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Spaniard achieves history in Paris
With yet more history on the line, Rafael Nadal delivered perhaps his finest performance during a Roland Garros final on Sunday, pushing three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka off the court with blistering forehands to win his 10th Roland Garros title 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.
“La Décima” lifts Nadal to truly historic territory. He becomes the first man or woman in the Open Era to win 10 titles at a Grand Slam.
Most titles at the same Grand Slam tournament (men and women)
Player
Grand Slam Titles
Years
Margaret Court
Australian Open* 11
1960-66, 1969-71, 1973
Rafael Nadal
Roland Garros 10
2005-08, 2010-2014, 2017
Martina Navratilova
Wimbledon 9
1978-79, 1982-87, 1990
*Known as Australian Championships before 1969
He climbs to second place on the all-time Grand Slam titles list, separating himself from Pete Sampras in the standings. Nadal now sits only three Grand Slam titles away from matching his long-time rival Roger Federer.
Player
No. of Grand Slam titles
Roger Federer
18
Rafael Nadal
15
Pete Sampras
14
Novak Djokovic
12
Roy Emerson
12
Bjorn Borg
11
Rod Laver
11
Most impressively, Nadal, who turned 31 on 3 June, achieved it all with a historic fortnight. He sprinted through the Roland Garros field, not dropping a set en route to the Roland Garros title for the third time in his career – also 2008 and 2010.
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It was also nearly the best run at a Grand Slam since the Open Era began 49 years ago, in April 1968. Only Bjorn Borg during the 1978 Roland Garros dropped fewer games en route to a Grand Slam title.
Fewest games dropped in winning a Grand Slam title*
Bjorn Borg
32
1978 Roland Garros
Rafael Nadal
35
2017 Roland Garros
Bjorn Borg
38
1980 Roland Garros
Rafael Nadal
41
2008 Roland Garros
*Where all matches played were best-of-five-sets
Nadal will rise to No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time since October 2014. He'll receive 2,000 Emirates ATP Rankings points and €2,100,000 in prize money. He also places himself in prime position to finish the season as year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time since 2013.
Nadal's 53rd clay-court title caps a remarkable 12-month turnaround for the Spaniard. A year ago, he left Roland Garros in disappointment, having to retire from his third-round match against countryman Marcel Granollers because of a left wrist injury. Nadal then cut his 2016 season short to give himself more time to recuperate.
To state the obvious: The strategy has worked. Nadal has reached a tour-leading seven finals so far this season, starting the season with final runs at the Australian Open, the Abierto Mexicano Telcel and at the Miami Open presented by Itau. Nadal fell to Federer in two of the three title matches, but on the red dirt in Europe, the Spaniard has been nearly perfect.
He won 24 of the 25 matches he played on clay, winning his 10th Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and his 10th Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Nadal also celebrated his fifth Mutua Madrid Open title.
The Spaniard's only loss came in Rome to Austrian Dominic Thiem, a defeat he more than avenged during a routine semi-final victory at Roland Garros on Friday. Nadal is now 43-6 on the season and boasts a staggering 79-2 record at the clay-court Grand Slam.
Roland Garros
Champion
2017
Rafael Nadal
2016
Novak Djokovic
2015
Stan Wawrinka
2014
Rafael Nadal
2013
Rafael Nadal
2012
Rafael Nadal
2011
Rafael Nadal
2010
Rafael Nadal
2009
Roger Federer
2008
Rafael Nadal
2007
Rafael Nadal
2006
Rafael Nadal
2005
Rafael Nadal
Wawrinka reached the final, his second Roland Garros title match, in top form, having beaten World No. 1 Andy Murray in memorable five-set semi-final. The Swiss right-hander also had beaten Nadal the only other time they met during a Grand Slam final, the 2014 Australian Open title match.
But Wawrinka had no answer for Nadal in Paris. The Spaniard never let Wawrinka into the match, keeping the 2015 champion behind the baseline for much of the contest and hardly letting the powerful right-hander gain any momentum.
The Spaniard blasted 27 winners compared to 12 unforced errors and claimed more than half of his return points. Wawrinka will receive 1,200 Emirates ATP Rankings points and will climb to No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. The 32-year-old Wawrinka also will receive €1,060,000 in prize money.
Most wins in 2017
Rafael Nadal
43-6
Dominic Thiem
34-13
David Goffin
31-12
Pablo Carreno Busta
27-14
Alexander Zverev
27-10
Stan Wawrinka
26-9