We talk a lot about Rafael Nadal, his 10 Roland Garros wins, and his overall dominance on dirt. In this post, we want to give the King of Clay a chance to speak for himself. At Tennis Express, we received an exclusive miniseries from Babolat, in which Rafa talks about his 10 grand slam victories in Paris. In hindsight, it’s easy to remember Rafa as an unstoppable force during the clay season, and particularly at the French Open; however, this was not always the case. In this series, we learn more about the highs and lows that Rafa experienced over the years, and get a closer look into the mindset of a champion. To view the videos, simply click on the images in each section.
2005 & 2006
Rafa talks about winning his first French Open in 2005, suffering a foot injury at the end of the season, and bouncing back to win again in 2006.
2007 & 2008
Rafa admits that he didn’t play his best in Paris in 2007, but still had enough in the tank to pull out the win. He goes on to say that the 2008 French Open was one of his best. He felt more comfortable and had a couple of great matches.
2010, 2011, & 2012
2010 was special because Rafa came back strong after a fourth-round loss in 2009. He was nervous before the final because he had to face the man who beat him the year prior: Robin Söderling. He also thought he had a good chance to lose in 2011 because he lost in both Madrid and Rome. Rafa recounts how he had lost finals to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open before going into Roland Garros 2012. We all know what happened in Paris.
2013
Rafa began to feel more introspective in 2013 (he fought back from a 7 month layoff due to a knee injury). His match against Djokovic was one of his most emotional ever at Roland Garros.
2014
Rafa had a tough beginning to the 2014 clay court season because of a back injury. He suffered defeats at the Monte Carlo Masters, Barcelona Open, and Rome Masters. That said, he still felt confident heading to Paris after his solid showing in Rome.
2017
In 2017, Rafa won his 10th French Open. He hadn’t felt very confident beforehand due to injuries and other issues the previous couple of seasons, but we all know the end result.
10x Roland Garros Champion
Rafa’s 10th Roland Garros win was very emotional. He talks about how he felt following the final, and wraps up the series by talking about his racquet: the Babolat Pure Aero Decima French Open Tennis Racquet.
Bonus Footage
Check out this bonus footage of Nadal knocking around some tennis balls with kids at an event in Paris on May 25th.
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To see related content on Nadal and the French Open, check out our blogs below:
