Nadal Beats Djokovic for Record Seventh French Title Rafael Nadal rarely needs help to win on clay, but in the end on Monday he got some from Novak Djokovic to win the men's French Open final, 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, for his seventh singles championship at Roland Garros. After play, which was postponed because of rain on Sunday, resumed in the fourth set with Djokovic up a break, Nadal quickly broke to level the set. Djokovic eventually ended the seesaw match with a double fault on Nadal's first championship point, sending the Spaniard Nadal to his knees in joy. With his victory, Nadal became the first man to claim seven titles at Roland Garros, and tied Rod Laver with his 11th overall major title. The loss ended Djokovic's chance to become the first man since Laver in 1969 to hold all four Grand Slam titles at once. After Djokovic had calmly received the runner-up plate from the former champion Mats Wilander, Nadal raised the trophy high above his head, then hit himself in the head with its base as he lowered it. One would think he would be more used to handling the Coupe de Mousquetaires by now. Djokovic started his speech in fairly solid French, but switched into his more comfortable English to finish it out. Nadal started in something resembling French, then switched to Spanish, then to Catalan, and finally English, the crowd laughing at his sharp linguistic turns. Rafael Nadal has won his seventh French Open title, but perhaps not with the finish anyone would have wanted. At 15-all, Nadal's shots appeared paralyzed by nerves, barely clearing the net and landing halfway up the service box, making for easy pickings for a Djokovic overhead. But Nadal rediscovered his range on his next 2 points, pushing Djokovic back with blistering forehands and giving himself his first championship point. Nadal won that point without ever touching the ball, as Djokovic's first serve landed wide and his second long. As Djokovic's head dropped, Nadal fell to his knees behind the baseline. After shaking hands with Djokovic Nadal climbed up into the stands to hug several members of his family, team, and even Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers. The seventh Roland Garros title is Nadal's 11th Grand Slam champtionship, equaling the total won by Rod Laver. Nadal again put himself a game from the championship with a hold for 6-5, but it was not without drama. He wanted a mark from Djokovic's penultimate shot of a rally at 30-15 examined, but the chair umpire ruled that Nadal did not fully halt the rally after the shot in question. Nadal argued briefly, but ultimately returned to play. After dropping the first point post-argument, Nadal loudly shouted "¡Vamos!" after his next point won and held a point later to once again put himself a break from taking his seventh French Open title. Should he not take the set and match with a break at 5-6, he'll have another chance in the ensuing tiebreak. Djokovic has played his best tennis when trailing at this tournament, saving four match points against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his quarterfinal. It was no different today with him serving to stay in the match for the first time, as his forehand dominated Nadal and carried him to an easy hold for 5-5. And now the sun has come fully out, bathing the court in unfamiliar brightness. Some poor footwork from Djokovic caused an error that put Nadal potentially only 6 points from victory, but he found some big serves to keep the fourth set on serve at 4-4. Djokovic's father Srdjan shows no visible signs of fatigue from frequently jumping to his feet yesterday, and has been back on his feet with every point won today. Nadal then quickly held at love again, taking a 5-4 lead and putting himself one game from the title as the tournament referee Stefan Fransson walked back on court. He walked right back off, and it looked like play would continue. But then Djokovic spoke to Nadal after Fransson walked off, and the two agreed to wait out this current burst of stronger rain. They sat on court to try to wait it out, and Nadal has run back to the baseline to continue play. With a running forehand flick, Nadal holds to take a 4-3 lead in the fourth. His shot had so much spin that it bounced twice before it even hit the baseline. Stands in Chatrier are now impressively full, roughly about 85% occupied during this weekday afternoon. Those in attendance are being rewarded with this resumption's first rainfall. The tournament referee Stefan Fransson has begun his trademark purposeful gazing up at the sky. With renewed aggression, Djokovic holds easily, knotting the fourth set at 3-3. And with that aggression, he's been able to do something he couldn't easily do for most of yesterday: hit the ball past Nadal. Despite losing that game, it's clear that Nadal's ball is doing things it couldn't in yesterday's soggy conditions, kicking up high and fast as it normally does on dry clay. Nadal already looks in far brighter spirits than he was yesterday evening, and has broken Djokovic in the first game of Monday's play to level the second set at 2-2. Upon going down break point, Djokovic whacked himself several times in the right side of his head with the strings of his racket. Nadal took the break point with an easy passing shot after his previous shot clipped the net cord and barely fell over the net. Nadal held up his hand, but it did little to assuage Djokovic's frustration. Nadal then quickly held at love to extend his run to 3-2, making it three straight games that he's won going back to yesterday. After a layoff of nearly 18 hours, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal have walked back onto Court Philippe Chatrier to resume the fourth set of the men's singles final at the 2012 French Open. The stadium, open only to those who were in attendance yesterday, is nowhere near full, but the dedicated fans who returned today are considerably louder than they were yesterday.