Nadal ties Federer, sets numerous other records with French Open victory

Rafael Nadal.
(Image credit: MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal defeated his longtime rival, the top-seeded Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 to win his 13th French Open singles title, extending a record he set years ago and further solidifying him as one of the sport's all-time great performers.

It was a history-making kind of day for the Spaniard. The victory means the 34-year-old Nadal has tied another contemporary, Roger Federer, for the most Grand Slam titles in a career with 20. The "King of Clay," so-called because of his dominance on the surface, is now the oldest Roland-Garros champion since 1972. It's been 15 years since he won his first grand slam in Paris in 2005, marking the longest span between a male professional tennis player's first and latest Grand Slam victories.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.