World number one Rafa Nadal acclaimed Novak Djokovic as the man to beat at the French Open after losing to the Serbian in straight sets on clay for the second time in a week at the Rome Masters on Sunday.
For the third time in five years, Rafa Nadal's Australian Open title hopes were ended by injury as he was beaten by Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka in the final on Sunday.
Fifth seed Juan Martin Del Potro, whose match was shunted back to the late evening by the disruptions, was the first major casualty of the men's draw when he lostto 62nd ranked Spaniard Roberto Bautista at the Australian Open.
Nadal has a habit of truly coming into his own at Roland Garros, as his 100-2 win-loss record testifies.
Nadal surpassed the haul of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Rafael Nadal's 30-match winning streak ended on Friday when the world number one was upset 7-6(1), 6-4 by fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the Monte Carlo Masters quarter-finals.
Rafael Nadal's preparations for Wimbledon were cut short when he was knocked out of the Halle Open by defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber on Friday.
Rafael Nadal, who was out of competitive action for over six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was at pains to point out that not everything was as easy as it looks.
How Nadal surpassed the haul of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Eighteen time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has climbed up to the fourth spot in the latest ATP rankings after lifting his third Miami Open title by beating long-time rival Rafael Nadal.
Medvedev became only the fourth player in ATP history to beat the world's top three at the same tournament.
Dominic Thiem fell in straight sets to Rafael Nadal in the 2018 French Open final but took the 12-time Roland Garros champion to four sets last June. On Sunday, the Austrian appeared to be heading towards a four-set victory before Djokovic mounted a spectacular comeback to deny him again.
Dominic Thiem hailed Rafael Nadal's 'awesome' 11th French Open title after suffering a straight-sets defeat by the king of clay in the final at Roland Garros on Sunday.
Although he had beaten Nadal 12 years ago at Wimbledon, few gave Luxembourg's Muller a chance on Monday against the fourth seed and French Open champion. 'This is definitely the biggest victory since then, since I came back, especially at that stage of a grand slam, playing one of the guys who is dominating the tennis this year again. Definitely the biggest win'
A quick look at Rafael Nadal's domination of Roger Federer at Roland Garros.
This year's ATP Finals boasts a fresh new
'Yes, I fall over, but grass sometimes is slippery. Nothing happens. I am good, yeah. Nothing'
Defending champion Rafael Nadal thrashed Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem 6-0, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters for a record 14th time on Friday.
But for the first time, that golden trio will be having an anxious glance over their shoulders. The past week in London has revealed a new fearlessness in the generation of 20 somethings expected to fill the void when they call it a day.
Novak Djokovic beat Tomas Berdych 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8) in the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters on Friday to claim his 20th consecutive win and stay on course for an unprecedented third title in a row at the event.
A look at the records of Spain's Rafael Nadal and Serbia's Novak Djokovic before their title clash at the Australian Open on Sunday (prefix number denotes seeding):
Thirteen years on and his record next to the Bois de Boulogne stands at an incredible 85 wins and two losses.
The Serbian showed no mercy against the Spaniard as he cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory at the National Tennis Centre to claim the China Open title
Nadal, is known to have a superior win-loss record over most top players (including Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic), but believe it or not, there are players on the circuit who have an edge over Nadal.
"But if you need a reminder of who he is, just look at his career stats and grand slams that he won."
Two-times champion Rafa Nadal crashed out in the second round of Wimbledon on Thursday after being out-muscled and out-thought in four sets by an inspired Dustin Brown of Germany.
Images from Tuesday's matches at the Australian Open.
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