This record was held for 33 years until Sampras broke it at Wimbledon in 2000. Sampras finally retired with his 14 grand slam trophy. God, 14, it feels like a crazy number that can never be surpassed.
But now, as long as he wins 65,438+02 titles in Roland Galos, Nadal can tie Roy Emerson. And imagine again, with Nadal's supreme dominance in this magical clay court, conservatively speaking, it is completely conceivable to win two French Open champions; This means that Nadal's number of Grand Slam titles is likely to equal or even surpass that of Sanshen just by winning the French Open.
And because this 12 French Open is Nadal's 18 Grand Slam, it also means that if he can win two more French Open, his total number of Grand Slam champions can rise to 20 just by relying on his number of French Open champions-which happens to be the number one Grand Slam champion in Federer's current history.
In the above two paragraphs, the word "only virtue" is used three times. Yes, only by putting Nadal in the historical framework composed of Emerson, Sampras and Federer can we more clearly perceive how great he is as the champion of French Open 12. He can almost compete with four grand slams of these other superstars in history with one grand slam, which is a terrible thing. Otherwise, the number 12 will inevitably become empty and elusive for us mortals.
But at the same time, does the word "relying only" lightly imply a kind of contempt? We have heard another voice too many times-even when Nadal won the eighth, ninth and 10 in the French Open, someone had come to a painful conclusion: "Yes, yes, he is indeed the greatest clay player in history, but he is also the greatest eccentric student in history."
Is it? Nadal's 18 crown consists of: Australian Open 1 crown, French Open 12 crown, Wimbledon 2 crown and US Open 3 crown. Obviously, his French Open champion 12 was based on a grand slam. It is difficult for you to define such a player as a "minor student".
Give a very simple example. It's like having a math master in your class. No matter how difficult the problem is, it can be easily solved, and various competitions can also win prizes frequently. However, his Chinese, English, history and geography are in a mess. This kind of child is a standard partial student, and you can only pray silently that he will not be castrated and buried by our education system. However, like another student, he got full marks for his master's degree in mathematics, but he also got 890 marks for other courses-would you still call him a "partial student"? Of course, he is a top student with all-round development but outstanding expertise.
Sometimes things are so funny! Imagine if Nadal won the Australian Open 1, French Open 4, Wimbledon 2 and US Open 3, and his total number of Grand Slam champions was enough to reach double digits, everyone would praise his Grand Slam. Why, when the number of other three Grand Slam champions remains unchanged, the more French Open champions win, the more "biased" he becomes? This may be a very ironic fact-it is often misunderstood by ordinary people because it is too good to be understood by them.
From the long-haired teenager who won the first prize in the French Open in 2005 with sleeveless tops and pirate pants to Nadal, 33, who won the French Open in 20 19, and 12 in the French Open journey, it is far from a simple repetition of "+1". Nadal is no longer the single player who can only "hit your backhand" with the forehand super topspin. This final is his best all-round display-
In the final, Nadal scored 23 times on the Internet 27 times. "Every male tennis player will tell you that Rafa is one of the best volleyball players." Tim, who was defeated by Nadal in the French Open final for two consecutive years, even said half jokingly, "His last time in volley may have been seven years ago." And his backhand, from many years ago just to keep turning, has now become a deadly weapon that can be fired with all its strength like a forehand. As for serving, we all know that Nadal has conquered the fast court several times by technological innovation; Until this year, he also made obvious adjustments, which also helped him reach the Australian Open final at the beginning of the year.
Yes, he is the eternal king on the clay court, but in order to maintain this eternal glory, he has made too much efforts and changes. Perhaps there is only one essence that has never deteriorated, and that is Nadal's strong willpower and thick nerves. As Nadal said, "This clay season has encountered too many difficulties, which is why this champion is so special."
Nadal revealed that when the Indian Wells Masters suffered an injury and Monte Carlo, the first stop of clay, did not play well, he faced a dilemma when playing Barcelona-simply taking a break; Go on, but try to adjust your mentality. Nadal chose the latter. "Since the Barcelona-Mayer game, things have been getting better every day. This French Open champion certainly makes me happy, but what I am most satisfied with is that I can turn around the difficult situation a little bit. "
King of red clay? Is this title a bit old-fashioned? Let's call you the god of red soil! Because, if you can do anything to the extreme, you are God.