Nadal dominates Djokovic for 13th French Open crown

Rafael Nadal equaled Roger Federer's men's record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles.
2017 photo by Mal Taam

   It was hardly surprising that Rafael Nadal tied Roger Federer's men's record of 20 Grand Slam singles titles today.

   The way he did it was another matter, especially in the first two sets.

   Nadal, ranked second, dismantled Novak Djokovic, ranked first, 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 in 2 hours, 41 minutes to win his fourth consecutive French Open title and mind-boggling13th overall. 

   Djokovic, who ranks third with 17 Grand Slam singles crowns, double-faulted to give Nadal a 6-5 lead in the third set. Nadal then held serve at love, finishing with an ace.

   "In terms of these records, of course I care," Nadal told reporters. "I am a big fan of the history of sport in general. I respect that a lot. For me, it means a lot to share this number with Roger, no? But let's see what's going on when we finish our careers. We keep playing."

Rafael Nadal improved to 100-2 in the French Open. 2017 photo
by Mal Taam

   It was Nadal's most lopsided Grand Slam victory in the storied rivalry, eclipsing his 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 triumph in the semifinals of the 2007 French Open. It was also the biggest rout in a Roland Garros final since Nadal overwhelmed Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 only three years ago.

   Today's outcome, however, was not entirely shocking. Nadal crushed Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 in the 2008 French Open final and blanked Djokovic in the first set for the second straight match on clay. Nadal downed Djokovic 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 in last year's Italian Open final. 

   Nadal became the first player in the Open Era, which began in 1968, to win one of the Grand Slam tournaments four times without losing a set. He also did so at Roland Garros in 2008, 2010 and 2017.

   Djokovic breezed in his first four matches of the tournament before defeating 17th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta in four sets in a 3-hour, 10-minute quarterfinal and fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets in a 3-hour, 54-minute semifinal. In the latter encounter, Djokovic held a match point serving at 6-3, 6-2, 5-4.

   Djokovic, 33, leads the 34-year-old Nadal 29-27 in the head-to-head series. Nadal, though, improved to 7-1 in the French Open and 3-0 in Roland Garros finals against Djokovic.

   Overall, Nadal is 100-2 in the French Open, falling to Djokovic in the 2015 quarterfinals and Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009.

   Nadal salvaged his year with a vintage performance. He lost to Dominic Thiem in the Australian Open quarterfinals, skipped the U.S. Open because of coronavirus concerns and, in his only French Open tuneup tournament, lost to Diego Schwartzman for the first time in 10 meetings in the quarters.

   "I played at an amazing level of tennis, no?" Nadal said of today's final. "For two sets and a half, I played great. I can't say another thing. Is impossible to have this score against him without playing great."

Novak Djokovic fell to 37-2 this year, including his
default from the U.S. Open, and 1-4 in French Open
finals. File photo by Paul Bauman

   Djokovic fell to 37-2 this year, including his default from the U.S. Open, and 1-4 in French Open finals. He committed 52 unforced errors to only 14 for Nadal. Djokovic often resorted to drop shots, to no avail against the fleet Spaniard.

   "I was probably rushing a bit much, trying to play shorter points," lamented Djokovic, who seemed fine physically. "I probably wasn't constructing the points well. That reflected on the result. But that was also caused by him, by his amazing defense. He was getting a lot of balls back."

   Djokovic was bidding to become the first man in the Open Era to win every Grand Slam title at least twice. Federer has won one French Open crown, and Nadal has captured one Australian Open title.

   Federer, 39, missed the U.S. Open and French Open after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee twice this year. He plans to return in 2021.

   Women's doubles final — Second-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France won the title for the second consecutive year, beating 14th-seeded Alexa Guarachi, a native of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., who plays for Chile, and Desirae Krawczyk, who was born in Palm Desert, Calif., 6-4, 7-5.

   Krawczyk won the doubles title in the 2017 Sacramento (Calif.) Challenger with Giuliana Olmos, who was born in Austria, grew up in Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area and plays for Mexico. 

American Kenin voted WTA Most Improved Player

Sofia Kenin, shown en route to the 2018 Berkeley (Calif.) title,
  ended this year at No. 14 in the world. Photo by Paul Bauman

  Sofia Kenin, who starred in Northern California Challengers, was voted the Most Improved Player of the Year, the WTA announced on Wednesday.
   The 21-year-old American jumped from No. 52 to No. 14 in the year-end rankings. She peaked at No. 12 on Oct. 21.
   The Moscow native won her first three WTA singles titles (Hobart, Mallorca and Guangzhao) and reached the round of 16 at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, stunning Serena Williams in the third round of the French Open.
   Kenin also beat reigning No. 1 players in back-to-back weeks, ousting Ashleigh Barty in Toronto and Naomi Osaka in Cincinnati.
   Kenin won NorCal Challenger singles titles in three consecutive years – Sacramento in 2016 at age 17, Stockton and Berkeley.
   Other award winners, as voted on by international journalists, were Barty (Player of the Year), Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic (Doubles Team of the Year), Bianca Andreescu (Newcomer of the Year) and Belinda Bencic (Comeback Player of the Year).
   Barty, a 23-year-old Australian, claimed her first Grand Slam singles title in the French Open, also won the WTA Finals and ended the year at No. 1 for the first time.
   Babos and Mladenovic – 26-year-olds from Hungary and France, respectively – took the French Open crown and won the WTA Finals for the second straight year.
   Andreescu, 19, soared from No. 178 to No. 5 in the year-end rankings. She became the first Canadian, male or female, to win a major singles title, shocking Williams in the U.S. Open final.
   Bencic, a right-hander who underwent left wrist surgery in the spring of 2017 and plunged as low as No. 318, ended the year in the top 10 for the first time at No. 8. The 22-year-old Swiss matched her career high of No. 7 after winning the Moscow title in October.

Rankings mover of the week: Carol Zhao (down)

Carol Zhao, a Stanford sophomore, addresses the media after
losing to Ana Ivanovic in the second round of the Bank of the
West Classic at Stanford in July. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Carol Zhao, a Stanford sophomore from Canada, tumbled 188 places to No. 549 in the doubles world rankings after losing in the first round at Quebec City on the elite WTA tour last week.

   Zhao, 19, paired with Francoise Abanda, 17, of Canada in a 6-1, 6-2 loss to top-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France. Zhao and Abanda reached the doubles quarterfinals at Quebec City last year, accounting for Zhao's drop in the rankings.

   Babos and Mladenovic advanced to this year's Wimbledon final, losing to second-seeded Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy.

   Mladenovic, 21, stunned two-time Grand Slam singles champion Li Na in the first round of the French Open this year and won the 2013 Wimbledon and 2014 Australian Open mixed doubles titles with Daniel Nestor of Canada.
   Zhao is ranked a career-high No. 296 in singles. As a qualifier, she won her first WTA main-draw match in July at Stanford when Yanina Wickmayer, a U.S. Open semifinalist in 2009, retired because of a viral illness with Zhao leading 6-2, 1-0 in the Bank of the West Classic. Zhao then lost to fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic, formerly ranked No. 1 in the world, 6-1, 6-1.

WORLD RANKINGS

   Players with Northern California ties ranked in the top 1,000 in the world (change from last week in parentheses):

Men

   Collin Altamirano, 18 years old, 2013 USTA Boys 18 national champion from Sacramento -- No. 751 in singles (-2), No. 894 in doubles (-4).

   Bob Bryan, 36 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Mike Bryan, 36 years old, 1998 NCAA doubles champion from Stanford -- Career-high No. 1 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Connor Farren, 19 years old, USC sophomore from Foster City -- No. 992 in singles (+3).
   Bradley Klahn, 24 years old, 2010 NCAA singles champion and 2011 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 118 in singles (+2), No. 165 in doubles (-1).
   Scott Lipsky, 33 years old, 2002 NCAA doubles runner-up from Stanford -- No. 36 in doubles (no change), unranked in singles.

   Mackenzie McDonald, 19 years old, UCLA sophomore from Piedmont -- No. 643 in singles (+2), No. 569 in doubles (+2).
   Sam Querrey, 26 years old, San Francisco native, Sacramento Capitals (2012-13) -- No. 52 in singles (-1), No. 64 in doubles (-2).
   Dmitry Tursunov, 31 years old, trains at Gorin Tennis Academy in Sacramento suburb of Granite Bay -- No. 69 in singles (-1), No. 117 in doubles (+1).

Women

   Kristie Ahn, 22 years old, member of Stanford's 2013 NCAA championship team, singles round of 16 in 2014 NCAA Tournament as a senior -- No. 889 in singles (no change), No. 758 in doubles (+8).

   CiCi Bellis, 15 years old, 2014 USTA Girls 18 national champion from Atherton -- No. 433 in singles (-2), No. 887 in doubles (-2).

   Hadley Berg, 18 years old, University of South Carolina freshman from Greenbrae -- No. 985 in doubles (+2).

   Mallory Burdette, 23 years old, NCAA singles runner-up in 2012 and NCAA doubles champion in 2011 and 2012 from Stanford -- Injured, unranked in singles and doubles.
   Nicole Gibbs, 21 years old, NCAA singles champion in 2012 and 2013 and NCAA doubles champion in 2012 from Stanford -- Career-high No. 101 in singles (no change), No. 545 in doubles (+1). 

   Michaela Gordon, 15 years old, 2014 USTA Girls 18 quarterfinalist from Saratoga -- No. 939 in singles (-2).

   Macall Harkins, 28 years old, Concord resident -- No. 409 in doubles (+6), No. 675 in singles (+1).
   Raquel Kops-Jones, 31 years old, San Jose resident, 2003 NCAA doubles champion from Cal -- Career-high No. 11 in doubles (no change), No. 762 in singles (+7).

   Maria Sanchez, 24 years old, born and raised in Modesto -- No. 93 in doubles (-3), No. 265 in singles (+10).

   Karina Vyrlan, 15 years old, Sacramento resident -- No. 847 in singles (+3).

   Allie Will, 23 years old, born in San Mateo -- No. 157 in doubles (-17), No. 468 in singles (+6).
   Carol Zhao, 19 years old, Stanford sophomore -- Career-high No. 296 in singles (+1), No. 549 (-188 in doubles).