Rafael Nadal Wins Record 7th French Open Title

It was an odd, short day of work for Rafael Nadal. Trailing 2-1 in the fourth set when the 2012 French Open final resumed on Monday, Nadal started hot, dominated his serve, and broke Novak Djokovic to win his seventh French Open title, 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5. The set featured what appeared to be a one-cloud rainstorm and a 30-second rain delay, but when play “resumed” for a second time, Nadal took care of business.

Serving down 4-5, Djokovic seemed to once again loosen up — he tends to relax and play very well when his back is against the wall, and he won his serve easily. Down 5-6, however, Djokovic cracked a bit, committing a couple of errors and double-faulting on Nadal’s first match point, which can be seen here:

The French Open 2012 men’s final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal has been postponed due to a rain delay and threat of darkness. The match will resume Monday at 7 a.m. ET, and the TV schedule is for the NBC Sports Network.

Nadal leads Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 1-2.

Don’t count Novak Djokovic out of the final in the 2012 French Open just yet. The world No. 1 turned the tables on Rafael Nadal to take the third set, 6-2, and prolong what looked like it could be a straight-sets victory for the Spaniard.

Nadal carried a 6-4, 6-3 lead into the set, but it was his lackluster play on serve, not his defense, that was the focal point of the third set. He converted just 17 of 26 first serves, and won points on an even less impressive seven of those 17.

And so it came to pass that even the rain couldn’t quite stop Rafael Nadal at the French Open. After a brief rain delay interrupted the second set of play in the men’s singles final, Nadal wasted no time in finishing off Djokovic to take a commanding two-set lead, winning the second set 6-3.

Nadal hasn’t quite dominated Djokovic on the day — even for Nadal, both in his element on the Roland Garros clay and on one of his better runs of play at a French Open, throttling the world’s best all-around player at the moment is tough going. But Djokovic cannot solve Nadal’s defense, and has been broken repeatedly (Nadal has six breaks in 13 chances), and it’s nigh impossible to see a path for him to upset the lord of clay by winning three straight sets.