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Tennis

Rafael Nadal Beats Casper Ruud to Win Historic 14th Roland Garros Title

Rafael Nadal is known as the “King of Clay” for a reason, and he lived up to his famous nickname at this year’s French Open. The Spanish tennis legend won the record-extending 14th Roland Garros title after defeating Casper Ruud on Sunday. Nadal scored an easy win against the Norwegian player, beating him 6-3 6-3 6-0, but his road to the final wasn’t an easy one. It took him four hours to defeat the defending champion, Novak Djokovic, in the quarterfinals. He proceeded to the final stage of the tournament after Alexander Zverev retired from their semifinal match due to injury. At 36, Nadal became the oldest men's singles champion in the French Open history, and he said it was completely unexpected to win his 14th title at this stage of his career. “It’s something that I for sure never believed, be here at 36, being competitive again, playing in the most important court of my career one more time in a final means a lot. I don’t know what can happen in the future, but I’m going to keep fighting to try to keep going,” said Nadal after defeating Ruud. In addition to holding the record for most Roland Garros titles, Nadal also extended his number of Grand Slam men's singles titles to 22, moving two titles ahead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.