Hey! Did he win it again? He defended his title. He is a class. He is a Clay King. Ever heard these jargons around? Definitely yes.
Winning the four Grand Slams of the year alone is worth appreciating but keeping a consistent performance in one of the Slam events sure requires a talent that very few players have.
When it comes to clay, things get tough for the players as the friction clay produced for the ball makes it harder to play big serves and extra effort is required in it.
Garros is the only event that does not have a tie-break in the last set and players have to play games unless they break off serve. So winning such a tournament consecutively is quite an achievement.
Let’s have a flashback to know who are those legendary players that have won the Garros title consecutively the most.
Era before 1968
Before the year 1968, Garros title has been won consecutively by four players and those are:
• Frank Parker won in two consecutive years of 1948 and 1949.
• Jaroslav Drobny won the two consecutive titles in years 1951 and 1952
• Tony Trabert won the two titles in years 1954 and 1955
• Nicola Pietrangeli claimed the two Garros titles in the years 1959 and 1960.
Era after 1967
The era after 1967 on Garros has been pretty much for Bjorn Borg who won four consecutive titles in the years 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1981. Boy, oh boy! He sure is a legend.
After Bjorn, the only player to claim the Garros title the most times consecutively is Rafa who has been called the King of Clay in the present time. He won consecutive titles in the years 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008.
The young lad skipped the year 2009 due to injury or he might have broken the records of Bjorn by winning the fifth consecutive Garros title. But Nadal still has time to make new records and rock the clay court.
Three cheers for these legendary players!
Tags: Bjorn Borg, Frank Parker, Jaroslav Drobny, Nicola Pietrangeli, tennis, Tony Trabert
