As they say, if you want it with all your heart, you get it eventually. Pavlyuchenkova's 2021 Roland Garros' journey is proof of that. Though the dream is not fulfilled yet, surely she is very close to it. The Russian became the first player from her country to make it to a French Open final after Sharapova did it in 2014.
The No.31 seed defeated Tamara Zidansek 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 34 minutes. The straight-set win can be a sign of her best tennis so far.
However, the journey was not that easy for the Russian. She had to wait for a 51 attempt to get to her first-ever Grand Slam final on her 52nd try. Pavlyuchenkova is now the first women tennis player to play more than 50 majors before reaching a final in 2021 Roland Garros.
The story starts from Wimbledon in 2007 when she had made her majors debut as a 15-year old kid. Though she suffered a first-round exit to Daniela Hantuchova. Till then nearly after 14 years of tennis, Pavlyuchenkova can surely smell the victory.
"Everybody has different ways. I don't know, I'm just happy I'm in the final. Trying to enjoy."- Pavlyuchenkova on her long wait for a majors final.
"Been thinking about it since I was a junior, since I was a little kid, since I started playing tennis. That's what you're playing for. That's what you want. It's been there in my head forever."
Pavlyuchenkova on winning a Grand Slam
The road to the final for Pavlyuchenkova was not that easy in 2021 Roland Garros. She defeated players higher ranked than her in the whole tournament. Even coming to the semi-final she still was the underdog. After defeating No.3 Aryna Sabalenka, No.15 Victoria Azarenka and No.21 Elena Rybakina, she looked in a comfortable space with her game.
However, Zidansek was not someone to let it go that easily. She fought for her place. Even she looked at her peak with 27 winners against her name. But it was her 33 unforced errors that gave Pavlyuchenkova the opportunities she needed to make it to the final.
"At the end of the day, I tried to stay in the match every point," the Russian stated. "I had my tactic, I knew what I had to do. So just the discipline. I was trying to follow the discipline simply."
Rafael Nadal has withdrawn from Roland Garros. The 14-time champion announced on Thursday at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar. Nadal will not play in the season's second major for the first time since his tournament debut in 2005. The 22-time major winner also added that 2024 might be the end of his professional career.
Rafael Nadal has not competed since January at the Australian Open. He suffered an injury to the iliopsoas muscle in his left leg. Nadal and his team were expecting a recovery period of six to eight weeks, but the lefty has not returned to action.
Rafael Nadal withdraws from Roland Garros
"I was even working as much as possible every single day for the last four months. It has been very difficult months because we were not able to find the solution to the problem that I had in Australia," Nadal said. "Today I'm still in a position that I am not able to feel myself ready to compete at the standards that I need to be to play a Roland Garros. I am not the guy that is going to be at Roland Garros and just try to be there and put myself in a position that I don't like to be in."
The Spaniard was happy with his on-court results, like when last year he won the Australian Open and Roland Garros. But he was struggling to enjoy his daily work because of his physical problems.
"I don't know, I am not the guy who likes to predict a lot the future, so I'm just following my personal feelings and just following what I really believe is the right thing to do for my body and for my personal happiness now."
"2023 is probably going to be my last year in the professional Tour," Rafael Nadal
"Since after the pandemic, my body was not able to hold the practices and to hold the daily work in a good way. So I was not able to enjoy the practices and the competition because too many problems, too many times having to stop for physical issues and too many days of going here practicing but with too much pain," Nadal said. "So after I said that I need to stop. I need to stop for a while. So my decision is to stop. I don't know when I'm going to be able to come back to the practice court, but I'm going to stop for a while. Maybe two months, maybe one month and a half, maybe three months, maybe four months."
Nadal also said that he wants to enjoy 2023 as a regular person. It might be the end of his professional tennis career.
"I can't say 100 percent that it is going to be like this because you never know what can happen. But my idea and my motivation is to try to enjoy and try to say goodbye all the tournaments that have been important for me in my tennis career during next year and just try to enjoy that, being competitive and enjoying being on the court," Nadal said. "That is something that today is not possible. I really believe that if I keep going now, I will not be able to make that happen. I don't know if I stop if I will be able to make that happen, but I think the chances are much higher if I stop."
Rafael Nadal's records:
Nadal defeated Casper Ruud in a three-set championship match to win a record-breaking 22nd Grand Slam singles title last year in Paris. Novak Djokovic has equaled the record.
Rafael Nadal owns a 112-3 record across 18 career appearances at the major (one mid-tournament withdrawal). His 112 match wins and his 97.4 percent win rate both stand alone as records, as does his perfect 14-0 mark in finals. To be more specific about his records, he also owns 14 trophies at Roland Garros.
"The tournament is going to keep being the best event in the world of clay and there is going to be one Roland Garros champion. It's not going to be me, there is going to be another one and that's life."
The Big Three of Tennis are taking the tennis world by storm for years and decades. The deadly trio won 60 of the last 75 (80%) Grand Slam titles. Coincidentally, three of them are sharing the all-time total Grand Slam titles record at 20 at the moment. It is somewhat hard to compare these three legends as their skills, caliber, and determination towards the sport are unparallel and they are definitely the best of all time. SportzPoint.com gives you the Grand slam titles in detail of Federer vs Nadal vs Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic ties with Rafel Nadal, and Rodger Federer in being the winner of the most Grand Slam titles. He is currently the ATP ranked World No. 1 tennis player. He is the winner of 20 career Grand Slam titles and he won his first-ever Grand Slam title in 2008. His first Grand Slam title was won in the Australian Open after he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6. Till now he won 9 Australian Open titles, 2 French Open titles, 6 Wimbledon titles, and 3 US Open titles.
The present ATP ranked World No. 6 tennis player is Rafael Nadal. Likewise his biggest rivals Novak and Federer, he is also the winner of 20 Grand Slam titles. In 2005, the Spaniard defeated Mariano Puerta in the French Open final 6–7, 6–3, 6–1, 7–5 and won his first-ever Grand Slam title. He is the winner of 1 Australian Open title, 13 French Open titles, 2 Wimbledon titles, and 4 US Open titles.
Roger Federer won his first-ever Grand Slam title at the 2005 Wimbledon. He beat Andy Roddick 6–2, 7–6(7–2), 6–4, and clinched his first Grand Slam title. With that win, he started his journey of wins and victories. He is currently the ATP ranked World No. 16 and won 6 Australian Open titles, 1 French Open title, 8 Wimbledon titles, and 5 US Open titles.
French Open Badminton 2021: PV Sindhu and Lakshya wins, Saina retires mid-game
At the French open Super 75 badminton tournament PV, Sindhu and Lakshya Sen qualified the second round. It was curtains for Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth on a mixed day for Indian shuttlers at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament.
At the French open Super 75 badminton tournament PV, Sindhu and Lakshya Sen qualified the second round. It was curtains for Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth on a mixed day for Indian shuttlers at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament.
PV Sindhu qualified second round in French Open (Bing)
PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen sailed into the second round but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth on a mixed day for Indian shuttlers at the French Open Super 750 badminton tournament here on Wednesday.
A double Olympic medallist, Sindhu, defeated Denmark's Julie Dawall Jakobsen 21-15 21-18 in women's singles. But while London Olympics bronze medallist Saina, who had suffered a groin injury at Uber Cup final, retired after lagging 11-21 2-9 against Sayaka Takahashi of Japan.
Sindhu, seeded third, will have a face off with another Dane Line Christophersen next. Lakshya had a good day in office as he defeated Ireland's Nhat Nguyen 21-10 21-16 to set up a clash against Singapore's Loh Kean Yew next in men's singles.
The Grand Slam tournaments are the world's four most important tennis events. These tournaments are named as Australian Open, US Open, French Open, and Wimbledon Open. These tournaments take place annually and are also known as majors. In 2021 the Australian Open took place from 8 February 21 February. As Novak Djokovic won his 19th Grand Slam title in the French Open 2021, we look at the last 10 Grand Slam Winners list including men and women.
Though the women's title is getting hand changed every year, the men's was always about Rafael Nadal. The 13th time French Open champion was resisted by the number 1 seeded player Novak Djokovic. Novak faced Greek youngster Stefanos Testipas in the final. Stefanos was playing his first grand slam and Novak was looking for his 19th Grand Slam title.
Djokovic defeated Stefanos 6-7 (6-8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in an epic five-set battle. By virtue of that win, Novak has become only the third player to win every Grand Slam title twice. Roy Emerson and Rod Laver are the other players to achieve that feat.
In fact Djokovic is most dominating player on our last 10 Grand Slam Winner list.
The battle of the 2021 French Open Finals was a battle of the new champions. With Naomi pulling out from the Roland Garros, it was time for someone new to clinch the title. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was playing her first-ever Grand Slam final after 52 attempts. Barbora Krejcikova was also playing her first Grand Slam match. But, it was Barbora who had glory and won the 2021 French Open (Women's) Title.
Barbora won the match with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 margin. Moreover, this was the sixth straight year that the women's singles champion at the French Open was a first-time Grand Slam singles champion.
Naomi Osaka of Japan was the winner of the Australian Open 2021. She defeated Jennifer Brady of America by 6–4, 6–3 to win the Women's Singles tennis title at the 2021 Australian Open. Naomi has won four Grand Slam titles before winning the 2021 Australian open. In conclusion, she is the number 1 tennis player ranked by the women's tennis association.
The number 1 tennis player of recent times is Novak Djokovic. Firstly, he became the winner of the 2021 Australian open by defeating Daniel Medvedev 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. Secondly, this became his 18th grand Slam single Championship and third consecutive Australian open.
Sofia Kenin became the winner of the Australian Open 2020 women's singles title. This final was her debutant final and she defeated Garbine Muguruza with 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. She lifted her maiden title on 1st February 2020.
The winner of the 2020 Australian Open is Novak Djokovic. The final was played between Novak Djokovic and Dominic Thiem. The defending champion defeated Dominic by 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. This win gave him his 17th Grand Slam singles title and he was ranked as the number 1 tennis player.
Naomi Osaka won her second US Open title at the 2020 US Open. She won the Women's Singles tennis title at the 2020 US Open by defeating Victoria Azarenka with 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
2020 US Open (Men)
Dominic Thiem from Australia became the winner of the US Open 2020 by defeating Alexander Zverev from German in a 5-set comeback. Dominic won by 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 in the 2020 US Open single's final (men). In conclusion, he became Austria's second glam Slam singles champion. He is the only male player other than Novak and Nadal on our last 10 Grand Slam winners list.
Iga Swiatek defeated Sofia Kenin to win the 2020 French Open Women's title by 6–4, 6–1. In conclusion, the 19-year-old became the first-ever Grand Slam singles champion from Poland by defeating Sofia .
Rafael Nadal is undoubtedly one of the greatest tennis players of this generation. In the 2020 French Open final, he defeated Novak Djokovic by 6-0, 6-2, 6-2. The 2020 French Open title was his 13th title. In addition, he tied with the record made by Rodger Federer of winning the 28th Grand Slam men's singles championship. Both Nadal and Federer are the top rankers in the Grand Slam winners list.
Naomi Osaka wins her second Grand Slam title by defeating Petra Kvitova. She defeated Petra by 7–6(2), 5–7, 6–4 to win the 2019 Australian Open Women's Singles title.
Novak Djokovic won the 2019 Australian Open title by defeating Rafael Nadal. The 2019 Australian Open final was absolutely an exciting match between the two legends. Novak defeated Rafael by 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. By winning this title, he made an all-time record of winning seven Australian Open titles.
Who are you expecting to win the Grand Slams this year? Let us know in the comments.
Dojokovic vs Nadal; one of the biggest individual rivalries in sports, if not the biggest. Moreover, if it is at the French Open it becomes more special as you just enter the king's house to defeat him. Yes, if you ever wished to beat Rafael Nadal, you would not wish it to be the French Open. He is just unbeatable there. However, it is Novak Djokovic who did the unthinkable in the French Open 2021.
Novak who came to the French Open 2021 as the number one seeded tennis player was winning everything until he had to face the 13 time French Open champion in Rafael Nadal.
Though the world had doubted the Spanish before the tournament, but you just can ride off the king from the competition. And, Djokovic was up for the challenge as well.
The first set went to the left hander as Nadal went up with 1-0 with 6-3 win in the first set. He looked comfortable. But the world knew there was a fight left in the Serbian's tank.
Novak fought back. And he made sure he sent some indication as well that this match would last long. He leveled the match with 6-3 win in the second set.
The third set went down to the wire. Novak could not hold onto his lead as Nadal breaks back for 5-5. Novak went 30-0 up but could not reach to the set point. A ripper forehand down the line from the king of clay meant he was not there just to give it up.
Scoreline- 2-1 to Nadal after 3rd set.
In the fourth set it looked nearly over for the No.1 ranked player in the world as Nadal served for set point. But, Nvak saved it. Then came the tie-breaker. Nvak served for the set point at 5-4. But the drama continued as he could not hold on it and faced a set point from Nadal instead. 5-6 to Nadal in the tie-breaker. But a back-hand drop shot saved the set for him as he went on to clinch the set 7-6.
Rafa could not resist the Serbian in the fourth set as Djokovoic went on the win the fifth set 6-2. He became the first-ever player to beat Nadal at and beyond this stage of the French Open ever.
The final score was- 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
After only losing his 3rd match in a 108 matches long Roland Garros career Nadal said, "I had the big chance with set point, 6-5, second serve. That's it. Anything could happen in that moment. Then I make a double-fault, easy volley in the tiebreak. But it's true that have been crazy points out there. The fatigue is there, too, no?"
"These kind of mistakes can happen. But if you want to win, you can't make these mistakes. So that's it. Well done for him. Have been a good fight out there. I try my best, and today was not my day."
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