Rafael Nadal wins 2022 French Open: Decoding his career achievements
What's the story
Rafael Nadal defeated Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the final of the 2022 French Open on Sunday.
Nadal has won his 14th Roland Garros title.
He has also lifted a record-extending 22 Grand Slam title.
Earlier, Nadal reached the final after Alexander Zverev retired midway through the semi-final.
Here we decode the career achievements of Rafa.
Roland Garros
14 Roland Garros honors for Rafa
Rafa made his Roland Garros debut in the year 2005.
He won the title in his debut season.
His 14 titles have come in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022.
He was ousted in the quarters in 2015 and semis in 2021.
He suffered a fourth-round exit in 2009 and a third-round defeat in 2016.
Record
Rafa's record at Grand Slams
Nadal now has a 305-41 win-loss record at Grand Slams, including 112-3 here in Paris.
This was his 30th Grand Slam final and he now has a 22-8 win-loss record in finals.
Nadal also has a 14-0 win-loss record at Roland Garros finals.
His Slam tally reads: AO (2), French Open (14), Wimbledon (2), US Open (4).
Stats
Performance at ATP Finals and a two-time Olympic medalist
Rafa has been a two-time finalist at the year-end ATP Finals. He has a 20-16 win-loss record.
His two losses came against rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
He has won two Olympic gold medals.
Rafa pocketed the men's singles gold at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
He won the gold in doubles category at the 2016 Rio Games.
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Oldest French Open champion
As per ATP, the 36-year-old Nadal surpassed Andres Gimeno as the oldest Roland Garros men's singles champion in history. Gimeno had won the title at 34 years and 10 months in the year 1972. Nadal won the 2020 trophy aged 34 years and 4 months.
Records
Unique records held by Nadal
Nadal is the only player in men's singles to win a Grand Slam title without losing a set on four occasions.
He achieved the same at Roland Garros in 2008, 2010, 2017, 2020.
Nadal is the only player to have won a Clay Slam.
He was successful in Monte Carlo, Rome, Madrid, and won the French Open in a calendar year (2010).
ATP 1000
36 ATP Masters 1000 titles
Nadal has won the second-highest number of ATP 1000 Masters titles to date (36).
He is only behind Djokovic, who has won 38 trophies.
Nadal has pocketed a record 11 Monte-Carlo Masters.
He has three Indian Wells titles, five Madrid Open honors, the defunct Hamburg Open once, 10 Rome Masters, five Canadian Open trophies, and one Cincinnati Masters.
Numbers
Notable career numbers for the Spaniard
As per ATP, Nadal has won 92 career titles to date in men's singles. He is closing in on Ivan Lendl (94).
Nadal now has a 1,058-212 win-loss record in career ATP matches.
He is only behind Jimmy Connors (1,274), Roger Federer (1,251), and Lendl (1,068).
At 34 years and 5 months, Nadal became the oldest to win 1,000 tour-level matches.
Information
Nadal has been a serial winner
Nadal has managed to win at least one honor in each of his 19 years so far on tour level. His first title was at the Warsaw Open in 2004. His best season was in 2005 (11 titles). He also won 10 titles in 2013.