Thirteen months after Rafael Nadal won his 19th Grand Slam singles title at the 2019 US Open, he's now added No. 20, tying Roger Federer's all-time men's record.
The Spaniard won his 13th Roland Garros title—extending his own record—by defeating 17-time major winner Novak Djokovic, 6-0, 6-2, 7-5, on Sunday. It was Nadal's 100th career singles match win at the French Open, giving him an overall record of 100-2 on the Paris red clay. He did not drop a set on the fortnight, winning all 21 that he played.
The 34-year-old has now won at least one major in each of the last four years, and in 14 of the last 16 years.
Nadal's 20 major titles came in just 60 appearances. By comparison, Federer won his 20th major—at the 2018 Australian Open—in his 72nd attempt; the Swiss, who missed the 2020 US Open and French Open through injury, has now competed in 79 Slams. Djokovic won his 17 Slams in what is now 62 career appearances, with his latest coming at the 2020 Australian Open.
With victory in the championship match on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Nadal also became the only man to defeat Djokovic in a completed match in the 2020 season. Djokovic entered the final at 37-1 on the season, his lone blemish coming in a Round-of-16 default at the US Open.
The Djokovic-Nadal head-to-head now stands at 29-27, in favor of Djokovic, though Nadal holds an 18-7 lead on clay, including a 7-1 edge at Roland Garros. Sunday's match was their ninth meeting in a Grand Slam final, with Nadal taking five of those nine. Nadal has won 10 of the 16 overall major matchups between the two legends. Their first Grand Slam meeting came in the 2006 French Open quarterfinals (Nadal won via retirement after taking a two-set lead), while their first major final encounter was at the 2010 US Open (Nadal won in four to complete his career Grand Slam.)
Nadal is 24-16 lifetime against Federer, while Djokovic is has a 27-23 lifetime edge over the Swiss. The Serb is the youngest of the trio, 11 months younger than Nadal at age 33, while Federer turned 39 in August.
With Nadal drawing level with Federer's all-time major mark, the race for singular status—and title No. 21—is on.
