‘An important part of my life is leaving too,’ says emotional Rafael Nadal of having just clinched his 9th French Open title.
The Spaniard took the first four sets against a young American, Kevin Anderson, on his way to his second Roland Garros title.
He now has nine overall wins at Roland Garros, with his four previous wins at Paris in 2002 and 2008, both earlier this year.
‘This wasn’t our last match. Our last one is in Madrid next week: ”’
Rafael Nadal says a French Open title should be special but he’s happy to hold off having another crack at Roger Federer for the sport’s biggest title.
With his 10th overall at Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal has clinched the record for most of a tournament, and he has won four out of the past five years.
But the 29-year-old isn’t content with the number of titles he has achieved on the road.
Having gone out on a high against Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal is looking forward to his next Grand Slam title.
It’s an important part of his life: ”’I really, really, really enjoy my travels to all the Slams – the ones we haven’t had, we haven’t had – they are always very special because they are tournaments I like to win, and I enjoy playing the final and the semifinals,’ he told Eurosport.
‘This was not our final match. Our final one is in Madrid next week: ”’
Rafael Nadal has gone the distance in three of the five Grand Slam tournaments he has entered thus far.
The Spaniard, who has now lost only three matches all year, picked up a pair of titles in Melbourne and Shanghai, but the other two of these events, in South Korea and Barcelona, were tight affairs.
He added that the French Open title was special: ”’This wasn’t our last match. Our last one is in Madrid next week: ”’
Rafael Nadal is preparing to defend his French Open title in the Parisian clay on Saturday.
The Spaniard won the French Open in 2002, and then repeated the feat in 2008.
But Nadal, who has now won eight out of the last ten editions of the