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Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain during their men’s quarter-final match during the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France – REUTERS
REUTERS: It was sharp, quick and brutal as Novak Djokovic finally dropped the French Open guillotine on Rafa Nadal – ending the most remarkable of Roland Garros reigns in ruthless fashion on Wednesday.
The champion, who was rumored to have red clay pumping through his veins after ruling the Paris slam for nine of the last 10 years, tamely surrendered his crown at 6.12pm local time.
A double fault ended the most miserable of miserable days for the Spaniard, with Djokovic proving that even players of Nadal’s stature can be turned into mere mortals.
The manner of Djokovic’s 7-5 6-3 6-1 execution was impressive enough but unfortunately for the Serb, no one was running out on court to hand him a gleaming trophy for condemning Nadal to only his second defeat at Roland Garros.
For this was merely a quarter-final.
To get his hands on the Musketeers’ Cup and complete the coveted career grand slam, the world number one will first have to tackle Andy Murray – a 7-6(4) 6-2 5-7 6-1 winner over David Ferrer – and then win the final on Sunday.
A match befitting the final of any grand slam stage came two rounds too early due to Nadal’s slide down the rankings.
While injuries and appendicitis kept Nadal off court during the second half of 2014, 2015 has not exactly been a stellar year by his own high standards -- he arrived in Paris without winning a European claycourt event for the first time in over a decade.
Nadal’s woes meant he entered Roland Garros ranked seventh, which set him on the path to a horror 29th birthday date with Djokovic
