Men’s Championship Match: [1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs. [2] Rafael Nadal (ESP)

Djokovic came out not looking or playing like himself. Everyone wondered if it was his injured neck and left arm, or was it simply fatigue? Djokovic over used the drop shot in the first set, which suggested he was tired and not thinking clearly. 

Nadal chased down most of those drop shots easily and had an effective response. There is no other way of stating this, Djokovic was just flat in the first set.  Nadal was quick to pick up that the Serbian was not at his best physically and pushed him from side to side, further fatiguing his opponent.

Embed from Getty Images

Dominant Set From The King

The first set, despite the 6-0 score, was not a beatdown; Djokovic had three break point opportunities to make the first set a contest. By the way, it took forty-five minutes for Nadal to win the first set, demonstrating that Djokovic was fighting but not effectively.  

The lack of energy was also evident by the low first serve percentage of the Serbian (forty-two). What made things worse for him, he only won twenty-seven percent of his first serves. That was not going to work against the king of clay.  Another indication that Djokovic was not himself, he led in several service games at least 40-15 up and was still broken.

Tested But In No Mood To Lose

Nadal tightened up his defense in the second set and Djokovic had no opportunity to break him.  The telling statistic was the total number of unforced errors made by the number one seed (52:14), which I attribute to physical fatigue.

Yet, Djokovic is a champion and would not concede without a fight.  In the sixth game of the third set, the Serbian broke for the first time on his fifth break point opportunity. However, it was a tad too late. At 5-5, Nadal reasserted his dominance, broke his opponent, and served it out for the straight-sets victory.

Embed from Getty Images

Nadal made more history with the 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 victory. The king of clay has won the French Open title thirteen times (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020) and now has tied Roger Federer for the most major singles titles (20).

Cinderella Run By Swiatek

The kid has game, I saw that the first time I saw her play. Did I think she would win her first major title so soon and without dropping a set? No! Well done Iga Swiatek on winning the 2020 French Open title.

PICTURES COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES (John Berry)