and Mats Wilander (1982 French Open) in a great and exclusive list. Nadal, on his way to his 22nd grand slam victory, beat Felix Auger-Alissiame (seeded nine), Novak Djokovic (seeded one), Alexander Zverev (seeded three) and Casper Ruud (seeded eight) en route to victory.