Nadal creates history, claims 7th French Open title

Paris, June 11 (ANI): Spanish tennis star and World No.2 Raphael Nadal created history on Monday by winning his seventh French Open title by beating World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in four sets in a final spread over two days due to rain.

Nadal took the title with a 6-4, 6-3, 2-6,7-5 scoreline. In the process of acquiring the seventh French Open title, Nadal overtook Swiss great Bjorn Borg who had six Roland Garros titles.

Nadal, chasing a record seventh Roland Garros title, was leading 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 1-2 when play started on Monday afternoon on the Philippe Chatrier Court.

The last time a French Open men's final failed to be completed on a Sunday was 1973 when it was played on the following Tuesday with Ilie Nastase beating Niki Pilic.

World number one Djokovic was bidding to become only the third man, and first in 43 years, to hold onto all four Grand Slam titles at the same time, but failed here.

After slipping two sets down, he was also a break down at 0-2 in the third before he reeled off eight games in succession to take the third set and lead 2-0 in the fourth.

Nadal had stopped the rot for 2-1 before play was suspended.

The Spanish world number two, playing in his 16th Grand Slam final and seeking an 11th major, went into Sunday's final with a staggering record of 51 wins against just one loss at Roland Garros.

Djokovic, the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open champion, was looking to emulate Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) by holding four majors at the same time.

In a record fourth successive Grand Slam final between the two, and following their almost six-hour epic in Australia, Nadal swept into a two-set lead with Djokovic undone by 30 unforced errors.

But Djokovic, who had been two sets to love down to Andreas Seppi in the fourth round, and saved four match points in his quarter-final victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, refused to buckle.

From 2-0 down in the third, he reeled off eight games in succession to take the third set and lead 2-0 in the fourth. (ANI)