Rafael Nadal crushed Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the French Open final for his 14th championship at Roland Garros and 22nd grand slam title overall.
Nadal’s victory came two days after his 36th birthday and made him the oldest title winner in the history of the clay-court tournament.
Ruud led 3-1 in the second set, a deficit that spurred Nadal to raise his level — he took the last 11 games.
The Spaniard’s first triumph in Paris came in 2005 at age 19. No man or woman ever has won the singles trophy at any major event more than his 14 in Paris. And no man has won more Grand Slam titles than Nadal.
Nadal is now ahead of rivals Roger Federer, who hasn’t played in almost a year after a series of knee operations, and Novak Djokovic, who missed the Australian Open in January because he is not vaccinated against Covid-19 and lost to Nadal at Roland Garros.
