King of Paris: Rafael Nadal targets a 12th French Open title

The Spaniard was too strong for Dominic
Thiem in the final at Roland-Garros

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Only Margaret Court, who won 11 Australian Open crowns between
1960 and 1973, has won the same Grand Slam title as many times, but
Nadal vowed to return next year to make it a record-breaking
12.

“It is always my dream to win this trophy, you all know
how important the tournament is to me,” the King of Clay told the
crowd. “So I hope to see you all again next year.”

In humid conditions in Paris, Nadal overwhelmed his
24-year-old opponent 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 – a disappointing outcome for
the seventh-seed Austrian (playing in his first major final) who is
the only man to have beaten the Spaniard on clay in the past two
years.

“What you have done, to win this tournament 11 times, is
one of the greatest things in sport,” a magnanimous Thiem told
Nadal afterwards. “I hope I soon get another chance here – maybe
against you. But it has still been a great two weeks for me
here.”

Incredible Nadal

Thiem’s chance may come in future years but the present
belongs very much to the 32-year-old Nadal, who now has 17 Grand
Slam titles to his name, just three behind his great rival Roger
Federer.

“It’s really incredible,” said the Spaniard. “I played a
great match against a great player. I had a tough moment in the
third set with cramps in my hand. I was very scared but that’s
sport.”

Six sets dropped

Nadal, who dropped just 24 points on his serve in the two
hours and 42 minutes it took him to dispose of his adversary,
required treatment in the fourth game of the third set for a finger
injury but that was a rare moment of concern for him on a day when
he simply overpowered Thiem.

Not that the Austrian helped himself, with nerves clearly
inhibiting his game. He made 18 unforced errors in the second set
as celebrities including Hugh Grant and Tim Roth looked on from the
stand.

Having lost only twice in 87 matches in Paris since making
his debut in 2005, Nadal was never going to let nerves get to him,
and he powered through his opponent to remind tennis fans how
privileged they are to have Nadal and Federer in the same
era.

But the most remarkable stat of all? In his 11 French Open
finals, Nadal has lost only six sets.