Rafael Nadal proved one more time that he’s the King of Clay. After a two-year drought, the Mallorcan Bull returned to the top of the podium at Roland Garros following a scintillating performance against former french open winner Stanislas Wawrinka. Nadal, riding on a huge momentum coming into this year’s tournament, got the job done by dispatching the Swiss in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 on Court Philippe Chatrier on Sunday.
Finally, La Decima!
Nadal became the first player to win at least 10 championships at the same major tournament, completing his long-due quest for La Decima.
The Spaniard has been nothing short of stellar throughout the tournament, obliterating each opponent he faced as if he never turned 31-years old on June 3. Indeed, age was never a factor in Rafa’s latest conquest at Roland Garros.
In the finals, Nadal punished Wawrinka with menacing forehand and nifty drop shots. When the dust settled, statistics showed a near flawless performance from Nadal as he only committed 12 unforced errors and recorded 94 total points. Wawrinka, on the other hand, registered 17 unforced errors with only four winners and 57 total points.
With his latest triumph at Roland Garros, Nadal finally broke a tie with Pete Sampras for most Grand Slams in men’s tennis history with 15 major titles, second only to Roger Feder’s record-setting 18 Grand Slams.
He also padded his all-time record at Roland Garros to 79-2 all-time and 102-2 in a best-of-five clay-court matches. Moreover, the Spaniard moved up to no.2 spot in the ATP World Rankings with Novak Djokovic sliding down to no.3.
The Greatest Ever?
Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash showered Nadal with praises after another memorable output at the French Open championships.
Cash stressed that he hates to use the words ‘greatest ever,’ but Nadal’s latest feat makes him worthy of that label. The BBC5 tennis analyst also predicted that it’s going to be hard for someone to topple Nadal in this tournament as long as he keeps healthy, calling the Spaniard simply ‘untouchable’ on clay.
"I don't like to use the term 'greatest of all' but it's hard not to with this guy.
It's just absolutely phenomenal. Rafa's style of play is so effective on clay, he's lightning fast and ruthlessly tough. He's got incredible power,” Cash said during his commentary per BBC.
Huge collision course in the offing
Nadal’s red-hot clay-court campaign sets him up for a collision course with long-time nemesis Roger Federer on grass. Rafa might be the hottest player on the ATP circuit right now, but Federer was the first one to set the tone early in the season with victories at the Australian Open, Indian Wells and Miami Masters.
Coming off a lengthy hiatus, Federer is poised to contend for his 8th Wimbledon championship and 19th Grand Slam titles at All-England Club a couple of weeks from now. Nadal, who has a 0-3 losing record to Federer this year, will attempt to pull off a rare French-Wimbledon double, a feat he already did on two separate occasion in 2008 and 2010.
