PARIS: Rafael Nadal won a 14th French Open and record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title on Sunday with a straight-sets rout of Casper Ruud to become the oldest male champion at Roland Garros and he vowed to “keep fighting.”
In a disappointing final, 36-year-old Nadal won 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 with victory coming 17 years to the day since he claimed his first French Open as a 19-year-old in 2005.
Nadal won the last 11 games of the final and is now two Slams ahead of old rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer with Sunday’s victory coming against all the odds.
Nadal, the oldest winner in Paris since a 34-year-old Andre Gimeno in 1972, had not been certain of taking part after a chronic left foot injury, which has plagued him throughout his career, flared up again.
He also needed the best part of a gruelling 12 hours to see off Felix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in the previous three rounds.
“I don’t know what I would do in terms of injuries if it wasn’t for the team, my family and everyone around me,” said Nadal.
“I would’ve already retired much before if it wasn’t for you.
“I never believed, that I’d be here at 36, being competitive again. Being here, means a lot to me on the most important court in my career. It helps me to keep going.
“For me, it’s incredible to play here. It’s an incredible feeling. I don’t know what can happen in the future, but I’m going to keep fighting to try to keep going.”
His two-hour 18-minute win on Sunday took his record at the tournament to 112 wins against just three losses and also put him halfway to a rare calendar men’s Grand Slam last achieved by Rod Laver in 1969.
“The most important thing is to congratulate Rafa,” said Ruud.
“You are a true champion. This is the first time I have faced you so now I know what it’s like to be the victim! There will be many others.
“You have taken me into your academy with open arms and you are a true inspiration to me. We all hope you continue for some more time.”
Nadal, unbeaten in 13 previous finals in Paris and playing in his 30th Grand Slam decider, got off to a flying start against Ruud, the first Norwegian man to feature in a championship match at the majors.
He broke for 2-0 and even though he handed the break straight back courtesy of a two uncharacteristic double faults, he was quickly back in front again for 3-1.
The Spaniard wrapped up the opener in 49 minutes against his 23-year-old opponent who has trained at his academy in Manacor since 2018.
World number eight Ruud, the in-form player on clay since the start of 2020 with 66 wins on the surface, was under siege again in the second set, having to fight off three break points in the opening game.
There was a sudden glimmer of hope when he broke for 3-1 with Nadal again coughing up a double fault. However, Nadal roared back with a double break for 4-3.
Ruud saved three set points in the ninth game but his first double fault of the final handed Nadal a two-set lead.
Nadal had said on the eve of the final that he would rather lose Sunday’s match in exchange for a new foot.
However, without needing to hit top gear, he was in complete control against Ruud, racing away to the title with three breaks in a third set which was over in 30 minutes.
Nadal sealed the win with a backhand down the line, his 37th winner of the final.
Rafael Nadal wins 14th French Open and record-extending 22nd Grand Slam
https://arab.news/yy9ky
Rafael Nadal wins 14th French Open and record-extending 22nd Grand Slam
- The 36-year-old Nadal comfortably defeated Norwegian Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0
- Rafael Nadal is now two Slams ahead of old rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer
‘Papaya’s not going anywhere’: How McLaren banished the wilderness years on and off the track
- On-track success of 2 constructors’ championships and Lando Norris’s title win matched by a rebrand attracting a new generation of fans to the British F1 team
ABU DHABI: It’s been just over a week since Lando Norris claimed his first Formula One championship title, but for McLaren’s growing army of supporters the party continues.
When the British driver crossed the finish line at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit in third place to confirm his title victory, you could be forgiven for thinking the post-race celebrations had a familiar look to others in recent years at the season-closing Grand Prix in the UAE’s capital.
This time however, the celebrating fans were sporting the orange of McLaren’s distinctive “papaya” livery, rather than the orange of Max Verstappen’s native Netherlands.
The resurgence of the British team in recent years has been nothing short of remarkable. On the track, their overwhelming supremacy has been secured by a superior car and two gifted drivers in Norris and Australia’s Oscar Piastri. Off it, they deployed one of motor sport’s most successful rebranding campaigns, as a result of which McLaren’s main color now rivals Ferrari’s red as the most iconic in F1.
“You know, it was the fans’ choice to bring papaya back,” Matt Dennington, co-chief commercial officer at McLaren, told Arab News.
“Back in, I think it was 2016, we went out to our fans and it was an overwhelming ‘yes’ that they wanted to see our heritage come back into the team. It’s a key brand asset for us.”
Speaking during a “Live Your Fandom” event at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, co-hosted with Velo, a team sponsor since 2019, he said: “For us, the fans are the lifeblood of our sport. We don’t go racing without them, and to be able to celebrate our fans and our partners together has been awesome.”
Norris’s success in Abu Dhabi was a crowning moment for the team, but the development on the track has been clear and dramatic for several years.
In 2017, the team finished a lowly ninth out of 10 in the constructors’ championship. Improvements to the car, particularly after switching to a Mercedes engine, helped the team move up to become a fixture in the “mid-field” F1 grid. Then, in 2024, came the giant leap forward as McLaren won the team title and then retained it this year.
In tandem with those successes, the commercial work that has taken place off the track has helped McLaren, in large part thanks to return of its papaya colors, develop one of the strongest brand identities in all of sports.
“Obviously, the on-track performance has been a great boost for that,” Dennington said. “You know, the other areas that have helped progress our fandom, and the sport, is the work that Liberty Media have done in the schedule.”
Liberty, an American mass media company, acquired Formula One Group from CVC Partners in 2017 for $4.4 billion. The popularity of the sport has skyrocketed since then thanks to huge engagement across media channels — including a certain Netflix show.
“More races, more races in the US, ‘Drive to Survive’ (on Netflix, and) we had the F1 movie,” Dennington said. “So there’s some great media platforms really driving the audience growth and the diversity of the audience.
“As a team, we’ve been pushing ourselves to be more sophisticated in the way in which we engage and communicate with our teams, but also looking at the partners we work with to give our fans the access to the McLaren brand and access to racing culture.”
The team’s portfolio now boasts more than 50 sponsors, among them Google, Mastercard and British American Tobacco. Dennington highlighted a number of campaigns that caught the public’s imagination.
“Some good examples of that is the work that we’ve done with Reiss and Abercrombie & Fitch — we bought our first women’s line of fashion through those organizations; the work we’re doing with Lego in capturing those sort of youth consumers into the brand; and also the work we’ve done with Tumi over the last few years in the luggage category.
“So we’re trying to extend the brand, we’re trying to create more access.”
In August, McLaren and Velo launched the “Live Your Fandom” campaign, offering nine superfans from the UK, Romania, the Czech Republic, Mexico and other places a “golden ticket” F1 experience in the form of a full day at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England.
The chosen fans enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour, shared their memories of the team directly with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, and took part in a surprise Q&A session with Norris.
One high-profile result of their special day was the graphical contributions they made to the team’s 2025 Abu Dhabi livery design, unveiled just days before Norris claimed the title, which featured art they helped create inspired by their most defining McLaren moments.
The livery features a series of bespoke images, including the “Papaya Family” representing the community spirit among McLaren F1 fans around the world; a “Forever Forward” friendship bracelet; and “Home Wins,” symbolizing the team’s victories this season in its home country at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, and at the Bahrain Grand Prix, which is considered the team’s second home.
Other images celebrated the back-to-back constructors’ championship victories; 200 race wins; 50 top-two race finishes; and the fastest pitstop of the 2025 season (1.91 seconds).
Louise McEwen, McLaren Racing’s chief marketing officer, said: “Our fans are at the heart of everything we do, and this special livery is another way of showing our appreciation.
“Through the ‘Live Your Fandom’ campaign with Velo we’ve been able to celebrate their passion and creativity in a way that truly brings the Papaya Family together.”
Such efforts by McLaren to bring more fans even closer to the action will continue, Dennington said.
“Less than 1 percent of all fans in Formula One over their lifetime get to go to a race,” he added. “So I think it’s up to us as a sport, as teams, to be able to create more opportunities for them (and) to connect with our fans.”
As for the image and identity of the team moving forward, he had a reassuring message for fans: “Papaya’s not going anywhere and you’ll continue to see that into the future.”
