Nadal beats Ruud to win his 14th French Open and 22nd Grand Slam title

Rafael Nadal beat Casper Ruud in three straight sets by 6:3, 6:3, 6:0 to win the French Open final in Paris on Sunday.

Nadal who was playing in his 30th final was just too good for Casper on the day. The Norwegian who was playing in his first final made history as the first Norwegian to play in a Grand Slam final.

Also Read: Swiatek beats Gauff to win French Open final

The spaniard moves two titles ahead of his great rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Nadal, who lost to Djokovic in the semi-finals last year, has now won 112 of his 115 matches on the Paris clay.

After also winning the Australian Open in January, Nadal has also claimed back-to-back major titles for the first time since 2010 – when he won the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in a row.

Here is what Casper Ruud had to say; “This is a first time for me so let’s see how I do. The first and most important thing is to congratulate Rafa. It’s your 14th time, 22nd all around in Grand Slams. We all know what a champion you are.

“Today I got to feel how it is to play against you in a final. It’s not easy and I’m not the first victim. I know there have been many before!

“To you Rafa, your team, your family, you have taken me into your Academy with open arms, also my family. You are a true inspiration for me. We all hope you will continue for some more time.”

Here is what Rafael Nadal had to say; “I want to continue saying thank you to everybody who make possible this event.

“For me and I think for a lot of people who love the history of this sport it is the best tournament of the world so thank you everybody who make possible this great event. You make me feel like home.

“For me personally, it is very difficult to describe the feelings that I have. It’s something that I never believed; I would be here at 36, being competitive again, playing in the most important court of my career one more time in a final.

“It means everything to me. It means a lot of energy to try to keep going. I just want to say merci, merci beaucoup.”