Rafael Nadal lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires for the first time back in 2005. It’s now 2018, and he is still out here winning French Opens.
In fact, “winning” is hardly accurate; “dominating” is more like it.
Nadal captured a second straight title at Roland Garros and his 11th overall on the red clay of Paris when he trounced Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday afternoon. The 32-year-old, who surrendered just one set throughout the entire tournament, triumphed after two hours and 42 minutes.
Playing in his first career Grand Slam final, Thiem managed to be competitive only through nine games. The eighth-ranked Austrian recovered from an immediate service donation to break back for 1-2 in the first set before holding en route to 4-4. Following a Nadal hold in the ninth game, Thiem cracked under the pressure of serving to stay in the opener. Nadal broke at love to wrap things up and was off to the races.
The world No. 1 committed a mere 12 unforced errors throughout the remainder of the match–the same number he had made in the first set alone. He faced just one break point in the second and none in the third, stumbling only when he reached triple-championship point at 5-2. Nadal squandered four championship points in total before converting his fifth when Thiem sent a backhand return slightly over the baseline.
Highlights:
“I don’t think he was out of the match (at any point),” Nadal said of Thiem. “Maybe at the end when I had a break against him (in the third set)…. [It was] at the end of the third set when I was able to get a 5-2 that I really overcame him, but I believe that tactically he was good and [tennis-wise] he played well. I went to the court with a clear idea of what I wanted to do; I applied it well. I don’t know; I don’t know if you saw it in any other way, but I felt the match was good throughout.
“It means, first of all, adding one more title of the most important tournament for me during the year,” he continued. “It also means knowing that for the rest of the year you know that whatever happens, the year is going to be good; and you feel a bit [relaxed].”
“It’s really a great thing that I made my way (to the final) and that I was competing in a final against [Nadal],” Thiem commented. “It’s a really great thing, but still I’m disappointed. It was a final; I really wanted to win.
“It’s a big goal for me to play soon (in) another slam finals. Of course it’s going to be easier then, because it’s not going to be the first time anymore. Then hopefully I can do it better than today.”
Thiem is definitely right about one thing: it can’t possibly be any tougher than Nadal at Roland Garros.
[polldaddy poll=10027388]
Leave a Reply