PARIS — Claycourt machine Rafa Nadal held off another challenge from great rival Novak Djokovic to claim a record extending ninth French Open title with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 victory on Sunday.
The world number one from Spain became the first man to win five successive titles at Roland Garros to take his overall grand slam tally to 14 — three short of Roger Federer’s record.
Djokovic, who was looking to become the eighth man to complete a career grand slam, made a great start but appeared to suffer from the heat and humidity after losing the second set.
The 28-year-old Nadal, who has only lost one of his 67 matches on the Paris clay, fell on his knees when Djokovic double-faulted on the first match point.
“In matches like this every moment is crucial. Playing against Novak is always a big challenge, I had lost against him the last four times,” Nadal said on court.
“Sorry for him today, he deserves to win this tournament.”
It was Djokovic’s sixth attempt against Nadal in his spiritual home, and his sixth failure — the second in a final after the 2012 showdown.
Djokovic, one of three men to beat Nadal on clay this year, had also won four of the last eight matches he had played against the Spaniard on the slow surface.
None of them had occurred in a best-of-five match, though.
In Saturday’s women’s final, overcoming her nerves and some terrible serves, Maria Sharapova won her second French Open, prevailing in a hard-fought match to become the first Russian tennis player to win the same Grand Slam tournament more than once.
She was 2 points away from claiming the title in straight sets but wobbled and lost a tiebreaker to Romania’s Simona Halep, a 22-year-old Harry Potter fanatic whose rise this year has been dramatic and whose ranking was four places above her opponent’s going into the final.
In the end, however, Sharapova wielded the more powerful wand on the distinctive red clay of Roland Garros. Despite a number of errors, her fearsome forehand worked its magic on key points, hitting deep and painting lines.
After three hours of baseline duels and swings in momentum, the 27-year-old Russian sank to her knees in the dust when a shot from Halep dropped wide and handed Sharapova a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 triumph.
“This is the toughest Grand Slam final I’ve ever played in,” said Sharapova, who now has five major titles to her name, including one from each of the big four tournaments.
She lifted the French Open trophy for the first time in 2012 and, somewhat to her surprise because of her lack of affection for clay, has reached the deciding round here in Paris three years in a row.