Rafael Nadal won an historic 12th French Open title and his 18th grand slam victory on Sunday after he defeated Austria's Dominic Thiem 6-3, 5-7, 6-1,6-1.
Nadal became the first player to win the same grand slam 12 times after his win at Roland Garros. The win gave Nadal his 82nd career title and 950th match win.
The world number two also took his Paris record to an astonishing 93 wins and just two losses having previously won the title in 2005-2008, 2010-2014, 2017 and 2018.
After the match, the 33-year-old Spaniard said the win was very special to him. “It's a dream to win again, an incredible moment. When I first played here in 2005 I never thought I would be still playing here in 2019.”
“I want to say congratulations to Dominic. I feel sorry as he deserves to win it as well,” Nadal added.
Nadal is now just two behind Roger Federer's all-time record of 20 majors and three ahead of Novak Djokovic who was knocked out by Thiem in the semifinals.
Thiem congratulated Nadal after the game. “Rafa, well done. You are an amazing champion and a legend in our sport.
“I am happy that you are playing. To win 12 times, it's unreal.”
The ‘Big Three’ stranglehold on the grand slams was confirmed with Nadal's win as the last 10 grand slams have been shared between Nadal, Federer and Djokovic.
Thiem broke first for a 3-2 lead in the opening set. But Nadal retrieved the break in the sixth game before racing away with the next three games to pocket the opener.
Thiem, who had beaten his opponent four times on clay in his career, failed to claim a single point off Nadal's first five service games of the second set.
However, Thiem forced Nadal into three rushed groundstrokes and, from nowhere, broke to take the second set.
He swept the first 10 points of the third set, carving out a double break for 3-0 before sweeping to a third break for the set.
He wasted break points in the first and third games of the fourth set and Nadal pounced to stretch to 3-0.
That was soon 5-1 and the relentless barrage continued with Nadal taking the title on a second match point when Thiem fired a return long.
(With inputs from agencies)
