Luis Edu
Rafael Nadal entered the select club of 300 Grand Slam victories, thanks to his victory in the second round of Roland Garros 2022 over Frenchman Corentin Moutet, with a score of 6/3 6/1 6/4.
Despite the fact that the tennis player born in Palma de Mallorca achieved another resounding victory, in this article we will focus on remembering his 5 most difficult matches throughout his career at this prestigious event in Paris.
The Ranking: Rafael Nadal’s Most Difficult Matches at Roland Garros
Nadal vs. Robin Soderling (2009)
Robin Soderling wrote his name in the tennis history books when he became the first tennis player to beat Rafael Nadal in the great French event.
The Swede showed some superb tennis and ended up taking the win 6/2 6/7 6/4 7/6. This result showed that the Spaniard is not invincible on clay.
Nadal vs. Roger Federer (2005)
“Rafa” achieved the first of his 13 French Open titles in 2005, when he beat Argentina’s Mariano Puerta in the final.
Before reaching the championship match, the then 19-year-old had to go all out to defeat Roger Federer in an enthralling match that ended 6/3 4/6 6/4 6/3.
Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic (2015)
At the 2015 edition of Roland Garros, Novak Djokovic stepped into the role of villain to cut Nadal’s dominance of 5 titles in a row.
In the quarterfinals, the Serbian displayed the best of his game in Paris to become the second man to defeat the Spaniard in the tournament, this time with a score of 7/5 6/3 6/1.
Nadal vs. Dominic Thiem (2019)
Dominic Thiem is going through a terrible time right now, with 11 losing streaks, after his fall in the first round of this year’s French Open. However, we cannot forget that at the time he was considered one of the greatest threats in brick dust.
In the 2019 final, “Rafa” lost the second set and had to do his best to end up winning with a score of 6/3 5/7 6/1 6/1.
Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic (2021)
One of the semifinals of the 2021 Paris event featured Nadal and Djokovic. The latter revealed his status as number one in the world to take the victory, by 3/6 6/3 7/6 6/2.
This year, the duo was in the same part of the draw, so again it’s impossible to see them in a championship game.
