Nadal wins his 7th French Open

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PARIS, June 11 (UPI) -- Rafael Nadal won an Open Era record seventh French Open title by holding off world No. 1 Novak Djokovic for a four-set victory Monday.

Nadal, No. 2 in the world rankings, had a pair of breaks in claiming a 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 win as he and Djokovic returned to Roland Garros to finish off the championship match, which was suspended by rain Sunday.

Djokovic had a 2-1 edge and was serving in the fourth set when play resumed but Nadal immediately evened the match with a break. Serve held without another break chance until the 12th game when Nadal went ahead 30-40 with a forehand winner. The match ended with a Djokovic double fault.

That gave Nadal a third consecutive French Open championship and a seventh title in eight years. He's is 52-1 all-time at Roland Garros.

The win snapped a tie with Bjorn Borg for most French Open wins since 1968. No other player has more than three. Max Decugis, who won eight times from 1903-14, owns the record.

Nadal pulled into another tie with Borg, however. They both have 11 Grand Slam titles, which is third most in the Open Era. Roger Federer has 16 and Pete Sampras 14.

Nadal also broke a three-match losing streak to Djokovic in major tournament finals. Djokovic, in his first final at Paris, was looking to complete his personal Grand Slam with a win at the French Open. No player has held all four of the men's Grand Slam titles since Rod Laver in 1969.