Never before in Novak Djokovic’s illustrious career had he been handed a bagel in a grand slam final.
Then he ran into a red-hot Rafael Nadal at the French Open.
Nadal inflicted one of the most humiliating defeats on his great rival in the French Open final on Sunday, thrashing the World No.1 6-0 6-2 7-5 to lift a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam men’s singles title.
The first-set annihilation was the first time Djokovic had lost a set to love in 27 grand slam finals, and just the second time in his whole career.
It set the tone for the whole match as Nadal wiped the floor with Djokovic, handing him just his second loss of 2020 (the other being his default at the US Open).
But despite the embarrassing career-first, Djokovic was classy and humble in defeat.
Djokovic was under no illusions about the Herculean effort it would take to beat Nadal in Sunday’s final, but even he was surprised by the level of perfection the Spaniard reached to win a 13th title on the Paris clay.
The 33-year-old Djokovic did not play badly in the final but it took him 55 minutes before he registered his first game in what turned out to be a mauling.
