Rafael Nadal has dominated French Open like no other player has ever done at any Major in the Open era.
Nadal has lifted the winner’s trophy at Roland Garros a record 14 times and has suffered defeat in only three out of 115 matches at the clay Major.
With such a record, it is not a surprise that on only three occasions, Nadal has been taken to a deciding set in Paris.
Nadal had his first five-setter in the opening round in 2011. The defending champion faced John Isner, a 6’10” American with a big serve. The Spaniard grabbed the first set but went on to lose the next two in tiebreaks. However, he raised his level to win the fourth and deciding sets fairly comfortably.
The second time Nadal was pushed to five set in Paris happened in the semifinals of the 2013 edition. Facing World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the Spaniard led by two sets to one. He served for the match at 6-5 in the fourth set but the Serbian broke back and won the tiebreaker.
In a rollercoaster of a fifth set, Djokovic got the early break but lost his advantage in controversial fashion. In the eighth game, Djokovic hit a smash but before the ball could bounce twice, he slipped and hit the net, thus losing the point.
Nadal broke back to make it 4-4. The two players held their serve till 7-7 (there was no 10-point tiebreak at 6-6 in the final set back then) when Nadal broke again and then, served successfully for a place in the final.
His most recent deciding-set battle at Roland Garros took place in 2022. Playing against Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, coached by the Spaniard’s uncle Toni, Nadal led by two sets to one before Auger-Aliassime fought back to win the fourth set. However, Nadal did not let things go out of hand clinched the decider 6-3.
| YEAR | ROUND | OPPONENT | SCORE |
| 2022 | QUARTERFINAL | FELIX AUGER-ALIASSIME (CANADA) | 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 |
| 2013 | SEMIFINAL | NOVAK DJOKOVIC (SERBIA) | 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7(3), 9-7 |
| 2011 | ROUND OF 128 | JOHN ISNER (USA) | 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-4 |
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