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Rafel Nadal Won His Unprecedented Fifth French Open In A Row Yesterday
Rafael Nadal is not just arguably – he is – the greatest French Open player of all time. He cemented his legacy just yesterday with his ninth title and an astounding fifth in a row (not done since even before the Open era – that’s since 1891*).
And that’s not all. Nadal also won four back-to-back before this streak. Talk about a master of clay. How about THE Master of Clay.
Nadal’s two streaks were broken up in 2009 by another master (though surely not one of clay), Roger Federer.
Another Swede, the great Bjorn Borg, won four in a row himself.
Finishing off the men’s side are six basic back-to-backers. Borg appears again here.
What about the fairer group – the ladies?
Five have been repeat winners, with Monica Seles and Justine Henin at the top – each won three in a row.
Then, there’s old timer Margaret Court, who also played (and won twice) before the Roland Garros’ tournament became “Open”* in 1968.
American Chris Evert (Chris Evert-Lloyd at the time) pulled off three back-to-backers, while Germany’s Steffi Graf did it twice.
Follow @VinGetzBACK-TO-BACK FRENCH OPEN WINNERS – MEN
| FRENCH OPEN CHAMPION | COUNTRY | TITLES IN A ROW | YEARS | RUNNERS-UP | COUNTRY | |
| 1. | Rafael Nadal | Spain | 5 | 2010 | Robin Söderling | Sweden |
| 2011 | Roger Federer | Switzerland | ||||
| 2012 | Novak Djokovic | Serbia | ||||
| 2013 | David Ferrer | Spain | ||||
| 2014 | Novak Djokovic | Serbia | ||||
| 2. | Björn Borg | Sweden | 4 | 1978 | Guillermo Vilas | Argentina |
| 1979 | Víctor Pecci | Paraguay | ||||
| 1980 | Vitas Gerulaitis | USA | ||||
| 1981 | Ivan Lendl | Czechoslovakia | ||||
| 2. | Rafael Nadal | Spain | 4 | 2005 | Mariano Puerta | Argentina |
| 2006 | Roger Federer | Switzerland | ||||
| 2007 | Roger Federer | Switzerland | ||||
| 2008 | Roger Federer | Switzerland | ||||
| 4. | Jan Kodeš | Czechoslovakia | 2 | 1970 | Željko Franulovic’ | Yugoslavia |
| 1971 | Ilie Nastase | Romania | ||||
| 4. | Björn Borg | Sweden | 2 | 1974 | Manuel Orantes | Spain |
| 1975 | Guillermo Vilas | Argentina | ||||
| 4. | Ivan Lendl | Czechoslovakia | 2 | 1986 | Mikael Pernfors | Sweden |
| 1987 | Mats Wilander | Sweden | ||||
| 4. | Jim Courier | USA | 2 | 1991 | Andre Agassi | USA |
| 1992 | Petr Korda | Czechoslovakia | ||||
| 4. | Sergi Bruguera | Spain | 2 | 1993 | Jim Courier | USA |
| 1994 | Alberto Berasategui | Spain | ||||
| 4. | Gustavo Kuerten | Brazil | 2 | 2000 | Magnus Norman | Sweden |
| 2001 | Àlex Corretja | Spain |
BACK-TO-BACK FRENCH OPEN WINNERS – WOMEN
| FRENCH OPEN CHAMPION | COUNTRY | TITLES IN A ROW | YEARS | RUNNERS-UP | COUNTRY | |
| 1. | Monica Seles | Yugoslavia | 3 | 1990 | Steffi Graf | West Germany |
| 1991 | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | Spain | ||||
| 1992 | Steffi Graf | Germany | ||||
| 1. | Justine Henin | Belgium | 3 | 2005 | Mary Pierce | France |
| 2006 | Svetlana Kuznetsova | Russia | ||||
| 2007 | Ana Ivanovic | Serbia | ||||
| 3. | Margaret Court | Australia | 2 | 1969 | Ann Haydon Jones | Great Britain |
| 1970 | Helga Niessen Masthoff | West Germany | ||||
| 3. | Chris Evert | USA | 2 | 1974 | Olga Morozova | Soviet Union |
| 1975 | Martina Navratilova | Czechoslovakia | ||||
| 3. | Chris Evert | USA | 2 | 1979 | Wendy Turnbull | Australia |
| 1980 | Virginia Ruzici | Romania | ||||
| 3. | Chris Evert | USA | 2 | 1985 | Martina Navratilova | USA |
| 1986 | Martina Navratilova | USA | ||||
| 3. | Steffi Graf | West Germany | 2 | 1987 | Martina Navratilova | USA |
| 1988 | Natasha Zvereva | Soviet Union | ||||
| 3. | Steffi Graf | Germany | 2 | 1995 | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | Spain |
| 1996 | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | Spain |
* This tennis tournament at Roland Garros in France has been played since 1891 (men) and 1897 (women). It was open only to amateurs through 1967. In 1968, professionals were invited to play. The stats above reflect the “Open” era between 1968 and the present.
Photo: washingtonpost.com
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