Alongside his rivals, Rafael Nadal had to battle with his troubled left foot throughout Roland Garros. Rafa came to Paris with only five matches on clay this year, and no one could predict if his foot would endure the best-of-five efforts.
Nadal brought his doctor with him to Paris, and he needed him badly already after the second-round clash with Corentin Moutet. The Spaniard could barely walk after beating the Frenchman, and he and his team decided to inject the nerve in his foot ahead of every next match.
That worked, and Rafa claimed the 14th Roland Garros crown ten days later, writing history books and securing his 22nd Major trophy. Nadal defeated Moutet 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 for his milestone 300th Major victory. Rafa and Corentin met for the first time, and the 21-time Major winner was too strong for the Frenchman.
Nadal lost serve twice and turned almost half of the return points into seven breaks from 12 opportunities, enough to emerge at the top in straight sets. Rafa fired 27 winners and 22 unforced errors and forged the victory in the mid-range exchanges from five to eight shots.
He had the upper hand in the shortest rallies, and Moutet only stayed in touch in the most advanced ones. The Spaniard grabbed a break in the encounter’s second game after the Frenchman’s double fault.
Rafael Nadal struggled with his foot at Roland Garros.
Both players served well in the rest of the set, and that early break proved crucial for Nadal.
He held at 30 in game nine with a booming forehand to claim the opener 6-3 in 41 minutes. At the beginning of the second set, the Spaniard painted a forehand crosscourt winner for a break and an early advantage. He grabbed another break in game three with a forehand down the line winner and held at love to open a 4-0 gap.
A left-handed Frenchman experienced the third break at 1-5 after the Spaniard’s drop shot winner to fall 6-3, 6-1 behind in 80 minutes. Corentin made a better start in the third set, breaking Rafa at 15 and holding in the next one after the rival’s backhand mistake for 2-0.
Moutet netted a routine forehand in game four to drop serve, and they played well behind the initial shot in the next three games. Rafa built the advantage with a break at love in game eight after a volley winner at the net and served for the victory at 5-3.
It was not to be for him, as he netted a backhand to get broken and keep the rival alive. Corentin got a second chance, but he failed to use it, as Rafa broke him in game ten to emerge at the top without spending more time on the court.
“I was limping badly. I still had not injected my nerve. After the Moutet match, we concluded that I could not keep injecting myself where I had been because it continued to worsen. We chose to inject the nerve at a distance, which was good. We would never have gotten to this point if we had not done that,” Rafael Nadal said.
