Defending champion Rafael Nadal became the first finalist at the 2020 French Open with a straigh forward win over Argentine Diego Schwartzman.
Since our champ lost in Rome, many people were expecting a much closer contest, but the world No. 2 was better player from the start, winning 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(0). He has now won 97 of his 99 matches at Roland Garros.
After the match, Rafa said:
“It’s always special to play here, to be in the final another time – it’s always a special moment.
“I made a couple of mistakes [after winning the first two sets]. He played some good points. I then missed two volleys. I know against Diego he makes more breaks without a doubt.
“I lost to him in Rome recently so I know it’d be a tough match.
“Three days ago he played an amazing match against Dominic Thiem. I looked at what happened in that match and what happen in to me in Rome and tried to change that.”
Rafa is now one win away from a century of victories on the Parisian clay courts as well as a record-equalling 20th men’s major title.
i am worried. Nadal needs to play his a game on gravel. I hope that djokovic will not play his best match of the tournament today. I hope he does not play against rafa like he did against him in the australian open final 2019 or semi final wimbeldon 2018
In order for nadal to beat nole he has to do a couple of things
The first set is going to be important
He has to serve unbelievably well
he has to watch out for the backhand cross court from nole
he has to grab his chances nole is right now mentally the toughest opponent to beat. Look what he did against roger last year in the wimbeldon final when had to faced two match points en still won the match or what happend against rafa in the semfinal of wimbeldon 2018 when nadal had set points in the third set and breakpoints in the fifht set
his forehand has to be on fire today
Today is D day Rafa! I can hardly wait!
Can today be sweet revenge for the demolition job that happened at 2019 Australian Open final? Haha it hurts just to remember that:)
Get it done champ. Good luck Rafa!
Earlier I posted that Rafa was concentrating on winning and had stopped worrying about the adverse conditions he cannot control at Roland-Garros. I was happy to come across an article which eloquently describes what I could not. Following is an excerpt from Karen Crouse’s article.
“Every flock needs a cleareyed thinker, and tennis is blessed to have Nadal, whose plain talk throughout this year of the pandemic has been a model of humility, empathy and perspective. When Nadal talks — in his native Spanish, English or, more recently, French — his fellow players listen.
The Tao of Rafa resonated with Jabeur, who said, “If he’s a champion and he doesn’t complain, I mean, who I am to complain about it right now?”
[Source: NYTimes, October 11, 2020]
Hello to all Rafa’s fans, as you are very much informed and coming from all over the world, I was wondering if someone could help me find a job in North America. Since I went to the Police in the town where I was working at this time and to the Police of my place, in 2005, all the opportunities to find a job, a training, all my professional life has been blocked by powerful people, apparently.
I still need to work and we can ask a lot of people in my former positions, they will for sure tell you that I am an open-minded, hard worker, positive person, always looking to help people when they have faced difficulties.
I would avoid to work in the chemical field. After having been harassed in my work place, a disease appears on my lungs, all the respiratory organs, on the skin and I am unable to run a long distance. I need and want to meet nice people and I thought maybe one of you know how I can do to find a solution for me and my family. In my country, I have been waiting for so many years, without seeing any improvements in my situation and those of my beloved ones, since 2005. I think this can go on for many more years.
I am very much interested in sport, in tennis, since I am a teenager. No shown many skills but one member of my family did.
I hope that you can help us to find a solution very quickly.
Thank you in advance,
Rafa will win if he serves like he did against Diego . I look for a very competitive match but Rafa will prevail assuming he is aggressive and dictating play which is a must . . Vamos .Rafa
Wishing you, Rafa all the best in your final showdown tomorrow. I always love your fight, passion, positivity, point by point mentality and problem-solving abilities. I will be rooting for you from New Jersey. You are already a champion. Vamos!
Just knew Iga would mention Rafa somewhere in her speech! Many congratulations to her!
Impressive run by Iga winning the tournament without dropping a set👏😊
Rafa will have a chance to do it again tomorrow. All the best to Rafa🍀❤️
Well done Rafa. Have some rest to be fit for tomorrow. Even if we are not in Paris, we all think of you and wish you all the best for tomorrow.
Lots of kisses,
Vamos Rafa
Rafa-you are the absolute best-worked today-but followed your match on the RG app and then watched on Tennis Channel. Please relax and take care of yourself, as we will all be screaming for your championship on Sunday! Best of luck and Vamos Rafa!
Hello everybody, as I told you I know that each time I go out of my place, I come back, people knows exactly where I am, even if I don’t use my phone.
I have noticed some facts that maybe can of interest for celebrities : people of my place are always out when I go out, whatever the time. To indicate the location where I am, they just stand in front of the train, the bus. If I am on the first level of the train, then they stand, unless that they seat.
They can stay at the station longer. I think they can communicate using an app, or sending sms, or calling. I was surprised to hear a person calling someone very early in the morning.
Public transport is problematic.
The health centers where I go, used to ask me to repeat my name and each time there are people around who can hear my name, my phone number. Have they even heard about RGPD ?
Do they know about the conséquences ? Do they know that I have already been beaten ?
About using the social networks, I know that my computer has been hacked and that a spy app/or another device can allow people to duplicate whatever I am writing.
Photocopies (and photos) of your personal data can also be made without you being informed about this and transmitted to others.
If someone knows about these methods or are thinking about others, we can share, try to make things changed and inform our idols in order to prevent their private lifes.
I mean celebrities share a lot with the fans and I think they need some private moments to share with the beloved ones as all of us. Don’t you agree ?
Rafa all the way, have a good time on Sunday , you will always be my number one tennis player
Rafa in his post match interviews talked about how playing at 11:00 the other night in the cold was tough. He said it was a little bit dangerous for the body “especially for an old body like my one”. 😍
Hope he never changes the way he expresses himself.
Watching our champ win today was so satisfying. Diego played well, but when points “mattered” Rafa got the majority of those points.
With the Djoker winning his unbelievable match against Tsitipas, Djoker with either be extremely confident and dominate or he is injured, at some level, and is vulnerable. I worry about the Djoker’s power given the conditions, but if anyone can beat him it is our champ! I will be wearing robin’s egg blue shirt and cheering with full emotion on Sunday! Go CHAMP!!!
All the best to Rafa on Sunday🍀🏆❤️
Congratulations to Diego and Andrey Rublev for making the top 10 rankings on Monday officially 👏👏
Very happy to see two of my favourites doing so well, congratulations to them both 👏🏻👏🏻 Diego making the top 10 is so good given that he was told he couldn’t be a successful player because of his height and maybe it’s some consolation after losing to Rafa. Are you an Andrey fan too? He’s my favourite nextgen player.
Yes, I like Andrey and Felix Auger Aliassime.
There are just about 3 or 4 records remaining in Tennis that Djokovic would give an arm and a leg in order to achieve the fear:
Rafa has a clean sheet, 100% record in the finals of Roland Harris. Rafa is 12- 0 and this is a record Djokovic has been coveting for a very looong time. Djokovic strongly desires to be the ffirst man to break this record regarded as the ultimate challenge in all of sports.
An Olympic gold medal. Despite his illustrious career, an Olympic gold metal is still missing in his missing in his resume and this enbitters Djokovic to no end.
Number of weeks at No 1 – This record is currently held by Roger Federer and Djokovic very much looks forward to the day (possibly next year) when he would overtake Federer’s great record.
.Djokovic has a chance to achieve the 1st of the 3 above on Sunday, October 11, 2020. But will he succeed against Nadal, the world- renowned King of clay?
He has been knocking on the door for a long time and he is still yet to lose a match in 2020!!!!
But one thing I know for sure – If there is ever a man to stop Djokovic from winning at RG, that man is Rafael Nadal.
May the better player win on Sunday. Amen.
Too much concentration on Djokovic . I was in RG yesterday and nothing wrong him. I think it’s all an act .
Let’s have faith in a great champion, Rafa
The better player? That would be Rafa*Mazing!
I turned it off at 5-4 in the third, then saw on the RG site they were still going. Maybe if Stefanos wasn’t injured? I still doubt it, and as we know, “If, if, if, doesn’t exist”.
As @va4favre said, let’s enjoy the fact that Rafa has reached another slam final 🎉
Hope Rafa has seen all those drop shots that Novak produced this evening.. Go, Rafa!!!
For a man with neck and shoulder problems, i’m surprised that Novak chooses to carry his bags on his shoulders during the post match interview on court. Ummmh!
I’d like to know what kind of mojo his physio is working. Can it be bottled? Smoked? Eaten? 😂
Stefanos is a big TEASE. Making me think after the 4th set he had the match!!!
congratulations rafa with reaching the final. But you have to play a lot better on sunday if you want to beat novak. You need to serve a lot better and hopefully your forehand will not let you down