7 When he finally defeated Novak Djokovic on Monday in the final of the 82nd French Open, Rafael Nadal became the first man to win seven titles here at Roland Garros. The Majorcan overtook Bjorn Börg’s record and pulled level with Chris Evert, who won the women’s singles seven times.
11 This was Rafael Nadal’s 11th Grand Slam title. He has achieved this feat at the age of 26 years and 7 days, making him the third-youngest player to do so, after Borg (25 years and one day) and Roger Federer (25 years and 334 days).
5 This was the fifth Grand Slam final between Nadal and Djokovic (and the 15th overall). These two are now equal-third in terms of rivalries when it comes to Slam finals, three behind the leading head-to-head that is Nadal versus Roger Federer.
4 This was also the fourth Grand Slam final in a row where these two players have slugged it out, after Wimbledon and the US Open 2011 and the 2012 Australian Open. This is an Open Era record.
1 Despite losing the final, Djokovic remains No.l in the world and has even stretched his lead a little over his closest challenger – Nadal of course.
1 Djokovic is also the only player to have taken a set off Nadal at the 2012 French Open, after taking the third set of the final 6-2.
40 This was the 40th win of the season for Rafa – more than any other player.
21 After 21 minutes (and a passage of play that saw him a point away from going 4-0 down), Djokovic became the first player to break Nadal’s service since Italy’s Simone Bolelli in the first round.
25 The first rain break lasted 25 minutes, coming at 5.10 pm with Nadal leading 6-4, 5-3.
13 Spain now leads the rest of the world in terms of men’s singles titles here at Roland Garros. Rafa’s seventh win was the 13th for the country overall, with Andres Gimeno (1), Sergi Bruguera (2), Carlos Moya (1), Albert Costa (1) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (1) also securing titles in the past.
27 Djokovic’s defeat put an end to an incredible 27-match winning streak in Grand Slams, a mere two short of Rod Laver who won 29 in a row from the start of the Australian Open in 1969 through to Wimbledon 1970.
1973 This was first time that the French Open did not finish on the allotted Sunday since 1973, when Ilie Nastase defeated Niki Pilic on the following Tuesday. As was the case this year, rain was to blame.
