French Open 2012: Rafael Nadal – The undisputed King of clay

Vineet Ramakrishnan/Zeenews Sports Bureau

Paris: Rafael Nadal created history winning a record 7th French Open title surpassing Björn Borg’s 6 title wins at the Roland Garros. Here is the list of Rafael Nadal’s incredible achievement on clay: 2005 The unheralded spainard defeated Mariano Puerta in the final, becoming the second male player to win the French Open on his first attempt since Mats Wilander in 1982. He also became the first teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19. 2006 The defending champion dispatched roger Federer in the final 1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(4) as he became the first player to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam final at that time. Nadal broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas`s 29-year male record of 53 consecutive clay-court match victories by winning his first round match at the French Open. 2007 In what was another epic battle, Rafael Nadal won in the final 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, against Roger Federer. 2008 Nadal won four singles titles and defeated Roger Federer in three finals in 2008 and then won the French Open, becoming the fifth man in the open era to win a Grand Slam singles title without losing a set. He defeated Federer in the final for the third straight year 6–1, 6–3, 6–0,, but this was the most lopsided of all their matches, as Nadal only lost four games and gave Federer his first bagel since 1999. 2010 After Nadal`s first loss at the French Open in 2009 to Robin Soderling, the Spanish Matador came back with vengeance in 2010, defeating Soderling 6–4, 6–2, 6–4 to win the French Open. This victory at Roland Garros marked the second time (2008) that Nadal had won the French Open without dropping a single set. 2011 Nadal retained his no. 1 ranking at that time and won his sixth French Open title by defeating Roger Federer, 7–5, 7–6, 5–7, 6–1. 2012 Records were up for grabs for the finalists Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, but it was the Spaniard who took the French open title for a record 7th time. Click here for the Match Report .