French Open surprisingly searched more than LaLiga in 2020 in India on Google

The French Open 2020 has come in at No.4 in India's 'Year in Search' 2020 list of 'Most Googled Sporting Events'. This is a huge step up from its previous position as No.6 last year. It is no surprise of course, that the IPL 2020 topped the list, followed by the Champions League and the Premier League. The French Open pipped the LaLiga, Serie A, Australian Open, NBA, Europa League and UEFA Nations League who also made up the top 10 in the list.

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Rafael Nadal French Open 2020 boost

Coming into the French Open 2020, Rafa had only played four tournaments in the year. Rafa seemed quite unlike himself at the Masters 1000 in Rome, the precursor event leading up to the French Open. After two easy wins in his first two games, Nadal was defeated by Argentinian Diego Schwartzman just as easily in the quarterfinals. Adding to this were the conditions in Paris.

All the talk at the event was about how the humid, overcast conditions would not support Rafa's style of play, with Rafa himself complaining about the wet clay and heavier balls. However, it seems that in the end none of this really made a difference to Rafa, who has dominated at Court Philippe-Chatrier like no other player. The Spaniard bulldozed past each of his competitors, to win the series without dropping a single set at the championships.

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His dominating 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 win over No.1 Novak Djokovic, a perfect game of tennis in all senses, was one of the highlights of the series. It was also Rafa's 13th title win in Paris - a record that has never been made before and is unlikely to be matched up to. Another record made in the final, perhaps the most consequential one, was that this title took Rafa to a total of 20 Slams - equalling Roger Federer's record. With all this, it is understandable why the French Open was so popular on Google this year. 

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US Open the least popular Grand Slam?

Considering the dramatic turn of events at the US Open 2020, it is surprising that the hard court slam did not make it into the top 10 Googled sports events of the year. The disqualification of the World No.1 Novak Djokovic from the tournament was among the most talked-about moments in tennis this year. With Dominic Thiem's win, the otherwise static game also got it's first Grand Slam champion from outside the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic trio since 2016.

However, it seems that rather than becoming an incentive, this lack of big names made the US Open the least popular Grand  Slam of the year. The US Open also came in 9th on this list last year, lagging behind Wimbledon at #3, Australian Open at #5 and French Open at #6. 

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Image Credits: Roland Garros Twitter