Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday that he wouldn’t take part in this year’s French Open due to a hip injury. The Spanish tennis player also said that he will likely retire after the 2024 tennis season.

Nadal didn’t play since January when he was eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open by Mackenzie McDonald. The 37-year-old player was visibly bothered by a hip injury from which he still hasn’t recovered four months later.

Speaking with Spanish media this week, Nadal said that he wanted to play at French Open but that his body wasn’t ready for the challenge.

“Even though your head wants to keep going, your body says this is as far it goes,” Nadal told the reporters.

Nadal expects that he won’t be ready to play again for at least several months but does intend to make one final run next year.

“You never know how things will turn out, but my intention is that next year will be my last year,” he added.

Rafael Nadal is currently tied with Novak Djokovic for most Grand Slam titles with 22. More than half of those titles (14) came at French Open, where he has played every year since 2018 and has a 112-3 record. He was forced to withdraw at the 2016 French Open due to a wrist injury before the third round.

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The reigning French Open champion Novak Djokovic has ended his run at the 2022 Roland Garros. Djokovic lost to Rafael Nadal in a thrilling quarter-finals match that lasted more than four hours.

Nadal had a fierce opening of the match, massively outplaying Djokovic in the first set and winning 6-2. The Serbian bounced back in the second, finding his rhythm and winning the set 6-4.

The third set also saw a one-sided affair, with Nadal returning to the top with a 6-2 display. The fourth, however, was a much closer contest. It was determined in the tiebreak, where Djokovic found himself on the losing end despite managing to save three match points.

Speaking after the match, Nadal downplayed his win and said that it’s only a step towards his final goal, which is adding another Roland Garros trophy to his resume.

“It has been a very emotional night for me. I’m still playing for nights like today,” Nadal said. “But it’s just a quarter-final match, no? So I didn’t win anything. So I just [need to] give myself a chance to be back on the court in two days, play another semifinals here in Roland Garros. [It] means a lot to me.”

Nadal will now continue to chase his 14th French Open title, which would help him extend his record Grand Slam haul to 22. He faces Alexander Zverev in the next round.

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Rafael Nadal is the undisputed “King of Clay,” and he showed that once again at the 2020 French Open. Nadal faced the world’s No.1 Novak Djokovic in the tournament’s finals on Sunday and got a dominant 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 win to claim his 20th, record-tying, Grand Slam.

Although he caught up to Roger Federer in terms of Grand Slam wins, Nadal wasn’t focused on that achievement. Instead, he embraced the fact that he won his 13th Roland Garros, more than anyone ever by a large margin, and that he did it without surrendering a single set in this year’s run.

“[To] win here means everything to me, no? It’s not the moment, honestly … [to] think today about the 20th,” said Nadal after the match. “Roland Garros means everything to me. I spent, here, the most important moments—or most of the most important moments—in my tennis career, no doubt about that.”

It sounds almost unbelievable, but Rafael Nadal owns a 100-2 record at French Open and is 26-0 in semi-finals and finals. His only two losses came in 2009 when he lost to Robin Soderling in the fourth round, and in 2015, when eventual champion Stan Wawrinka eliminated him in quarter-finals. The only other time that Nadal participated at Roland Garros but didn’t win was in 2016 when he had to withdraw due to wrist injury.

Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, remained at one French Open win and 17 Grand Slams. This was only his fourth loss to Nadal in the last 18 matches. Djokovic still holds a 29-27 head-to-head record.

“What you are doing in this court is unbelievable. Not just this court—throughout your entire career, you’ve been a great champion,” Djokovic told Nadal during the trophy presentation. “Today you showed why you are King of the Clay.”

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The master of clay conquered Roland Garros yet again on Sunday afternoon.

Rafael Nadal, now the winner of a record-setting 12 French Opens, defeated Dominic Thiem to claim yet another Grand Slam win.

In the process, the Spanish tennis star extended his previous record of 11 French Open wins. No other player in the history of the prestigious tournament has won more than 8.

Nadal didn’t have it easy against the 25-year-old Austrian on Sunday. Things even looked a bit questionable for the clay court expert after Thiem roared back after a first set loss to beat Nadal in the second set.

However, after this small blip, the Mallorca native stormed back to win the next two sets and the championship. He did it once again, winning the 18th Grand Slam tournament of his career.

His mastery of the French Open has no other parallel in men’s tennis history. No other player has matched his 12 wins at Ronald Garros in any major tournament.

The win was important for Nadal, who will continue to be ranked as the second-best player in the world behind Novak Djokovic.

The result wasn’t surprising, but it’s worthy of our awe and admiration all the same.

The post Rafael Nadal Wins Record-Setting 12th French Open appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Rafael Nadal continued his dominance on 2019 French Open and proved once again why he is considered the best tennis player on clay that ever lived.

In semi-finals on Thursday, Nadal faced Roger Federer and won the match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, booking his 12^th Roland Garros finals. The Spaniard is now 6-0 against Federer on French Open.

“The conditions out there today have been so hard, so [It was] difficult to manage,” – said Nadal after the match. “[It was a day to just focus, accept all the adversities, and just be focused on [being] positive all the time. That’s what I tried to do.”

Although Federer was few times on the brink of getting back into the match, Nadal never ceased control which was contributed by 81 percent on first serves and 15 less unforced errors compared to his opponent.

“He makes you feel uncomfortable the way he defends the court and plays on clay. There is nobody who even plays remotely close to him,” – said Federer. “I don’t even know who I need to go search for to go practice with somebody who plays like him. It’s just amazing how he plays from deep and then is able to bounce back and forth from the baseline.”

Rafael Nadal will play in 2019 French Open finals against either Novak Djokovic or Dominic Thiem, who had their match postponed due to weather conditions. It is important to note that Nadal never lost Roland Garros finals.

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Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep are the winners of 2018 French Open. Nadal defeated Dominic Thiem in men’s singles final for his 11th Roland Garros title, while Halep won the women’s singles final in a match against Sloan Stephens for her first Grand Slam title.

Rafael Nadal never lost a French Open final, and it wasn’t anything different this year. He never gave Thiem a chance and finished the job in three sets to claim 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Although this was a dominant win for Nadal, he faced some challenges along the way. In the third set, he suffered cramps in his middle finger to the extent that he couldn’t straighten it.

“I was not able to move the hand, the finger,” – said Nadal after the game. “I was not [in] control of my finger.“

The 32-year-old Spaniard then took a break halfway through the third set and with the help of his trainer managed to take care of the issue. After getting back into the match, Nadal strolled through the set and claimed his 17th career Grand Slam.

“If you tell me seven, eight years ago that I will be here … having this trophy with me again, I will tell you that is something almost impossible,” – said Nadal. “But here we are.“

In 2018 French Open women’s singles finals, the No.1 ranked female tennis player in the world, Simona Halep, was looking for her first career Grand Slam title again 10th seeded Sloane Stephens. It didn’t start well for Halep, who lost the first set 3-6 and it looked like Stephens is on the way to win her second Grand Slam, after claiming the US Open title in 2017. The odds were against Simona Halep since tennis player who won the first set had managed to get the title in 43 out of the last 46 women’s Grand Slam finals.

“When I was down a break in the second set,” – said Halep after the match. “I thought, ‘Everything is gone. I’m going to start to relax and enjoy the match.‘”

Still, Halep managed to turn things around and won the two remaining sets with 6-4 and 6-1 and have her first Grand Slam title. She became only the fourth female tennis player who won her first major title after being ranked No.1.

Sloane Stephens, on the other side, has become the first American tennis player other than Serena and Venus Williams to play in French Open final since 2001.

“Not the trophy I wanted,” – said Stephens about her runner-up plate, “but it’s still beautiful.”

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Did you really think that someone could stop Rafael Nadal from getting to 2018 French Open final? It could well be renamed to “Rafael Nadal and challengers” tournament since we see the same scene almost every year. Tennis players from all over the world come to Roland Garros, overcome numerous obstacles but eventually have to face Nadal and they rarely stand a chance.

This time, Rafael Nadal faced fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro in the 2018 French Open semi-finals on Friday and it didn’t even look fair. Nadal won all three sets, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, and booked his place in the final for the 11th time. Spaniard, who is currently No.1 tennis player in the world, has a chance to win his 11th French Open title, since he advanced to the final 10 times before and won each time.

His opponent, No.8 tennis player in the world, Austrian Dominic Thiem, faced 72nd-ranked Marco Cecchinato in the semi-final match and booked his place in the final with 7-5, 7-6 (10), 6-1 win. This was Thiem’s third consecutive French Open semi-final match but first, win. As a matter of fact, this will be the first time for Thiem to advance in final of any Grand Slam tournament.

Despite facing a rather inexperienced opponent, Nadal was full of respect.

“He’s an amazing player,” – said Nadal of Thiem. “He’s a player with big power. He’s playing with big confidence. … I know I have to play at my best. I know I have to improve a little bit.“

Thiem spoke about Nadal in a similar manner but said he isn’t afraid to take on the challenge.

“He’s a big favorite against everybody,” – said Thiem of Nadal. “Still, I know how to play against him. I have a plan.”

2018 French Open final is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 10.

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Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday that he wouldn’t take part in this year’s French Open due to a hip injury. The Spanish tennis player also said that he will likely retire after the 2024 tennis season.

Nadal didn’t play since January when he was eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open by Mackenzie McDonald. The 37-year-old player was visibly bothered by a hip injury from which he still hasn’t recovered four months later.

Speaking with Spanish media this week, Nadal said that he wanted to play at French Open but that his body wasn’t ready for the challenge.

“Even though your head wants to keep going, your body says this is as far it goes,” Nadal told the reporters.

Nadal expects that he won’t be ready to play again for at least several months but does intend to make one final run next year.

“You never know how things will turn out, but my intention is that next year will be my last year,” he added.

Rafael Nadal is currently tied with Novak Djokovic for most Grand Slam titles with 22. More than half of those titles (14) came at French Open, where he has played every year since 2018 and has a 112-3 record. He was forced to withdraw at the 2016 French Open due to a wrist injury before the third round.

The post Rafael Nadal Won’t Play French Open; Says 2024 Will Be His Final Season appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The reigning French Open champion Novak Djokovic has ended his run at the 2022 Roland Garros. Djokovic lost to Rafael Nadal in a thrilling quarter-finals match that lasted more than four hours.

Nadal had a fierce opening of the match, massively outplaying Djokovic in the first set and winning 6-2. The Serbian bounced back in the second, finding his rhythm and winning the set 6-4.

The third set also saw a one-sided affair, with Nadal returning to the top with a 6-2 display. The fourth, however, was a much closer contest. It was determined in the tiebreak, where Djokovic found himself on the losing end despite managing to save three match points.

Speaking after the match, Nadal downplayed his win and said that it’s only a step towards his final goal, which is adding another Roland Garros trophy to his resume.

“It has been a very emotional night for me. I’m still playing for nights like today,” Nadal said. “But it’s just a quarter-final match, no? So I didn’t win anything. So I just [need to] give myself a chance to be back on the court in two days, play another semifinals here in Roland Garros. [It] means a lot to me.”

Nadal will now continue to chase his 14th French Open title, which would help him extend his record Grand Slam haul to 22. He faces Alexander Zverev in the next round.

The post Rafael Nadal Beats Novak Djokovic in 2022 Roland Garros Quarter-Finals appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Rafael Nadal is the undisputed “King of Clay,” and he showed that once again at the 2020 French Open. Nadal faced the world’s No.1 Novak Djokovic in the tournament’s finals on Sunday and got a dominant 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 win to claim his 20th, record-tying, Grand Slam.

Although he caught up to Roger Federer in terms of Grand Slam wins, Nadal wasn’t focused on that achievement. Instead, he embraced the fact that he won his 13th Roland Garros, more than anyone ever by a large margin, and that he did it without surrendering a single set in this year’s run.

“[To] win here means everything to me, no? It’s not the moment, honestly … [to] think today about the 20th,” said Nadal after the match. “Roland Garros means everything to me. I spent, here, the most important moments—or most of the most important moments—in my tennis career, no doubt about that.”

It sounds almost unbelievable, but Rafael Nadal owns a 100-2 record at French Open and is 26-0 in semi-finals and finals. His only two losses came in 2009 when he lost to Robin Soderling in the fourth round, and in 2015, when eventual champion Stan Wawrinka eliminated him in quarter-finals. The only other time that Nadal participated at Roland Garros but didn’t win was in 2016 when he had to withdraw due to wrist injury.

Novak Djokovic, on the other hand, remained at one French Open win and 17 Grand Slams. This was only his fourth loss to Nadal in the last 18 matches. Djokovic still holds a 29-27 head-to-head record.

“What you are doing in this court is unbelievable. Not just this court—throughout your entire career, you’ve been a great champion,” Djokovic told Nadal during the trophy presentation. “Today you showed why you are King of the Clay.”

The post Nadal Beats Djokovic at French Open to claim Record-Tying 20th Grand Slam appeared first on SportzBonanza.

The master of clay conquered Roland Garros yet again on Sunday afternoon.

Rafael Nadal, now the winner of a record-setting 12 French Opens, defeated Dominic Thiem to claim yet another Grand Slam win.

In the process, the Spanish tennis star extended his previous record of 11 French Open wins. No other player in the history of the prestigious tournament has won more than 8.

Nadal didn’t have it easy against the 25-year-old Austrian on Sunday. Things even looked a bit questionable for the clay court expert after Thiem roared back after a first set loss to beat Nadal in the second set.

However, after this small blip, the Mallorca native stormed back to win the next two sets and the championship. He did it once again, winning the 18th Grand Slam tournament of his career.

His mastery of the French Open has no other parallel in men’s tennis history. No other player has matched his 12 wins at Ronald Garros in any major tournament.

The win was important for Nadal, who will continue to be ranked as the second-best player in the world behind Novak Djokovic.

The result wasn’t surprising, but it’s worthy of our awe and admiration all the same.

The post Rafael Nadal Wins Record-Setting 12th French Open appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Rafael Nadal continued his dominance on 2019 French Open and proved once again why he is considered the best tennis player on clay that ever lived.

In semi-finals on Thursday, Nadal faced Roger Federer and won the match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, booking his 12^th Roland Garros finals. The Spaniard is now 6-0 against Federer on French Open.

“The conditions out there today have been so hard, so [It was] difficult to manage,” – said Nadal after the match. “[It was a day to just focus, accept all the adversities, and just be focused on [being] positive all the time. That’s what I tried to do.”

Although Federer was few times on the brink of getting back into the match, Nadal never ceased control which was contributed by 81 percent on first serves and 15 less unforced errors compared to his opponent.

“He makes you feel uncomfortable the way he defends the court and plays on clay. There is nobody who even plays remotely close to him,” – said Federer. “I don’t even know who I need to go search for to go practice with somebody who plays like him. It’s just amazing how he plays from deep and then is able to bounce back and forth from the baseline.”

Rafael Nadal will play in 2019 French Open finals against either Novak Djokovic or Dominic Thiem, who had their match postponed due to weather conditions. It is important to note that Nadal never lost Roland Garros finals.

The post Rafael Nadal Beats Roger Federer in Straight Sets and Books French Open Final appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep are the winners of 2018 French Open. Nadal defeated Dominic Thiem in men’s singles final for his 11th Roland Garros title, while Halep won the women’s singles final in a match against Sloan Stephens for her first Grand Slam title.

Rafael Nadal never lost a French Open final, and it wasn’t anything different this year. He never gave Thiem a chance and finished the job in three sets to claim 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Although this was a dominant win for Nadal, he faced some challenges along the way. In the third set, he suffered cramps in his middle finger to the extent that he couldn’t straighten it.

“I was not able to move the hand, the finger,” – said Nadal after the game. “I was not [in] control of my finger.“

The 32-year-old Spaniard then took a break halfway through the third set and with the help of his trainer managed to take care of the issue. After getting back into the match, Nadal strolled through the set and claimed his 17th career Grand Slam.

“If you tell me seven, eight years ago that I will be here … having this trophy with me again, I will tell you that is something almost impossible,” – said Nadal. “But here we are.“

In 2018 French Open women’s singles finals, the No.1 ranked female tennis player in the world, Simona Halep, was looking for her first career Grand Slam title again 10th seeded Sloane Stephens. It didn’t start well for Halep, who lost the first set 3-6 and it looked like Stephens is on the way to win her second Grand Slam, after claiming the US Open title in 2017. The odds were against Simona Halep since tennis player who won the first set had managed to get the title in 43 out of the last 46 women’s Grand Slam finals.

“When I was down a break in the second set,” – said Halep after the match. “I thought, ‘Everything is gone. I’m going to start to relax and enjoy the match.‘”

Still, Halep managed to turn things around and won the two remaining sets with 6-4 and 6-1 and have her first Grand Slam title. She became only the fourth female tennis player who won her first major title after being ranked No.1.

Sloane Stephens, on the other side, has become the first American tennis player other than Serena and Venus Williams to play in French Open final since 2001.

“Not the trophy I wanted,” – said Stephens about her runner-up plate, “but it’s still beautiful.”

The post Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep win 2018 French Open Titles appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Did you really think that someone could stop Rafael Nadal from getting to 2018 French Open final? It could well be renamed to “Rafael Nadal and challengers” tournament since we see the same scene almost every year. Tennis players from all over the world come to Roland Garros, overcome numerous obstacles but eventually have to face Nadal and they rarely stand a chance.

This time, Rafael Nadal faced fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro in the 2018 French Open semi-finals on Friday and it didn’t even look fair. Nadal won all three sets, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, and booked his place in the final for the 11th time. Spaniard, who is currently No.1 tennis player in the world, has a chance to win his 11th French Open title, since he advanced to the final 10 times before and won each time.

His opponent, No.8 tennis player in the world, Austrian Dominic Thiem, faced 72nd-ranked Marco Cecchinato in the semi-final match and booked his place in the final with 7-5, 7-6 (10), 6-1 win. This was Thiem’s third consecutive French Open semi-final match but first, win. As a matter of fact, this will be the first time for Thiem to advance in final of any Grand Slam tournament.

Despite facing a rather inexperienced opponent, Nadal was full of respect.

“He’s an amazing player,” – said Nadal of Thiem. “He’s a player with big power. He’s playing with big confidence. … I know I have to play at my best. I know I have to improve a little bit.“

Thiem spoke about Nadal in a similar manner but said he isn’t afraid to take on the challenge.

“He’s a big favorite against everybody,” – said Thiem of Nadal. “Still, I know how to play against him. I have a plan.”

2018 French Open final is scheduled to take place on Sunday, June 10.

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