Spanish Tennis player, Rafael Nadal, has defeated Casper Ruud of Norway, in three straight sets of 6-3, 6-3 and 6-0 to win a record-extending 14th French Open title on Sunday.
Nadal, after this win stretched his record of men’s singles Grand Slam titles to 22, two ahead of Serbian Novak Djokovic and Swiss Roger Federer.
By earning a 22nd Grand Slam crown, the Spaniard has moved further clear of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the Grand Slam race, with the Serbian and Swiss tied on 20 major titles. He is also the oldest to do this as he turned 36 two days before this victory.
It is the first time Nadal has won the Australian Open and Roland Garros trophies in the same season and he is now level with countryman Carlos Alcaraz on a Tour-leading four titles in 2022 after improving to 112-3 at the clay-court major.
At the Court Philippe Chatrier, on Sunday, the 36-year-old produced a vigorous and aggressive first-set performance, hitting his forehand with heavy topspin to overcome the Norwegian and move ahead.
After making a slow start to the second set, the Spaniard rallied from 1-3 by returning to basics. He hung in points, won the longer exchanges and produced an array of stunning passing shots off both wings to take further control, before racing clear in the third set to secure another memorable victory after two hours and 20 minutes.
Nadal, who will rise to No 4 in the ATP Rankings on Monday, moved past Top 10 stars Felix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev to set a first ATP Head to Head meeting with World No 8 Ruud.