Nadal beats Djokovic in four sets to claim ninth French Open crown to maintain his title as the King of Clay after thrilling final in Paris

So so happy as a fan of Rafa after loosing the last four matches to Novak there was a real danger that the unprecedented could occur coupled with Rafa s below-Rafa standard clay court season. But the man is not about to let someone else his Roland Garross crown just yet!

Rafael Nadal maintained his phenomenal stranglehold on the French Open by defeating Novak Djokovic to win a ninth title at Roland Garros.
Djokovic had been bidding to become only the eighth man to win all four grand slam titles but, although he won the first set, Nadal fought back to triumph 3-6 7-5 6-2 6-4.
The Spaniard becomes the first man to win five successive French Open titles and extended his record to a remarkable 66 matches won on the Paris clay from 67 played.

He is now tied with Pete Sampras on 14 grand slam singles titles, three behind Roger Federer, while victory for Nadal also ensured he will stay world number one.
Djokovic hired Boris Becker as his head coach to try to give him an extra edge at precisely these moments but he has now lost five of his last six grand slam finals.
Nadal said: 'Playing against Novak is always a big challenge for me. I lost against him the last four times. Every time I have the chance to beat him it's because I play to my limit. I'm sorry for him, I think he deserves to win this tournament, I'm sure he will in the future.
'I had a very emotional loss in Australia with my back. Today tennis gave me back what happened in Australia.'
The top two players in the world were meeting for the 42nd time, more than any other two men in the Open era.

Nadal had beaten Djokovic in all their five previous meetings at Roland Garros but Djokovic had been getting closer, pushing Nadal to 9-7 in the fifth set 12 months ago in a semi-final he probably should have won.
Djokovic had started the fortnight as the favourite after beating Nadal in Rome but that changed after the semi-finals on Friday, when Nadal crushed Andy Murray and Djokovic struggled against Ernests Gulbis.
Djokovic's game matches up better against Nadal than anyone else's and it was he who struck first with a break for 5-3.

Nadal saved two break points, the first with a trademark curling forehand on to the line, but Djokovic showed his forehand down the line was pretty good, too, to bring up a third chance and this time his opponent just missed with an off forehand.
It was the first time Djokovic had won the opening set against Nadal at Roland Garros and the first time since 2006 the Spaniard had lost the opener in the final.
This has been Nadal's least dominant season on clay, the 28-year-old losing three matches in the build-up to the French Open for the first time in a decade.