French Open champion Rafael Nadal to be honoured with a statue in his hometown Mallorca

Nadal next to his statue at Roland Garros
Nadal next to his statue at Roland Garros

Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal won his 14th French Open and 22nd Grand Slam title on Sunday, beating Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the final.

To mark his historic win, the Manacor City Council has decided to erect a statue to honour the city’s "greatest tennis player." They took to social media to announce the news.

"Manacor City Council will install a sculpture in homage to the greatest Manacor tennis player of all time: @RafaelNadal. This has been decided by the spokespersons of all the municipal groups and the mayor @miquel_oliver, after the tennis player's last historic victory," the Twitter post said.

Nadal, Mallorca's most famous son, resides in the city and has also based his tennis academy there. His statue is set to be erected at the Plaça del Palau (Palace Square).

This is not the first attempt by the city council to pay tribute to Nadal as they have tried to rename the airport in the past.

The Spaniard, by far the most successful player in French Open history, also has a statue at Roland Garros, which was unveiled last year.


Rafael Nadal's Roland Garros dominance

Rafael Nadal poses with the French Open trophy.
Rafael Nadal poses with the French Open trophy.

Rafael Nadal has dominated the clay unlike any other player in the history of the sport. The 22-time Grand Slam champion has won 14 French Open titles, along with numerous other claycourt tournaments.

With this year's victory, the 36-year-old became the oldest champion at Roland Garros. The tournament's second-most successful player is Bjorn Borg, who won six titles, less than half of Nadal's tally.

The southpaw also holds a 112-3 record at the tournament, with an astonishing 97.3% win percentage. Novak Djokovic (twice) and Robin Soderling are the only two players to have beaten him in the tournament.

Nadal's unprecedented dominance over one particular tournament has never been matched in the sport and, in all likelihood, will never be done in the future.

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