Rafael Nadal, hair thinning, legs slowing imperceptibly but genius intact, remains unbeatable on the clay of Roland Garros. Not even a spirited challenge by the world No 4, Dominic Thiem, could stop the 33-year-old Spaniard winning the French Open for a 12th time on Sunday, a feat unlikely to be matched in their lifetimes, if ever.
For two sets the 25-year-old Austrian made a proper fight of it. But Nadal responded to the threat by tearing through the final two sets like the wind that has disrupted the schedule over the past few days to win 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in three hours.
In his previous 11 finals only a handful of players have detained him longer than Thiem: Mariano Puerta on Nadal’s winning debut as a teenager in 2005, Roger Federer three times and Novak Djokovic in his toughest final, seven years ago. But a string of dazzled contenders have fallen with embarrassing haste – most notably Federer, when Nadal took only an hour and 48 minutes in allowing him only four games in 2008.
Credit : The Guardian
Picture Credit : Google
