Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic, 2014 final
He is considered the best clay court player of all time, and it is not without reason. Over the years, Rafael Nadal has amassed a mammoth nine titles on the clay courts of Roland Garros, and this year will look for his tenth – a lead-up to the Spaniard’s La Decima.
In flagging form and dealing with injuries over a lackluster 2015, Nadal may not have had the ideal start to 2016 after his first-round ouster from the Australian Open; the clay court season, however, has been his time to shine. With wins at the Monte Carlo Masters and the Barcelona Open (a ninth time for each tournament), Nadal has been in resurgent form and, thankfully for the player and his fans, free of injury.
The finals of the 2014 French Open saw four-time defending champion Nadal in the quest for his fifth title. Up against an in-form top-ranked Novak Djokovic, Nadal saw the first set scalped off of him 3-6, with the Serb quickly taking the upper hand.
And then, Nadal came back with a renewed passion with long, powerful rallies and some of the most precise placement fans have seen from the Spaniard.
Closing things up with a drop shot and an error by Djokovic, an ecstatic Nadal fell to his knees celebrating his ninth win at Roland Garros.
Robin Soderling vs Rafael Nadal, 2009
Swedish player Robin Soderling was not an entirely unknown face on the tennis circuit in 2009. But he was certainly not as well-known as the rivals he took on over the years. In 2009, he took on four-time reigning champion and King of Clay Rafael Nadal on his own turf, and it was here that Soderling shone.
Nadal had won the French Open title on each of the previous occasions he had played the tournament since his professional tennis debut in 2005.
But the Swede rained on the Spaniard’s parade, and in a contest of 23rd seed against top seed, it was the lower-ranked player who came out on top, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6.
Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal, 2008
Nadal, in the middle of a 5-year domination of the clay courts at Roland Garros, was up in the final against archrival Roger Federer, who was the tournament top seed. The Spaniard had enjoyed a stellar run into the finals, having beaten each of his opponents in straight sets.
Federer, meanwhile, had dropped sets against some unlikely opponents, and although he had not suffered any particularly bad losses, did not seem to be in his best possible form.
Coming into this final as the three-time running reigning champion, Nadal handed Federer a thorough pasting, winning the match 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.
He dropped only four games en route to that victory.
Ivan Lendl vs John McEnroe, 1984
Former World No. 1 John McEnroe and Novak Djokovic have one thing in common other than their top rank – neither has won the French Open, although Djokovic still has the opportunity.
In 1984, McEnroe won 82 of the 85 matches he had played, and with the year he had been having till then was widely expected to win. Facing Ivan Lendl in the only French Open final he has every played, the famously ill-tempered American won the first two sets – but bothered by a noise from a camera unit, completely lost his composure, with Lendl winning 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5 with some exquisite groundstrokes.
McEnroe never won the Coupe de Mousquetaires over his long, otherwise illustrious career.
Chris Evert vs Martina Navratilova, 1985
Both former world no. 1s, Evert and Navratilova are widely considered two of the best tennis players of all time. The pair’s rivalry was akin to the current one of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, with Evert and Navratilova contesting each other neck and neck in terms of wins.
The two met at the finals of the 1985 French Open with a 33-31 head-to-head record in favour of Navratilova, although Evert was the superior player on clay.
With each player at one set, it was an evenly matched contest, and almost took the deciding set to a tiebreak. Despite being down at match point to Navratilova, Evert managed to break her serve to take an eventual 6–3, 6–7(4–7), 7–5 win.
