French Open 2020 - Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic

The finals of  The French Open 2020 took place on 11/10/2020 at The Stade Roland Garros in France. The two finalists were ATP Rank no.1  Novak Djokovic and ATP Rank no.2  Rafael Nadal.   In the semi-final stage,   Nadal got the better of  Diego Schwartzman while  Djokovic overcame Stefanos Tsitsipas.  If he won this game, Nadal would equal Roger's Federer's record of 20 Grand Slam single's titles.  Personally, I was quite excited to see this matchup and I was rooting for Nadal.  Let's see how the game unfolded.

THE MATCH

I was expecting Nadal to have a tough game as Novak Djokovic has had the upper hand over him in the past but when Nadal won the first few points of the game, you could sense that this version of him was different.  I personally felt so as I watched the past few finals of his.  There was that determination and that sense of confidence in him.  He won the first set 6-0 in 45 minutes   

Everyone expected   Djokovic to come back strongly in the next set but Nadal kept up the pressure with incredible shots and was in fact dominating Djokovic which was highly unusual.  While the second set was being played, you could see that Djokovic was running out of ideas.  He played well and hit some great shots but Nadal always had an answer.  I think Nadal was quite determined to match Federer's record so that gave him an extra boost.  He won the second set as well 6-2.  This set was a bit better for Djokovic as in the first set he was outplayed completely.

Djokovic started the third set rather well by winning the first few points.  He eventually led the set 5-4 but it was still a long to go for him if he wanted to triumph Nadal.  Djokovic was now coming into his own but was it too late?.  Should he have had that one point in the set where he let out a warcry in the earlier sets?.  Let's see.  Djokovic made too many unforced errors in  this game overall.40 to Nadal's 15 and it might cost him.  He played extremely well in this set but a double fault by him gave Nadal a significant advantage.

RESULT

Nadal won the third set 7-5 and clinched his 20th Grand Slam single's record and is now on par with Roger Federer in this regard.  In addition, this was Nadal's 100th win at Roland Garros.  Astonishingly he has lost only twice here. What an incredible career for this great sportsman!

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I would like to say that Rafael Nadal played extremely well today and showed why he is truly The King of Clay.  He didn't let Djokovic off the hook.  Djokovic came too late into the game and his unforced errors which were far too many cost him.

Stay tuned for further updates in the world of sports