The 2013 French Open finished up on Sunday with a fantastic men's final between Rafael Nadal and fellow Spanish countryman David Ferrer and after the three set victory for his record eighth career Roland Garros title, the best clay court player in the world was handed the Grand Slam trophy from none other than Usain Bolt.
The Olympic champion was on hand to present the famous Coupe des Mousquetaires to Nadal and he came into the event after a surprising defeat by American Justin Gatlin in Rome last week, but that's didn't faze the six-time Gold medal winning sprinter as he chatted up with fellow gold medalist Rafa Nadal on the podium. Nadal defeated his friend Ferrer, who was in his first Grand Slam final, in straight sets 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 to win his eighth French title in some rain. It was the 12th Grand Slam title for Nadal and the win puts him in a position to catch up to Roger Federer some day, as he has 17 career Slams.
Nadal and Bolt chatted it up on the podium after the trophy presentation and according to SI.com, Bolt said he was talking with Rafa about the upcoming Grand Slam in Wimbledon in two weeks. Bolt said to writer Jon Wertheim that he thinks Nadal will do great at the All England Club and the addition of Bolt to the festivities made some confusion for Nadal while speaking with John McEnroe in the post-match interview. McEnroe asked about the "crazy idiot" that ran onto the court, referring to a French protester, and Nadal thought at first he was talking about Bolt, but after praising the Olympic champion Nadal spoke about the intruder and said that while it was surprising, it did not rattle him in the match despite being broken by Ferrer after the incident.
CLICK here for video of the incident and the presentation.
Nadal's tougher match was in the semifinals against Novak Djokovic, which ended up being a five-set epic that was a rematch of the final from last year at Roland Garros that also saw Nadal win. The Spanish star improved to 59-1 in 60 career matches at the tournament and he continues the hot start to the season as Wimbledon comes on the calendar. Nadal will have a quick turnaround to play at the All England Club and he is not expected to play a warm up after coming back from seven months away after dealing with a knee injury. Nadal said in the post match interview that he barely played any tennis during his absence and now he will have the chance add another major after becoming the first player to win a Grand Slam after missing the previous two, as he missed out on the US Open and Australian Open with his injury.
