After Rain-Soaked Tantrum and Delay, Nadal Sets a French Open Record

Spain's Rafael Nadal finally secured his record-breaking seventh French Open win on Monday, defeating world No. 1 Novak Djovic after rainy weather drove him to a temper tantrum before it mercifully delayed play for 18 hours.

Spain's Rafael Nadal finally secured his record-breaking seventh French Open win on Monday, defeating world No. 1 Novak Djovic after rainy weather drove him to a temper tantrum before it mercifully delayed play for 18 hours.

The rain delay turned out to be a blessing to Nadal, normally dominant, who The New York Times' Greg Bishop reports "came apart" during Sunday's match against Serbian Djokovic: "The more it rained, the more Nadal sprayed ground strokes, the more he stomped around the baseline. He complained often and loudly to the chair umpire. He threw temper tantrums. In the simplest terms, he came apart," writes Bishop.

When they resumed play on Monday, however, Nadal was back to his usual dominant self. Yahoo Sports' Chris Chase has a good, brief recap: "Djokovic led 2-1 in the fourth set when play resumed after an 18-hour rain delay pushed back the conclusion of the final until 1 p.m. on Monday. He was quickly broken in the first game back on court but traded serves with Nadal to get to 5-5. Djokovic hit a loose forehand at 15-0, 5-6 and later double faulted on match point, making Nadal the most prolific champion in French Open history." The final score was 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 for Nadal.