King Nadal extends reign on clay Halep exults at being ‘real’ No 1 after first Slam
World No 1 crushes Thiem in straight sets to win 11th title at Roland Garros for his 17th Grand Slam
PARIS: Rafael Nadal was at his awe-inspiring best as he crushed Austrian Dominic Thiem to snatch a record-extending 11th French Open title with a 6-4, 6-3 6-2 victory on Sunday.
The Spanish world number one took his Roland Garros winloss record to 86-2 as he captured his 17th Grand Slam title by demolishing the seventh seed, who was hoping to become the second Austrian to win at Roland Garros.
In 11 finals in Paris, Nadal has only lost six sets as he matched the all-time record of most singles titles won at the same Grand Slam event set by Margaret Court at the Australian Open during the 1960s and 70s.
Sunday’s result marks the sixth consecutive Grand Slam won by either Nadal or 20-times major champion Roger Federer.
The muscular Spaniard had won all 10 of his previous Roland Garros finals and although Thiem was the only man to have beaten him on clay over the past two seasons, the Austrian never threatened the claycourt master on Sunday.
Nadal called on the trainer to get his forearms massaged twice in the final set but even that problem failed to improve Thiem’s chances of emulating fellow Austrian Thomas Muster’s 1995 triumph.
Nadal got off to a dream start, pocketing the first six points of the match as he broke Thiem in the second game to open up a 2-0 lead.
Thiem broke back immediately as he continued to go for his shots, and he saw off a break point to hold for 2-2.
FRUSTRATED THIEM
Nadal, however, turned the screw in the 10th game and Thiem seemed to grow nervous, sending a forehand long to hand his opponent the opening set.
The signs were already ominous for Thiem at that stage because in 112 best-of-five-set matches, Nadal had never lost after taking the first set.
The top seed went 2-0 ahead in the second set as he wore Thiem
7
5
1
8/15
24
42
79 Two hours,
down in lung-burning rallies, leaving the Austrian screaming in frustration.
Thiem found some life and threatened with a break point in the seventh game, but Nadal broke his pace with a drop shot and finished it off with a passing shot, holding for 5-2.
He bagged the second set when Thiem sent a backhand long. Thiem was still on the back foot in the third set, being forced to save four break points in the first game. He dropped serve in the third and Nadal held for 3-1 after taking a time out because of a sore hand.
He then had his forearm massaged at the changeover before resuming his demolition job. Nadal had another massage at 5-2 and he ended Thiem’s ordeal on his fifth match point when the Austrian returned long.
INCREDIBLE WIN
“It’s really just incredible. I played a great match against a great player,” Nadal said after the win.
“I had a tough moment in the third set with cramps in my hand. I was very scared but that’s sport - it was very humid. To win 11 times here
- it’s fantastic and not something I ever dreamed of. It is always my dream to win this trophy, you all know how important the tournament is to me.”
Knee injuries have taken a toll throughout his career but he has always bounced back. The victory took Nadal’s record at Roland Garros to 86 wins and just two losses. PARIS:IT was the end of a long and rewarding day, one she’ll likely never forget, and new French Open champion Simona Halep harboured a couple of overriding concerns.
“I’m tired,” she said. “I’m hungry. I didn’t eat since 9 a.m.”
It was getting close to 12 hours since that last meal, and Halep was speaking to two reporters in what she hoped was her last media session on Saturday night after beating Sloane Stephens for her first Grand Slam title. Halep had pined for such a championship to go along with her No. 1 ranking, and she finally had come through after starting her career 0-3 in major finals.
“I think it was the most important thing, because always I said that if you are No. 1 without a Grand Slam, you are not a real No. 1,” Halep said. “Now that I was able to win, it makes it special, and makes it, like, everything together. It’s real now.” Sure is.
“She showed a lot of maturity. She’s grown up a lot in the last 12 months. Sometimes the losses do make you mature really quickly. You can go one way with your career, and go downwards, or you can suck it up, work a little bit harder and try to do it again,” said Halep’s coach, Darren Cahill. “That’s the way she went.”
It was Cahill who encouraged Halep to embrace the goal, to go ahead and be forthright - with herself and everyone else - about yearning for something she had come close to but had yet to achieve.
“The Slam is what they play for. Last year, we spoke about this: When she talks about it, not to avoid it. Not to avoid the fact that, ‘Yes, I want to win a major, and this is what I’m pushing for.’ Not trying to take the pressure off her too much,” he said. “And she was able to step up and handle that pressure. Now she can relax, let her game go.”
Now there can be no more questions from others about whether the Romanian deserves to be atop the rankings.