Column: Nadal defeats Djokovic to win his seventh French Open

It took two days for tennis’ dominant stars to determine the winner of this year’s historic… It took two days for tennis’ dominant stars to determine the winner of this year’s historic French Open title at Roland Garros in Paris.

After having to wait overnight to resume a back-and-forth match that was suspended due to rain Sunday, Rafael Nadal pulled out a 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 win on Monday against the No. 1-ranked player in the world, his nemesis, Novak Djokovic.

The victory snapped a six-match head-to-head losing streak this year for Nadal versus Djokovic and also stops a three-match slide for the Spaniard against the Serbian in Grand Slam finals events. Even more impressively, the win marked Nadal’s record-breaking seventh French Open title.

Djokovic tried to make history in his own right, as he looked to become the first man in 43 years to hold all four Grand Slam titles at once after his championship victories at Wimbledon, the United States Open and the Australian Open in the past year.

But Nadal said that, for him, the French Open is the event he likes to win the most.

“It’s a real honor,” Nadal said after his triumph on Monday. “For me, this is the most important tournament in the world.”

In recent years, Nadal has established himself as a clay-court juggernaut, winning seven of the past eight French Opens. He has lost just one time in 53 matches since he first debuted in the tournament at 18 years of age.

“He is definitely the best player in history on this surface,” Djokovic said of Nadal’s ability on clay.

Nadal asserted himself early on Sunday, breaking Djokovic’s serve several times en route to taking a two-set lead before the match would be delayed by rain. The first delay lasted 34 minutes, but after play resumed, the momentum appeared to shift in the other direction.

Djokovic went on to win the next eight games to take the third set and gain a 2-1 lead in the fourth set. With the match looking destined for a decisive fifth set, the rains came again and forced a postponement until the next day.

When play resumed Monday, Nadal broke Djokovic’s serve in the first game to even the fourth set score at 2-2. After reclaiming the momentum he seemed to be losing grasp of the day before, the Spaniard never looked back, taking just 49 minutes to finish off Djokovic in the fourth set, 7-5.

After the final point, Nadal ecstatically fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the emotion of his historic accomplishment.

“I’m really, really emotional, and it’s probably one of the more special moments of my career,” he said.

With the victory, Nadal joined Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver in fourth place on the all-time leaderboard for Grand Slam major wins, with 11. He is chasing only Roy Emerson (12), Pete Sampras (14) and Roger Federer (16) on that list.

As for the two young competitors, it is safe to assume that this won’t be the last time they will meet in a major tournament final.

Over the past couple seasons, the two have built a rivalry that is undoubtedly the most exciting matchup in tennis. They have met in an unprecedented four straight Grand Slam finals, making their rivalry worthy of recognition as one of the best in the history of the sport.

Given the epic nature of their matches, the anticipation of who will come out on top has tennis fans everywhere wanting more with each subsequent matchup.

And the fans likely won’t have to wait long to see Nadal and Djokovic duel again. In just two weeks, the two will begin competing for their chance at this year’s third Grand Slam title, Wimbledon.

Expect the two to meet again in the finals, but this time Djokovic should have the slight advantage on the grass-court surface.

Regardless of who wins, one thing is certain: The stage is set for these two tennis greats to compete for major tournament titles for many years to come.