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French Open: Rafael Nadal downs Dominic Thiem to claim 11th crown at Roland Garros

Rafael Nadal's Roland Garros reign continued as the world number one clinched an 11th French Open title with a 6-4 6-3 6-2 win over Dominic Thiem on Sunday.

Rafael Nadal exults after beating Dominic Thiem at the French Open 2018 final in Paris

Paris, June 10: Rafael Nadal's remarkable Roland Garros reign continued as the world number one clinched an 11th French Open title with a straight-sets win over Dominic Thiem on Sunday.

The many faces of Nadal's record-breaking Roland Garros career

Thiem is the only man to have beaten Nadal on clay over the past two seasons, including a surprise victory in the Madrid Open quarter-finals last month, but there was no repeat shock on Court Philippe Chatrier as the top seed prevailed 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

Simona Halep claims women's titleSimona Halep claims women's title

Nadal's latest triumph in Paris sees him join Margaret Court, who dominated the Australian Open in the 1960s and 70s, as the only player to win 11 singles titles at one grand slam.

By contrast, Thiem was competing in his maiden major final and although he matched his illustrious opponent for large parts of the opening set, he crumbled at the crunch and never really regained his poise.

Nadal has not lost at Roland Garros when taking the first set and that record did not look like coming under threat as he continually rebuffed Thiem's attempts to make inroads into his serve, taking the second courtesy of an early break.

Thiem's fighting spirit was evident in abundance - he continued to put pressure on Nadal through his return game, while consistently scrapping to stave off perilous positions on his own serve - but ultimately the Spaniard's quality and, often, his sheer force of will, won the day.

Nadal appeared to be suffering with cramp in his left arm early in the third but even that discomfort could not derail him as the 'King of Clay' extended his scarcely believable French Open win-loss record to 86-2, further underlining his status as the greatest of all time on the red dirt.

With the win, Nadal broke many records. Omnisport has compiled them:

1 - Nadal is the first player in the Open Era to win 11 titles at three different Tour-level events, having reached the mark in Barcelona and Monte Carlo this season.

2 - Only the second player in history to triumph more than 10 times at the same major.

11 - No man has won more titles at the same grand slam than his astonishing tally of 11. He has also won all 11 finals at Roland Garros.

17 - His 17th major crown closes the gap on Roger Federer to three.

4 - Nadal is the fourth man in the Open Era to win three or more grand slam titles after turning 30 - Rod Laver, Federer and Ken Rosewall being the others.

57 - Just the mere 57 titles on clay for the Mallorca native.

86 - Nadal has now won 86 French Open matches and lost just two.

900 - By defeating Maximilian Marterer in the round of 16, he became the fifth man to win 900 Tour-level matches.

Source: OPTA

Story first published: Sunday, June 10, 2018, 22:28 [IST]
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