On Sunday, Rafael Nadal made history at the 2022 Roland Garros when he won his 14th title at the event and 22nd Grand Slam title overall after defeating Casper Ruud in the final.
Despite ups and downs during his clay-court preparation for the 2022 Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal succeeded in the French capital and lifted his 22nd Grand Slam title to move in further away from Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the 'GOAT Race'.
On his way to the title, the Spaniard lost only three sets (2 to Felix Auger-Aliassime and 1 to Novak Djokovic) and was dominant throughout the tournament despite his physical shape being questionable after he was troubled by an injury in Rome just 2 weeks before the tournament start. After his triumph, speaking to Eurosport, former world no. 4, Tim Henman praised the 22-time Grand Slam champion, saying:
"If Nadal is healthy, which is a big challenge now with this foot injury, can he win Wimbledon? Absolutely. That is incredibly exciting. In terms of who is going to end up with the most amount of Grand Slams, a couple of years ago I would have said Djokovic, for sure."
"But right now, with that little bit of distance, I think Nadal has got a great chance."It’s going to be fascinating to see. You have got another opportunity in three weeks’ time so fingers crossed, I so hope Rafa can be there on grass."
"When you have won as much as he has, you just never know what’s around the corner. I think he has been very frank, and very honest, to say that he doesn’t know if he is going to be back here."
"But when you see a performance like that, it was just another clay-court masterclass. You would have thought that when he wins these big titles – don’t forget he’s won the Australian Open, the French Open, now you can talk about the Grand Slam being on."
"Surely it is going to motivate him to keep on going. That’s what we are keeping our fingers crossed for because it’s a privilege to see one of the greatest champions in our sport playing like that."
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