Rafael Nadal wins 14th French Open title, 22nd Grand Slam, turns into oldest champ in tourney historical past

Rafael Nadal defeated Casper Ruud in straight units Sunday to win his 14th French Open championship and 22nd Grand Slam title.

The 36-year-old Nadal prevailed 6-3, 6-3, 6-Zero to develop into the oldest champion within the event’s historical past. The oldest champion in event historical past had been Andres Gimeno, who was 34 when he gained in 1972.

Ruud led 3-1 within the second set, a deficit that spurred Nadal to lift his stage — he took the final 11 video games.

The Spaniard’s first triumph in Paris got here in 2005 at age 19. No man or lady ever has gained the singles trophy at any main occasion greater than his 14 in Paris. And no man has gained extra Grand Slam titles than Nadal.

Whereas he isn’t displaying any apparent indicators of slowing, the previous yr or so has not been simple for Nadal.

Nadal sat out a lot of the final half of 2021 — lacking Wimbledon, the Tokyo Olympics and the US Open — due to a left foot damage.

He was in a position to win the Australian Open in January to interrupt a three-way tie at 20 main trophies with Novak Djokovic (who wasn’t there as a result of he is not vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19) and Roger Federer (who’s sidelined after a sequence of knee operations). However after that, Nadal missed time with a rib damage, then was clearly hobbled by the foot as he limped round through the Italian Open final month.

The Related Press contributed to this report.