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2012 French Open: Rafael Nadal Defeats Novak Djokovic, Wins 7th French Open Title

Rafael Nadal won the finals of the Men's Singles tournament at the 2012 French Open, a record seventh French Open championship for the tennis player. He beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3, 2-6 and 7-5 with an overnight break in the third set due to rain. Nadal was down 2-1 in the when play was suspended on Sunday, but he came back to put Djokovic on the defensive when play resumed.

Nadal evened the score at 2-2 before pulling ahead by a game. Djokovic tied things up again and the two men would repeat this pattern twice more, Nadal going up and Djokovic tying it. That left them at 5-5, and after Nadal pulled ahead yet again he was the recipient of a stroke of good luck as a double fault in the final game handed him the set and the championship. Djokovic double faulted with the score at 30-40, costing the no. 1 seed the title and his chance to become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four tennis majors in the same year.

Nadal's seventh French Open victory is a record, and in the 2012 tournament the third set in the final was the only one he lost. A complete scoreboard for the entire tournament can be found at SI.com.

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