Top 3 performances by Rafael Nadal in Roland Garros finals

With a dominant victory at Rome, the 'King of Clay' Rafael Nadal has finally made an impression on the ongoing clay season. His performances in the Italian capital were nearly perfect as he served bagel sets to four of his five opponents, losing just one set on his way to 9th Rome title.

The Spaniard seems to be well and truly back in form, and starts as a firm favourite to win an unprecedented 12th title at Roland Garros.

Since his debut on the Parisian clay in 2005, Nadal has won a whopping 11 titles in the French capital out of his 14 appearances, and maintains a colossal 86-2 win-loss record. His love-affair with Paris is like a fairy-tale, and is celebrated not just by tennis enthusiasts but also by the majority of the sporting world.

Nadal almost literally owns Court Philippe Chatrier, mastering every nook and corner on it. His consistency at this place is immortal; if there is anything constant today, it has to be Nadal winning the French Open.

With the 2019 edition of the tournament just around the corner, let’s take a glimpse at Nadal’s top three most dominating performances in Roland Garros finals.

#3 Roland Garros 2017 Vs Stan Wawrinka

2017 French Open - Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka

Following a troubled 2015 and 2016, Nadal made a grand comeback in 2017 right at the start of the season, reaching the final of the Australian Open.

After pocketing a triplet of titles at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid, the Spaniard headed into the French Open oozing with confidence and self-belief. En route the final in 2017, the Spaniard didn’t drop a set, and even served a bagel to Dominic Thiem in the third set of the semi-finals.

In what was his first appearance in the Roland Garros final in three years, the then 14-time Grand Slam champion met 2015 French Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the summit clash.

Nadal’s performance against Wawrinka was utterly dominant; he looked like a man on a mission as he triumphed over the Swiss 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 to realize ‘La Decima’ (10 French Open titles).

Nadal choked the life out of Wawrinka throughout the match, breaking his serve quite early in each of the three sets. The Swiss, who was perhaps exhausted after his marathon battle against Andy Murray in the semi-finals, did not have any answers to Nadal’s stunning aggression.

The fabulous victory in the final was like an icing on the cake for the Spaniard as he ended his tremendous clay season on a high note. The victory was especially sweet as he ended his Grand Slam title drought after a break of three long years, having won his last Major way back in 2014.

#2 Roland Garros 2012 vs Novak Djokovic

2012 French Open - Nadal's winning moment

In the late spring of 2012 at Paris, Nadal and Novak Djokovic stood on opposite sides of the net. They were challenging each other yet again for a Grand Slam title, for the 4th consecutive time to be precise, with the Serb having outclassed the Spaniard on the three previous occasions.

The result was destined to rewrite history as Nadal was then chasing his 7th title at Roland Garros, trying to eclipse Bjorn Borg’s six French Open crowns. On the other hand, Djokovic, the holder of the three previous Slams, was trying to become first man since Rod Laver to hold each of the four Slams at the same time.

Nadal was clearly the one under more pressure as his clay legacy was at stake. Another loss to Djokovic would have confirmed that the Serb had conquered every single Nadal stronghold.

But the Spaniard, who didn’t lose a single set en route the final, showed nerves of steel and incredible resilience. He stood within touching distance of victory at 6-4, 6-3, 2-0, before a break of serve gave Djokovic some momentum.

The Serb won the next eight games in a row, pocketing the third set 6-2 and also gaining the ascendancy in the 4th with a 2-0 lead. Djokovic had staged a remarkable comeback from a position of despair and desperation.

But that was when the rain arrived, and the break helped the King of Clay. He came back stronger the next day to complete the unfinished business, gathering himself to finally defeat Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 and ascertain himself once again as the champion on red dirt.

The win against the in-form Djokovic to record his 7th French Open crown and go past Borg would have been one of most satisfying victories of Nadal’s illustrious career..

#1 Roland Garros 2008 vs Roger Federer

2008 French Open- Nadal and Federer before the match

The final of the 2008 French Open was a day when Roger Federer had no answer to Nadal’s supremacy on clay.

In a staggering display of clay-court brilliance, Rafael Nadal played possibly his best match ever against the then No. 1 ranked player. He humiliated Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 to record his 4th successive title at Roland Garros.

Federer, who approached the net a lot that day out of desperation, was outclassed, outplayed and outsmarted throughout the course of the match by the rampant Spaniard. Such was the dominance of the then 22-year-old Nadal that the wheels came off completely for Federer in the third set, as he was served an embarrassing bagel.

Nadal’s authoritative and flawless performance against Federer at Roland Garros had implications at Wimbledon as well. Nadal marched on to win his first ever Wimbledon title, going past the Swiss maestro in a high-energy, dramatic five-setter that will reverberate in our memories forever.