June 9- Nadal wins the 2013 French Open and becomes First Man to win the same Grand Slam 8 Times
Updated: Jun 5, 2022
2013- On this day in Sports History, Rafael Nadal won the 2013 French Open. This made him become the first man to win the same Grand Slam title eight times. No man has ever done this before until Rafael Nadal won the French Open for the eighth time on this day in 2013. The Spanish tennis player has dominated the clay court tennis tournament that is held every year in Paris, France. Nadal is known as the best player in the world on clay courts which he proves by consistently winning the French Open. To date, Nadal has won the French Open 14 times and he looks to still win more in the future.
In 2005, he played his first ever French Open at the age of 19 and won. He’d also win it again the next three years before falling in the fourth round to Robin Söderling in 2009. Nadal came back to win the tournament again in 2010, 2011, and 2012. He came into the 2013 French Open as the third seed. He dropped the first set in both his first round and second round matches, but came back to win each in four sets. Nadal wouldn’t lose another set in the tournament until the semifinals. He faced Novak Djokovic, the #1 ranked player in the world, in an epic semifinal match that lasted four hours and 37 minutes. Nadal ended up winning the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 9-7. He’d then go on to beat David Ferrer in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to win his eighth French Open Title. The win on this day in 2013 is what made him become the first man to win the same Grand Slam title eight times.
Rafael Nadal would go on to win the French Open in 2014. After an injury in 2015 and a loss in 2016, he’d win it again in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022. Nadal won the 2022 French Open by beating Casper Ruud in straight sets on June 5th, 2022. So far he has won the French Open 14 times. Novak Djokovic has won the Australian Open nine times and Roger Federer has won the Wimbledon eight times, but no man other than Nadal has won the same Grand Slam more than that. On the Women’s side, Martina Navratilova, who retired in 2006, has the most with nine Wimbledon titles.
Rafael Nadal holds the current #5 spot in the World Rankings. Over his career, he has a total of 22 career Grand Slam Titles which is the most in men's tennis. Roger Federer has the second most with 20. Rafael Nadal’s prize money for winning the 2019 French Open was $2.6 million.
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Sources:
Newbery, Piers. “Rafael Nadal Beats David Ferrer to Win Eighth French Open Title.” BBC Sport, BBC, 9 June 2013
ATP Staff. “Better By The Dozen: Relive Rafa's Reign In Paris.” ATP Tour, 6 June 2020