Rafael Nadal topples David Ferrer in the final showdown – French Open 2013
King of clay, Rafael Nadal, breezed past the fourth seed, David Ferrer, in straight sets at the Roland Garros 2013 on Sunday. He recorded a 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 victory against his compatriot to become the first man to lift the same Grand
Slam title eight times.
The defending champion showed his master class on the Stade Roland Garros once again. Both contestants were battling each other for the 24th time and with this victory, Nadal improved to a 20-4 in the FedEx ATP Head
2 Head series against his fellow countryman.
The Mallorcan was quoted in a courtside interview after conquering the title, “The feeling on court was great. The match[es] against David are always difficult. I think the score is much easier than what the match was today. I
think for moments I played great. I think a few moments in the match, I played at very, very high level. Eight times here is a lot. I never thought about that. But I will keep practising with the same passion and intensity to bring my tennis to the highest
level possible.”
Seeded third in this event, Nadal made a convincing entry at the Court Philippe Chatrier. He drew the first blood in the third game and took a 2-1 lead. Despite squandering his edge in the very next game, the high seed remained
focused and wiped out the last four games and sealed the opener by winning six games to three.
The 27-year-old maintained his intensity in the proceeding set. He cashed two early break chances and cruised to a 5-1 lead. Apart from wasting his chance of closing out the set with a breadstick, Nadal broke again to clinch the
set with a 6-2 score line.
In the third set, the left-handed Spaniard nailed another break point in the second game to take the initial lead. Regardless of losing his serve in the following game, Nadal remained focused. He got the breakthrough in the eighth
game and stole the show with a 6-3 win.
Nadal made a dream return to tennis this season. He suffered a seven-month layoff with a left-knee injury at the Wimbledon Championships last season. The Spaniard conquered 43 out of 45 matches after his return. He reached the
title-round at all nine tournaments he entered after recovering from the injury.
The Spanish ace reflected in the post match press conference, “[It was] a very emotional, very important victory for me. This remained the step after the comeback [from] the injury.”
With this triumph, Nadal captured his 12th major Grand Slam. As a result, he moved to third place with Roy Emerson for most number of Major titles in history of tennis. However, Nadal fell one step at the Emirates Airways
ATP World Tour Rankings at number five in the new rankings.
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