Top 10 Roland Garros Perfomances Ever

The French Open will soon be upon us and all the players are gearing up for it as the clay court season goes in full swing. Undoubtedly, Spain’s world number 1, Rafael Nadal will be the favourite. But never say never in tennis, as there are a lot of dark horses who could spring a surprise of two. As we eagerly await Roland Garros to commence, here are 10 of the best Roland Garros performances of all-time.

2014, Rafael Nadal vs Novak Djokovic

Nadal defended his championship(3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4) for the 5th time successfully. Both of them were in contention for the World no. 1 spot . The match made him 66-1 at Roland Garros, the first man ever to win the slam 5 times in a row and also tied him with Pete Sampras in the 2nd place for winning the most grand slam titles.2011, Rafael Nadal vs Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal, the defending champion and, after this tournament, six-time winner of this event defended his title by beating long-time rival Roger Federer 7–5, 7–6, 7-3, 5–7, 6–1 for his sixth French .

Although the first round took a lot out of him as he played his first five-set match at Roland Garros since his debut in 2005, beating John Isner. Nadal matched Bjorn Borg’s tally of victories at Roland Garros.

2005 , Rafael Nadal vs Mariano Puerta

The defending champion Gaston Gaudio had already lost in the 4th round. It also was the first slam where Nadal started winning and also after which came to be known as King of Clay. He won 6–7, 6-8, 6–3, 6–1, 7–5. It was a dramatic opening set – Nadal went 2-0 up but, after having treatment on his thigh, Puerta broke back and clinched a thrilling tie-break. Nadal levelled the match at one-set all with a single break and strolled to the third as the Argentine visibly tired.

2004, Gaston Gaudio vs Guillermo Coria

Gaston Gaudio shocked the world as the 44th seeded won in the final 0–6, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1, 8–6, against Guillermo Coria. World No. 1, Roger Federer, suffered a 3rd round loss to former No. 1 and three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten, in what would be his last pre-quarterfinal exit from a Major until his 2nd round loss to Sergiy Stakhovsky in the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, a run of 36 quarterfinals in a row.

For two sets Coria had played almost faultless tennis, brilliantly demonstrating exactly why he has been the outstanding player on this surface that year, with only one previous defeat.

2001, Gustavo Kuerten vs Alex Corretja

Kuerten was the defending champion, and won in the final 6–7, 3-7, 7–5, 6–2, 6–0, against Àlex Corretja. This is notably the first time Roger Federer reached the quarter-finals of a grand slam. At 5-5 in the second set, Corretja had a break point on Kuerten’s serve. But Corretja rifled a backhand wide, creating a deuce point. Kuerten then came up with two net-cord winners en route to holding his serve. A game later, Kuerten converted a break point to take the second set when Corretja plopped a forehand into the net.

1999, Andre Agassi vs Andriy Medvedev

Andre Agassi won in the final, 1–6, 2–6, 6–4, 6–3, 6–4, against former World No. 4 Andriy Medvedev. With this win, Agassi became the second man, after Rod Laver, to complete a career Grand Slam in the Open Era. Agassi became the fifth man, and first American in 61 years to win all four majors Wimbledon in 1992, the U.S. Open in 1994, the Australian in 1995, and now the French.

As a proof of his versatility, he is the first to do it on three different surfaces. When Don Budge, Fred Perry, Rod Laver and Roy Emerson accomplished the feat, all the majors except the French were played on grass.

1993, Sergi Bruguera vs Jim Courier

Sergi Bruguera defeated Jim Courier 6–4, 2–6, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 in the final to win the Men’s Singles tennis title at the 1993 French Open.

The loss to the 10th-seeded Bruguera stunned the second-seeded Courier, who was intent on becoming the first American man to collect three French Open championships. The achievement would have been all the more remarkable for his having seized the titles consecutively, a feat last done in Paris by Bjorn Borg, who reigned here from 1978-81.

1991, Jim Courier vs Andre Agassi

Jim Courier beat Andre Agassi 3–6, 6–4, 2–6, 6–1, 6–4 in the final to win the Men’s Singles tennis title at the 1991 French Open.

After 3 hours 19 minutes of excruciating play and a total of 123 unforced errors on the windswept clay, Courier, a 20-year-old fist-pumping, baseball-loving baseliner from Dade City, Florida, captured the title in his first Grand Slam final by outgunning Agassi, 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, in the first all-American final since 1954.

The match ended quickly, making it Courier’s seventh, that streaked down the middle of the court unchallenged by Agassi.

1989 French Open finals Michael Chang vs Stefan Edberg

17-year-old Michael Chang won the title, and as such broke the record for the youngest-ever Grand Slam – Men’s Singles champion. Among his victories was a defeat of World No. 1 and three-time French Open champion Ivan Lendl, which is remembered as one of the most significant matches in French Open history.

The match, decided largely on errors, lacked the brilliance of the Chang-Lendl encounter, in which Chang kept himself alive with long rallies until he could seize an opportunity to break the cadence and drill a winner.

In playing a serve-and-volley specialist like the 23-year-old Edberg, whom he had beaten earlier this year at Indian Wells, Calif., Chang turned to well-placed passing shots and hard service returns that the third-seeded Swede could not handle. He tried to get the serves back quickly, before Edberg could get to the net. He had the most success with that strategy in the fifth set, when Edberg was tiring.

1974, Bjorn Borg vs Manuel Orantes

This piece couldn’t have been completed without the classic that this match is. Regarded as one the most sensational victories with always a mention whenever the Roland Garros archives are opened, this match saw Björn Borg defeat Manuel Orantes 2–6, 6–7, 1-7, 6–0, 6–1, 6–1 in the final to win the Men’s Singles tennis title.

The format was slightly unusual for a Men’s Grand Slam event: the first two rounds were played best-of-three sets, while the last five rounds were played as best-of-five sets.

In the final, Orantes looked like a lock when he took the first two sets, but something came over Borg down 0-2, and the near-immortal he would come on clay came to life as he destroyed the Spaniard 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 to capture his first Grand Slam crown. Borg went on to win six French Open titles.