Tag Archives: Roy Emerson

Nadal Makes History After Winning His Eighth French Open Title

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Rafael Nadal has etched his name into the annals of tennis history…

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star beat David Ferrer in the French Open final Sunday 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to become the first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam tournament.

Rafael Nadal

Nadal, proclaimed The King of Clay, also broke the men’s record for match wins at Roland Garros, where he improved to 59-1, with his lone defeat against Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009.

For fans enthralled by Nadal’s semifinal victory over top-ranked Novak Djokovic, the final may have seemed anticlimactic. But not for Nadal.

His path to the French Open title was more arduous than usual. He fell behind in each of his first three matches and needed a fifth-set comeback to beat Djokovic.

And the latest title was especially sweet for Nadal because of his comeback after a seven-month layoff caused by knee trouble.

”This one is very special one,” Nadal said. ”When you have period of time like I had, you realize that you don’t know if you will have the chance to be back here with this trophy another time.”

Since returning in February, he’s 43-2 with seven titles in nine tournaments, and he has won his past 22 matches. With his 12th Grand Slam tournament championship, Nadal moved into a tie for third place with Roy Emerson behind Roger Federer‘s 17 and Pete Sampras‘ 14.

Nadal came into the final with a 16-match winning streak on clay against Ferrer, who was a big underdog playing in his first major final at age 31. Ferrer had a few chances to make Nadal uneasy but converted only three of 12 break points and double-faulted five times.

Ferrer Ties Emerson’s Record by Winning Heineken Open

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David Ferrer has matched a nearly 50 year record…

The 30-year-old Spanish tennis star beat Philipp Kohlschreiber on Saturday to win the Heineken Open title for the third straight year and fourth time overall.

David Ferrer

The tournament’s No. 1 seed Ferrer beat Kohlschreiber 7-6 (5), 6-1 to match the record of Australia’s Roy Emerson, who won the Auckland singles title in 1960, ’65, ’66 and ’67.

Ferrer took the title for the first time in 2007.

He received an email from Emerson just before the final, wishing him well in his effort to equal his record.

The Spaniard, who heads to the Australian Open, said he would return in 2014 to try for a record fifth win.

Saturday’s win gave Ferrer the 19th singles title of his career and his eighth in the past 12 months.

His win in Auckland last January gave him the first of seven singles titles he won in eight finals appearances in 2012.

Kohlschreiber, ranked No. 19, was attempting to win the Heineken Open for the second time after his victory in.

He dominated early, serving strongly and returning aggressively. He even broke Ferrer’s serve in the third game of the opening set and didn’t concede a point on serve until the eighth game when he was broken to allow Ferrer to even the set at 4-4.

Kohlschreiber broke again and had a set point as he served for the match at 5-4. But he faltered, dropped serve again and saw Ferrer take the set into a tiebreak.

Ferrer gained an early mini break and held it, winning the first set in 53 minutes.

Kohlschreiber’s spirits seemed to sag after the setback. He wasn’t able to serve as forcefully in the second set, or to challenge Ferrer’s increasing confidence on his own serve.

Ferrer broke Kohlschreiber in the third, fifth and seventh games, to take the second set in only 24 minutes. While Kohlschreiber served five aces to none and while both players won around 65 percent of points on first serve, the German had an increasing number of unforced errors.

He made 26 in the first set and 41 in the match while Ferrer, after his slow start, was accurate and consistent.

“I’m so happy,” said Ferrer. “It was amazing for me to win here four times. Now I can say this is my favorite tournament.”

Nadal Wins Historic Seventh Title at the French Open

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After an emotional two-day adventure, Rafael Nadal is officially in seventh heaven…

The 26-year-old Spanish tenista won a record seventh French Open title on Monday, returning to Roland Garros a day after rain postponed play to defeat world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.

Rafael Nadal

The victory by “The King of Clay,” as he’s been called, helped Nadal surpass the record he shared with Bjorn Borg, who claimed six titles on the red clay at Roland Garros. Nadal ties Chris Evert on the women’s side, who was the first player to win the French Open seven times.

“This is my favorite tournament of the world,” Nadal told the French crowd during his on-court interview.

It’s Nadal’s 11th Grand Slam title, moving him into a tie for fourth all time with Rod Laver and Borg. He now trails only Roger Federer (16), Pete Sampras (14) and Roy Emerson (12).

Rafael Nadal

He also ends Djokovic’s streak of three consecutive Grand Slam titles, denying the 25-year-old Serbian tennis star a chance to become the first since Laver to own all four Grand Slam titles at the same time. Djokovic had defeated Nadal in the three previous Slam finals, including a nearly six-hour match at the Australian Open in January.

Nadal runs his record at Roland Garros to 52-1.

Meanwhile, this was the first French Open to not end on Sunday since 1973, when Ilie Nastase wrapped up his title on a Tuesday.