Thanks for the memories: Rafael Nadal's 14 French Open titles

Thanks for the memories: Rafael Nadal’s 14 French Open titles

Rafael Nadal announced his retirement from tennis after the Davis Cup finals in November after a career which yielded 22 Grand Slam titles.

Rafael Nadal announced his retirement from tennis after the Davis Cup finals in November after a career which yielded 22 Grand Slam titles. Image: STF / AFP

Rafael Nadal announced his retirement from tennis after the Davis Cup finals in November on Thursday after a career which yielded 22 Grand Slam titles.

Fourteen of those majors came at the French Open where he won 112 matches and suffered just four defeats since his 2005 debut.

A look at the Spaniard’s 14 finals’ triumphs in Paris:

2005: bt Mariano Puerta (ARG) 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 7-5

At just 19, Nadal became the youngest winner of a Grand Slam title since Michael Chang also at Roland Garros in 1989 at 17. He was the first man since Mats Wilander in 1982 to win the French Open on his debut. Puerta was to later fail a drugs test and handed an eight-year ban, eventually reduced to two years.

2006: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6

***Rafael Nadal celebrates after defeating Swiss Roger Federer in the 2006 final. Image: CHRISTOPHE SIMON / AFP/File***

Nadal became the first man to beat Federer in a Slam final, ending the Swiss star’s hopes of holding all four majors at the same time. It was Nadal’s 60th win in a row on clay.

2007: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

The 21-year-old Nadal became the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win three successive titles at Roland Garros.

2008: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 6–1, 6–3, 6–0

Nadal condemned his great rival to his worst ever loss in a Grand Slam event. The Spaniard also won the title without losing a set, becoming the third man to do so in the Open era after Ilie Nastase and Borg.

2010: bt Robin Soderling (SWE) 6–4, 6–2, 6–4

Rafael Nadal gained revenge for his shock 2009 loss to Robin Soderling by beating the Swede in the following year's final — ***Rafael Nadal gained revenge for his shock 2009 loss to Robin Soderling by beating the Swede in the following year’s final. Image: BERTRAND GUAY / AFP/File***

Nadal avenged his defeat to the Swede at Roland Garros 12 months earlier. Again, Nadal finished the tournament without having dropped a set. He also regained the world number one ranking for the first time since July 2009.

2011: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1

Nadal claimed his sixth French Open to equal the record of Borg, also taking his Slam total into double figures at 10. Federer had ended Novak Djokovic’s 43-match undefeated run in the semi-finals.

2012: bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5

Nadal goes past Borg’s record of six titles in Paris and ends Djokovic’s bid to be the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four majors at the same time. Rain meant that the final was completed on Monday which was tough on Djokovic who was a break up in the fourth set when the match was halted on Sunday night.

2013: bt David Ferrer (ESP) 6–3, 6–2, 6–3

Nadal comfortably beats his compatriot for an eighth French Open but the hard yards were achieved in the semi-finals when he defeated Djokovic 6–4, 3–6, 6–1, 6–7, 9–7 in a 4-hour 37-minute epic.

2014: bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4

***Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in the final for the second time in three years in 2014. Image: MIGUEL MEDINA / AFP/File***

Title number nine in his ninth final for Nadal and his 14th Grand Slam success on an afternoon where temperatures nudged 30 degrees. It was his 45th career clay-court title.

2017: bt Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 6-2, 6-3, 6-1

Nadal coasts to a record 10th French Open title, demolishing Wawrinka in a brutally one-sided final which also earns the Spaniard a 15th Grand Slam crown. Nadal, 31, becomes the first man in history to win the same major 10 times. It is his most one-sided final win since allowing Federer just four games in the 2008 final.

2018: bt Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6-4, 6-3, 6-2

Nadal moves to 17 Grand Slam titles with a straightforward victory over Thiem. Nadal endured a nervy conclusion to the final, however, when he needed treatment in the third set for a finger injury.

2019: bt Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1

***Familiar sight: Rafael Nadal beat Dominic Thiem in four sets in the 2019 final. Image: CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT / AFP/File***

Nadal overcomes dropping the second set by racing to victory over Thiem for the second successive year. The 33-year-old, seemingly angered by losing a set in the final for the first time since 2014, crushes the Austrian in the third and fourth sets to make it 12 titles and take his win-loss record at Roland Garros to a staggering 93-2.

2020: bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-0, 6-2, 7-5

In a final played in front of a smattering of fans in a tournament delayed by four months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Nadal demolishes Djokovic to win his 13th French Open and equal the all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles held by Roger Federer who hailed the victory as “one of sport’s greatest achievements”.

2022: bt Casper Ruud (NOR) 6-3, 6-3, 6-0

Nadal arrived at Roland Garros hampered by a left foot injury, despite having won his second Australian Open title earlier that year.

He had to come through tough matches against Felix Auger-Aliassime, Djokovic and Alexander Zverev, but thrashed Norwegian Ruud in a one-sided final to become the oldest male Roland Garros champion.

Nadal, 36, claimed his 112th match win at Roland Garros against just three defeats since his 2005 debut.