Roland Garros/French Open 2018 Men's Singles Champion:
Rafael Nadal
Photo courtesy of Yann Caradec's Flickr Page - Rafael Nadal: https://www.flickr.com/photos/la_bretagne_a_paris/5756335239
Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Image courtesy of Yann Caradec's Flickr page - Roland Garros 2008: https://www.flickr.com/photos/la_bretagne_a_paris/2548469251/in/photolist-4Tcz82-6tZnxV-87P6sX-ey7ZS4-4Th8wE-eiptGP-6uaRCZ-87vLZp-86G6Ka-ey9ecr-c7XVQu-nCzATg-eBzLQm-nCAVGe-nWRDSg-nT31do-dGmT28-nCzje4-nCzR2q-nT2Xd5-nV4Xqn-nT2ASf-eZKnLF-6urJ2w-nUM8dD-nCzJ2p-nUWDeU-caonqS-nCzGrQ-nUWRpA-nCzE6t-ewJaxS-ekA48R-nWRBFT-nULZA4-nCAKKF-nUWLLs-9T16gt-nT2zmu-nCALjX-ezweD2-9T15Lr-nULZgB-ewEXSc-nUMjfi-ewJ9fS-6qwFaz-ezzoMd-9LRAp8-ewJ9S1
Image courtesy of Yann Caradec's Flickr page - Roland Garros 2008: https://www.flickr.com/photos/la_bretagne_a_paris/2548469251/in/photolist-4Tcz82-6tZnxV-87P6sX-ey7ZS4-4Th8wE-eiptGP-6uaRCZ-87vLZp-86G6Ka-ey9ecr-c7XVQu-nCzATg-eBzLQm-nCAVGe-nWRDSg-nT31do-dGmT28-nCzje4-nCzR2q-nT2Xd5-nV4Xqn-nT2ASf-eZKnLF-6urJ2w-nUM8dD-nCzJ2p-nUWDeU-caonqS-nCzGrQ-nUWRpA-nCzE6t-ewJaxS-ekA48R-nWRBFT-nULZA4-nCAKKF-nUWLLs-9T16gt-nT2zmu-nCALjX-ezweD2-9T15Lr-nULZgB-ewEXSc-nUMjfi-ewJ9fS-6qwFaz-ezzoMd-9LRAp8-ewJ9S1
Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
Once again, Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal has made history on the terre battue of the courts at Roland Garros in Paris, France.
Already, he had the record for most wins at a Grand Slam event, having won the French Open ten times before. But in the final yet again, he wore down Austria's Dominic Thiem, ultimately beating him in straight sets. The match proved tough, and Thiem seemed like he was initially giving Nadal a serious challenge. Still, Nadal pulled the first set out in very tough fashion. He then won the second set more convincingly, and by the third and, as it turns out, final set, you could see a visibly frustrated Thiem looking worn down physically, mentally, and emotionally. By the end, Nadal looked stronger than ever, extending his record of French Open championships to 11.
This was Nadal's 17th overall Grand Slam championship, which means that he has won as many as Federer had at the beginning of last year, although he still trails Federer by three. But Nadal extends the margin of the next man on that list, Pete Sampras, who won a total of 14 Grand Slam events during his career.
With the win, Nadal not only adds to his championship hardware, as well as his already obviously stellar legacy, but he gets to keep his number one ranking, as he remains just ahead of his historically biggest rival, Roger Federer. It is interesting to note that these two men, currently ranked number one and number two, respectively, are both well past 30 years old. Yet, they continued to hold the top two spots in the mens single's tennis rankings, which they also did way back in 2005, when Federer was ranked number one, and Nadal, after his first amazing clay court season, reached the number two ranking. Here it is, thirteen years later, and these two men are still competing fiercely, particularly against one another, and are holding the rest of the men's tennis field at bay, despite their relatively advanced age (for tennis players).
Nadal became the first tennis player in history to have won 11 titles in three different tournaments. He adds his 11th French Open to the 11 championships he also won at the Barcelona Open, as well as the Monte Carlo Open. They are all clay court tournaments, cementing Nadal's legacy as the "King of Clay." So impressive has Nadal been, that the centre court for the Barcelona Open was renamed "Pista Rafa Nadal " to honor the greatest clay court master ever, and one of the greatest tennis players in history overall. There is no serious dispute that Nadal ranks as the greatest clay court tennis master of all time.
Another important distinction that Nadal earned with this win is that he becomes the only men's tennis player to have won Grand Slam events during 12 different calendar years. He is the only man to have won at least one Grand Slam title during ten consecutive years, from 2005 until 2014. He has now also won at least one Grand Slam title for each of the last two years, as well.
Like fine win, it seems that Nadal just keeps getting better and better every year, and his list of accomplishments just grows more astonishing every year. One of the commentators for the match suggested that watching Nadal hoist La Coupe des Mousquetaires for an 11th time was surreal, and it is hard to disagree.
The tennis world now begins to shift their focus from the clay court season, which Nadal's main rival, Roger Federer, skipped completely, to the grass court season. This is Federer's specialty, although other men, including Novac Djokovic, Andy Murray, and of course Nadal himself, have also won multiple times each. Last year, Nadal was bounced in the fourth round at Wimbledon, although he clearly would like a better showing this year.
It should be interesting, and potentially suspenseful. Meanwhile, though, Nadal has been a master of squashing any serious suspense during the clay court season, as he suffers losses on the terre battue only on very seldom occasions. And when he is at his best on clay, as he usually is, absolutely no one can stand up to him there. "King of Clay," indeed!
To me, Nadal and Federer are reminiscent of Agassi and Sampras back in their heyday. Lesser (though impressive in their own right) players like Wawrinka and Murray win opens here and there, but while those achievements shouldn't be diminished, Nadal and Federer are heads and shoulders above them. I'd say Djokovic is probably the only one who comes close to competing on equal terms with those two. Hats off to Nadal for this latest triumph.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, although I think Federer and Nadal were both better than either Sampras and/or Agassi. Even Djokovic, I believe, was arguably better than either Agassi and/or Sampras, as winning 12 Grand SLams during an era competing against Federer and Nadal, particularly, is no small feat. As far as tennis fans are concerned, this is an era when we can feel blessed with having witnessed two of the very best players of all time.
ReplyDeleteInteresting theory, and quite possibly accurate. I suppose it can't really be settled definitively though, since that would require time travel enabling Nadal and Federer at their peak to play Agassi and Sampras at theirs. It's a bit like comparing Tom Brady to some of the great quarterbacks of the past – Joe Montana, Troy Aikman, Bart Starr, etc.
ReplyDeleteActually, what I should have said is that those three - Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic - are among the very three best players of all time. Yes, I think that there is no comparison between Federer and Sampras or Agassi, or even Nadal and Sampras and/or Agassi. As much as I loved watching Agassi, he never had that kind of consistency. And Sampras seemed dominant at the time, but he never was on the level of dominance that either of those two showed at various times in their careers. And as far as Djokovic is concerned, he also enjoyed unbelievable success, and yes, that came at a time when he had to compete not only with other great talents, but with two of the very best tennis players of all time. Yet, he won 12 Grand Slams, including four in a row at one point (the only man to have done that in half a century), and was ranked number one for four out of five years at his peak. And I do not believe that Djokovic is done, either. When all is said and done, I do not believe that Federer and Nadal will be the only guys presently playing who will have won more Grand Slams than Sampras, as I believe that Djokovic will also win more than 14, when all is said and done. He is not finished yet, either, and already seems to be finding his form again. And all three of those guys managed to win all four Grand Slams at least once each, which is something that Sampras simply cannot claim. And Agassi does not have the kind of numbers to compare with those guys. So, yes, I believe that those guys indeed are arguably the three best of all time, and if there is an argument to the contrary, I believe it would involve Rod Laver, and not Pete Sampras. Laver, as I understand it, dominated his time in a fashion that might have even exceeded Federer at his peak or Nadal at his. But either way, these are probably the best tennis players we are going to see in our lifetime, and in both cases (and even Djokovic to a lesser extent), those careers are on the tail end now.
ReplyDeleteTrue. But I still think a theoretical match pitting any of those guys at their peaks would have been interesting to watch. Guys including but not limited to McEnroe, Lendl, Connors and Borg at their best would, I imagine, have given Federer, Nadal and Djokovic a run for the money, had they played in the same era and used the same equipment. But I don't disagree with you that Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are quite arguably the three best players of all time.
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