PARIS: Claycourt king Rafa Nadal regained his Roland Garros throne after two years in exile with a brutal 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 mauling of Swiss Stan Wawrinka to complete ‘La Decima’ on Sunday.
Rewinding the clock to the days when he was untouchable on the crushed brick dust, the 31-year-old turned 2015 champion Wawrinka into a human punchbag, winning in just over two hours.
This title, an unprecedented 10th at a single grand slam in the professional era, was arguably the most impressive of his 15 though as it arrived three injury-plagued years after the last one, without dropping a set and conceding only 35 games in seven matches.
Only Bjorn Borg, who conceded 32 on his way to the 1978 title, has been a more ruthless champion.
Having beaten world number one Andy Murray with a majestic display of power in the semifinal, third seed Wawrinka arrived full of confidence as, at 32, he tried to become the oldest French Open winner since Andres Gimeno in 1972. But the barrel-chested ‘Stanimal’ was powerless as Nadal turned the final into an exhibition of his clayclourt supremacy — taking his French Open record to an eye-watering 79-2.
As a weary Wawrinka sliced a volley into the net on match point Nadal collapsed on his back on the baseline.
“I’m a little emotional,” Nadal said before getting to clamp his jaws on La Coupe des Mousquetaires. “The nerves and adrenaline I feel on this court is impossible to compare.”
Straw hats and fans were de rigueur for an expectant Court Philippe Chatrier as the final began with temperatures hovering around the 30 degrees Celcius mark — perfect conditions for Nadal’s trademark monstrous topspin game.
Wawrinka, who spent nearly five hours more on court than Nadal to reach the final, looked tentative and heavy-legged although he did have a glimmer in the third game when Nadal was forced to save a break point.
FIRST BLOOD
Nadal failed to convert any of the four break points he had in the following game, but drew first blood the next time an opportunity arose to take a 4-2 lead.
Then he switched on the afterburners. A matter of minutes later Wawrinka wafted a forehand long to hand Nadal a second break of serve and the opening set.
Wawrinka was flat, striking not a single winner off his glorious single-handed backhand in the first set, and with less than an hour on the clock his task already looked forlorn.
Nadal was given a time violation warning at the start of the second, but Wawrinka could not halt his charge as the Spaniard bounded into a 3-0 lead in the second having won seven games in a row. With the crowd attempting to lift Wawrinka he stopped the rot to hold, firing himself up with a roar of “C’mon”.
Nadal was relentless though, pinning Wawrinka back behind the baseline. Even when he was stretched the response was emphatic, one astonishing forehand, whipped from close to the front row of seats to land in the corner, drawing gasps from the crowd and applause from Wawrinka.
Social media lit up at that point with women’s semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky tweeting “OMG!”
Wawrinka could not lay a glove on Nadal and his frustration boiled over as the Spaniard closed in on a two-set lead, destroying his racket frame after a missed forehand.
After Nadal sealed the second set both players left the court while court staff watered down the red dust. Nothing could extinguish Nadal’s fire though and he surged two breaks ahead in the third set despite the best efforts of Wawrinka to try and extend the contest. — Reuters
La Decima — Nadal’s French Open finals
PARIS: Rafael Nadal won a record-setting 10th French Open title on Sunday when he defeated Stan Wawrinka in straight sets in the final at Roland Garros.
A looks at the Spaniard’s perfect 10 in Paris:
2005: bt Mariano Puerta (ARG) 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 7-5
— At just 19, Nadal became the youngest winner of a Grand Slam title since Michael Chang won at Roland Garros in 1989 at 17. He was the first man since Mats Wilander in 1982 to win the French Open on his debut. Puerta was to later fail a drugs test and handed an eight-year ban, eventually reduced to two years.
2006: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6
— Nadal became the first man to beat Federer in a Slam final, ending the Swiss star’s hopes of holding all four majors at the same time. It was Nadal’s 60th win in a row on clay.
2007: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
— The 21-year-old Nadal became the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win three successive titles at Roland Garros. He again also shattered Federer’s hopes of becoming only the third man in history to hold all four majors.
2008: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 6-1, 6-3, 6-0
— Nadal condemned his great rival to his worst ever loss in a Grand Slam event. The Spaniard also won the title without losing a set, becoming the third man to do so in the Open era after Ilie Nastase and Borg.
2010: bt Robin Soderling (SWE) 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
— Nadal avenged his defeat to the Swede at Roland Garros 12 months earlier. Again, Nadal finished the tournament without having dropped a set. He also regained the world number one ranking for the first time since July 2009.
2011: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1
— Nadal claimed his sixth French Open to equal the record of Borg, also taking his Slam total into double figures at 10. Federer had ended Novak Djokovic’s 43-match undefeated run in the semifinals.
2012: bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
— Nadal goes past Borg’s record of six titles and ends Djokovic’s bid to be the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four majors. Rain meant that the final was completed on Monday which was tough on Djokovic who was a break up in the fourth set when the match was halted for the night.
2013: bt David Ferrer (ESP) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
— The Spaniard comfortably beat his compatriot for an eighth French Open but the hard yards were achieved in the semifinals when he defeated Djokovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 9-7 in a 4-hour 37-minute epic.
2014: bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4
— Title number nine in his ninth final for Nadal and his 14th and most recent Grand Slam success on an afternoon where temperatures nudged 30 degrees. It was his 45th career clay court title.
2017: bt Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 6-2, 6-3, 6-1
— Nadal coasts to a record 10th French Open title, demolishing Wawrinka in a brutally one-sided final which also earns the Spaniard a 15th Grand Slam crown. Nadal, 31, becomes the first man in history to win the same major 10 times. It is his most one-sided final win since allowing Roger Federer just four games in the 2008 final.
— AFP
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