10 historical French Open moments that will never be forgotten – Tennis Special (Part -I)
There are times when some incidents are just glued to the memories and one can remind them over and over again while going through a similar situation. Some incidents from the clay court Grand Slam history have created a landmark
and will stay in the subconscious forever. Now, the Roland Garros French Open is over I remember ten of those incidents that will never be forgotten from the 30 years history of the French Open.
Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal
When someone wins a title, he is proud to return to the arena and puts his body on the line to retain the championship title. However, Bjorn Borg is an exception. He never returned to the clay courts of Paris France to retain his
title after winning his sixth Roland Garros title in 1981. He took an early retirement from the world of tennis and left the debate open for the critics to decide the best ever player of the clay court.
The debate has heated up a lot ever since the invincible superhuman from Spain, Rafael Nadal, grabbed his record seventh French Open title on Monday. For me, if I had to pick one of the two players, I would pick the Spanish number
one, hands down. He has delivered in the most toughest era of tennis to date especially when some like the Swiss Maestro, Roger Federer, and the reigning world number one, Novak Djokovic, are glued to you and pulling your leg on every possible occurrence.
Performing in such difficult and competitive situation requires a lot of ability and courage. It is easy to make surplus profits in monopoly but retaining the turnover in perfect competition. Nadal has proved that he can sustain
his title in every condition; having won it on seven different occurrences in the past eight years is no less than a legendary achievement. Borg, on the other hand, had little competition to deal with. He was leading the show and ruling the world all alone.
So, the King of Clay is definitely Nadal without any doubt.
Ivan Lendl’s maiden Grand Slam title in 1984
A remarkable clash was witnessed in the final of the 1984’s edition of the Roland Garros French Open. Lendl lost the opening two sets of the match but took advantage of the emotional breakdown of John McEnroe. McEnroe was consistently
argued to the cameraman because the voice from his equipment was very disturbing that was dismantling the concentration of the former world number one. It was the headset that was creating a very raging sound that was upsetting him. Lendl stayed focused and
won the following three sets that helped him win the first Grand Slam title in his fourth final appearance.
Steffi Graf registers double bagel in 1988
Legendary tennis icon, Steffi Graf, posted a double bagel in the final of the French Open tournament way back in 1988. Her opponent was Natasha Zvereva who couldn’t handle the onslaught of the German superstar. However, later on
the iconic tennis legend apologized from the fans as well as the player for ending the clash in a fraction over half an hour.
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