Notes from French Open 2013
The French Open 2013 has moved into the history books with Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams emerging the King and Queen of their leagues respectively and in the process etching themselves into the record books. In both draws, the form players coming into the tournament lived up to their billing to go on and claim the top prize.
WINNERS
Rafael Nadal
Nadal was crowned champion for the 8th time when he beat compatriot David Ferrer in the final in straight sets. The comfortable win was an expected one as Ferrer had not beaten Nadal in 16 previous attempts, and on clay at Roland Garros it was always going to be a daunting proposition. Rafa, in the process, clinched his 12th Grand Slam overall which puts him tied third on the all-time list with Australian Roy Emerson. He also became the first man to win a single Grand Slam event 8 times.
Statistics aside, what has been remarkable is how well Nadal has come back onto the tour from his 7-month absence which he spent nursing his knee back to health. Since his return, the Spaniard has won 7 out of the 9 tournaments that he’s entered, headlined by the French Open title and 3 Masters 1000 titles (2 on clay, 1 on hard courts). He started off slowly in Paris, losing a set in each of the first 2 rounds but got better as the tournament progressed. As widely expected, his stiffest challenge came in the semi-finals against World No.1 Novak Djokovic. He did really well to come through that game especially as he had to come from a break down in the decider with the momentum seemingly with the Serbian. He showed us his attacking best as he swung it around in the 5th set by actually going for more winners which put Djokovic on the back-foot. The top seed also didn’t help his own cause with some crucial mistakes of his own in the final set.
The weather over 2 weeks did play its part. Nadal favours the hot and dry conditions which give his game that added edge and over the first week, rain and overcast conditions meant that the courts were heavy and moist. This reduced the impact of the heavy top spin that Nadal imparted on his shots, thereby slightly reducing their threat. Once the conditions got better with the rain staying away, his game went into top gear and was almost unplayable.
At the end of the 2 weeks, Rafa Nadal left nobody in doubt that he’s right up there amongst the best clay-courters to have ever played the game.