Nadal locks in success, locks out rivals

Spain’s Rafael Nadal holds the trophy after winning against compatriot David Ferrer in three sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, in the final of the French Open tennis tournament, at Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Sunday June 9, 2013. FILE PHOTO

PARIS – The 27-year-old Spaniard’s straight sets victory over David Ferrer was his 12th major, pulling him level with Roy Emerson and just five behind Roger Federer’s record of 17.

It was also his 59th win against just one defeat in his French Open career.

But his Sunday afternoon cruise, which was only threatened briefly by the appearance of protesters against a new French law allowing same-sex marriage, also makes bleak reading for the workaday tennis professionals who toil week in, week out.

Nadal, reigning Wimbledon champion Federer, and Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic have now collected 35 of the last 40 Grand Slam titles — a streak stretching back to Federer’s 2003 Wimbledon breakthrough.

Of the five men to break that sequence, Andy Roddick (2003 US Open), Gaston Gaudio (2004 French Open) and Marat Safin (2005 Australian Open) have all retired.

Juan Martin del Potro, who beat Federer for the 2009 US Open title, and Andy Murray, who saw off Djokovic for the 2012 crown in New York, are still respected rivals, but both missed the French Open through injury.

Even though they fell short in Paris, Djokovic still reached a 12th successive Grand Slam semi-final while Federer was able to boast 36 quarter-finals in a row.

“If you don’t feel that you can improve, then you don’t know nothing about life, because nothing is perfect in this life,” said Nadal in the aftermath of Sunday’s win.

“You can improve always in every way. I don’t go to practice because I have to practice. I go to practice with a goal, things that I think I need to do better to keep being competitive against the best players.”

What must be dispiriting for many on the tour is that Nadal only returned to the tour in February after seven months on the sidelines with a knee injury.

His title in Paris was his seventh of 2013 and represented a 43rd win in 45 matches.

Federer, a seven-time Wimbledon winner, believes that the key to Grand Slam longevity is remaining fit and respecting the restrictions that age — he will be 32 in August — demands.

“We need the time where we need to work out a lot, where you cannot go chase the money, the red carpet events,” said Federer in a direct riposte to the supposed lack of self-discipline amongst his younger contemporaries.

“I’d like to stay in the game for as long as I can, or at least I gave myself the best possible opportunity.”

Federer also told the tour’s young guns that if they want to reach the dizzy heights currently occupied by himself, Djokovic, Nadal and Murray, that they have to believe in themselves.

“The throwing in the towel thing, that shouldn’t happen. You can play Nadal or me and why not fight?”

On the women’s tour, the power of the big three is virtually unchallenged.

Since 2002, there has only been one year — 2011 — when either Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova or Victoria Azarenka was not amongst the major winners.

Williams, now in her third decade as a professional, won her first Grand Slam at the US Open in 1999; on Saturday, she captured her 16th with a straight sets win over Sharapova in Paris.

It was the 31-year-old American’s second French Open, 11 years after her first.

“I really enjoy every moment that I’m out there. I always said that I felt like I have never played my best tennis,” said Williams, the oldest winner in Paris in the Open era.

“I feel like I can always do better and play better and I have always wanted to reach that level. Maybe I’m just trying to get there.”

She is now just two majors behind the 18 won by Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova and four back from the 22 racked up by Steffi Graf. Margaret Court, with 24, holds the all-time record.

Since her shock first-round defeat to Virginie Razzano in Paris last year, Williams has won 74 of 77 matches, with further titles in 2012 at Wimbledon, the Olympics and the US Open.

In 2013, she has won 43 out of 45 matches, sweeping to victory in Brisbane, Miami, Charleston, Madrid, Rome and now in Paris.

“I feel like I definitely want to continue my journey to get a few more.”