The final battle of "king Nadal"

Persistent injuries and age have left Nadal no longer himself. Due to playing too little in the past 18 months, the former world No. 1 has dropped to 276th place, entering Roland Garros (RG) for the first time without a seed. As a result, the Spanish star has to face his junior A. Zverev, seeded No. 4, in the first round of his last Grand Slam tournament on clay.

The Nadal - Zverev match helps the 2024 French Open have a worth-watching opening.

Prestige attached to the name of the tournament

Nadal's early encounter with Zverev makes RG 2024 an even more anticipated start. The organizers, media and tennis fans are both nervous and excited.

There is a reason why the tournament organizers are nervous: No other player has had his name associated with a tournament like Nadal with RG. The Spanish star dominated RG so much that he was nicknamed "king of clay", "king of RG", or "king of Paris".

The statistics show this. Nadal is the only player in history to have won 14 singles titles at a Grand Slam tournament (RG, Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open), with a record 112/115 wins. He also holds the record for five consecutive championships at the RG (from 2010 to 2014).

In his 14 wins on the Parisian clay, the left-hander has won four without dropping a set (2008, 2010, 2017 and 2020). Along the way, his five wins at RG are among the top 20 most dominant victories.

Nadal with his expected journey to the final. Photo: REUTERS; graphics: TAN NGUYEN

Decoding Nadal's Dominance

14 championships at RG give Nadal a total of 22 Grand Slam titles. Explaining whether Nadal prioritizes clay courts over the other three tournaments on hard courts and grass courts, Toni Nadal, his coach and uncle, said: "Since he was a child, I tried to teach this boy how to play better every day, every match, every tournament. We never put more emphasis on achievements at RG than Wimbledon or the US Open... I have seen the legendary Bjorn Borg win 5 RG championships, but when I played alongside him and saw Rafael win 6 times in Paris, it was unbelievable."

Mr. Toni Nadal watched Nadal play tennis from the age of 3 and coached him until 2017; contributed significantly to 16/22 Grand Slam championships of his grandson.

But why is Nadal so dominant at RG? The answer is that he has a killer forehand with a lot of spin; the continental weather allows him to spin more and bounce higher (than in his home country of Spain) than his opponents. On clay, the ball bounces slower and higher, giving him time to move defensively and adjust his angle before launching counter-attacks that leave the net player "frozen".

Michael Chang, the Chinese-American tennis player who won the RG in 1989, once commented on BBC: "Nadal's ability to hit a series of forehands with high difficulty is unmatched and there are few people who move as well on clay as he does."

Mr. Toni Nadal revealed: "Since childhood, Nadal has practiced rotating his wrist quickly to create a lot of spin on the ball because creating spin on the court at RG is very important. Moreover, he has a great feeling for the ball."

Let's wait and see if Nadal can "save the best for last" - regain his peak form and explode in his final competition in Paris?

In round 1, the Warinka - Murray pair is also worth watching. The matches of the tournament are expected to be broadcast live on VTVCab sports channels.

Nadal, like all Spanish players, plays well on clay courts, which is not surprising because this is the most popular surface in tennis in this country. Spain has about 100,000 clay courts, even the smallest villages have a court. In the last 30 men's singles championships at RG, in addition to Nadal with 14 titles, there have been 5 times his compatriots won the title. If there are no surprises, Carlos Alcaraz, a new talent with 2 Grand Slam titles, will improve the achievements of Spanish tennis at RG in the coming years.

According to Lao Dong Newspaper

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/cuoc-chien-cuoi-cung-cua-vua-nadal-post384555.html