French Open Men’s Final Open Thread: Rafael Nadal v David Ferrer
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The French Open men’s final will be played this afternoon in Paris. Rafael Nadal returns as the heavy favorite against his good friend and countryman David Ferrer. It’s their 24 meeting and Nadal has won 19 of them.
Ferrer, though, enters his first career Grand Slam final having won all six matches at the tournament in straight sets. Nadal just won a grueling 4-hours, 37-minute marathon over rival Novak Djokovic on Friday.
ITF Notes:
2013 Roland Garros marks the 112th edition of the French Championships and the 83rd tournament since the event became international in 1925. It is also the 181st Grand Slam tournament of the Open Era, the first of which was 1968 Roland Garros, making this the 46th French Open.
Today’s champion receives €1,500,000 in prize money, while the runner-up collects €750,000. In total, the men’s singles prize fund for 2013 Roland Garros is €7,984,000, a 21.8% increase on 2012. The winner is also awarded 2000 ATP ranking points, with the runner-up receiving 1200.
Ferrer is projected to climb in the ATP World Tour Rankings when they are released on Monday 10 June regardless of his result in the final. If he wins the title he will record a career-high ranking of No. 3, if he finishes as runner-up he will climb to No. 4. Nadal will be No. 5 in the rankings regardless of his result in the final.
The last time neither the No. 1 or No. 2 seeds reached the final at a Grand Slam was at 2012 Wimbledon when No. 3 Roger Federer defeated No. 4 Andy Murray. The last time neither the No. 1 or No. 2 seeds reached the final here was in 2005 when No. 4 Nadal defeated the unseeded Mariano Puerta.
Nadal and Ferrer are in 1st and 2nd place for the most wins in 2013.
NO. 3 RAFAEL NADAL (ESP) v NO. 4 DAVID FERRER (ESP)
Head-to-head: Nadal leads 19-4
There have been 3 other all-Spanish finals in Grand Slam history – all of them at Roland Garros. The higher ranked player hasn’t always won – No. 20 Albert Costa defeated No. 11 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the 2002 final here.
All-Spanish Grand Slam finals
1994 Roland Garros: No. 6 Sergio Bruguera d. Alberto Berasategui 63 75 26 61
1998 Roland Garros: No. 12 Carlos Moya d. No. 14 Alex Corretja 63 75 63
2002 Roland Garros: No. 20 Albert Costa d. No. 11 Juan Carlos Ferrero 61 60 46 63
Defending champion NADAL is bidding to become the first man in history to win 8 titles at the same Grand Slam event. He is one of 7 men in history to have won 7 Grand Slam titles at one event. Nadal and Chris Evert are the only players to have won 7 Roland Garros titles.
Nadal will become the leading performer in Roland Garros history if he wins the title here. Nadal currently has a 58-1 win-loss record at Roland Garros, putting him equal 1st on the list for most wins at Roland Garros along with Roger Federer and Guillermo Vilas.
Nadal is bidding to win his 12th Grand Slam title overall. He is currently joint-4th with Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver on the list of all-time Grand Slam men’s singles title holders behind Roger Federer (17), Pete Sampras (14) and Roy Emerson (12).
If Nadal wins today he would become the 2nd-youngest man in history to win 12 Grand Slam titles after Roger Federer. The Spaniard will be 27 years 6 days old on the final day of the tournament.
FERRER is bidding to win a Grand Slam title for the first time in his first major final. He would be the 36th man in the Open Era to win their first Grand Slam title in their maiden final.
Ferrer is bidding to become the 9th different Spanish man to win a Grand Slam title. He is the 11th Spanish man to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era.
At 31 years 68 days Ferrer is bidding to become the oldest man to win a Grand Slam title since Andre Agassi (32 years 272 days) at the 2003 Australian Open. The oldest man to win the title here is Andres Gimeno who was 34 years 306 days when he won in 1972.
Ferrer is looking to become the 12th different man aged 30 or over to win a Grand Slam title in the Open Era. The last man to win a Grand Slam title aged over 30 was Roger Federer, who was 30 years 335 days old when he won 2012 Wimbledon.
SUNDAY FRENCH OPEN SCHEDULE
Court Philippe Chatrier 12:00 PM Start Time
1. Women’s Doubles – Final
Sara Errani (ITA)[1] v. Ekaterina Makarova (RUS)[4]
Roberta Vinci (ITA)[1] Elena Vesnina (RUS)[4]
Not Before: 3:00 PM
2. Men’s Singles – Final
Rafael Nadal (ESP)[3] v. David Ferrer (ESP)[4]
WEATHER.COM
Good chance of rain showers, high 63F.
BET AT HOME ODDS
Rafael Nadal 1.10 v David Ferrer 6.20
US TELEVISION SCHEDULE
NBC has live coverage starting at 9am ET.
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