The King of Clay has lived up to his title so far in 2017.
Rafael Nadal triumphed at his third consecutive tournament and improved to 15-0 on his favorite surface this season by beating Dominic Thiem 7-6(8), 6-4 in the Mutua Madrid Open final on Sunday afternoon.
A wild first set saw Nadal trail by an early break only to get it right back and ultimately play his way into a tiebreaker. Actually it was Thiem who did especially well to force a ‘breaker, as the ninth-ranked Austrian battled out of a 0-40, triple set point hole at 4-5. Nadal eventually saved two set points, himself, before converting his fifth chance when Thiem sent a forehand over the baseline at 8-9.
“Anything could have happened at the end of the first set, but I think I played the important points well,” the Spaniard commented.
This time around Thiem did not go away in the second set, as he had done in last month’s Barcelona final–also a straight-set loss to Nadal. The 23-year-old battled admirably in Madrid, fighting off two championship points to deliver a clutch hold for 4-5. Thiem even earned four break points in a tense final game only to see Nadal finally capitalize on his fourth match point.
Highlights:
“I gave everything that I could,” Thiem said. “But it was a final of a Masters 1000, my first one, against the best player on this surface ever. Sometimes against the best players in the world, you even lose when you play well. That’s the thing in tennis: there’s only one winner.
“How he plays after his serve, it’s unbelievable. He hits so many forehands. You’re under pressure after his serve almost every time.”
“Today is a day to be satisfied, to be happy and to have this trophy,” Nadal concluded. “This is a very emotional period of the season. I really enjoy these tournaments. I just try to go for all of them. I try to compete. I did well in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, and also here. I hope to do the same in Rome.”
Nadal and Thiem will now head to the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the second Masters 1000 event in as many weeks. They could face each other again in the quarterfinals.
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