Rafael Nadal has completed the fairytale, winning his tenth French Open crown without dropping a set as he recorded a triumphant victory over Stan Wawrinka in the final.
Nadal dominated the contest from start to finish against Wawrinka, who was simply helpless to get into the match, with all the key points going the way of the Spaniard.
Coming into the final having not dropped a set all tournament, Nadal needed only a tick over two hours to get the job done and complete ‘La Decima’.
After the heartbreak of losing the Australian Open final to Roger Federer earlier in the year, emotion overcame Nadal after the match, but he was ruthless for its entirety.
He fought all the way through the third set, picking up a double break when he didn’t necessarily need to in what was ultimately the final game of the match – but it characterised what Nadal did – fought for every point, as he has done throughout his career and made Wawrinka work for everything.
It seemed Wawrinka was going to be in the fight early in the contest, as his second service game went for more than ten minutes, but after six deuces he held serve to make it 2-2 early on.
That would be just about where the joy ended for the Swiss national. Nadal continued to hold serve with ease and then, getting his groundstrokes right and playing with plenty of depth, broke on Wawrinka’s very next service game to take the lead 4-2.
It was the beginning of the end for Wawrinka, who would have felt he needed to take the first set to be a chance. Instead, Nadal held serve and then broke convincingly to win the first set against serve.
Wawrinka lost the game mentally early in the second set, going right off the boil. Not helped by some outrageous stroke making from Nadal, he quickly found himself down 3-0.
Despite somewhat getting back into the match, Wawrinka again struggled to hold serve and despite doing so, found himself down 5-3.
It was then the final nail went into the coffin, despite it being only the second set. At 30-15, Wawrinka had an easy passing opportunity as Nadal came to the net, but made an absolute mess of it before slamming his racquet into the court, ruining it. With it went his resolve as Nadal quickly wrapped up the second set.
The third set was simply clinical from Nadal. He barely made an error and turned what seemed like every point in his favour.
In many ways, it was fitting that he turned defence into attack one last time on match point to take it, crushing Wawrinka one last time.
Rafael Nadal the winner then, with a tenth French Open crown in just 13 years as the tennis world now turns its collective attention to the grass-court season and Wimbledon.
Final score
Stan Wawrinka 2 3 1
Rafael Nadal 6 6 6
(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Rory
Guest
Love those old videos, especially when you find a good quality one. Plenty of history to discover. Laver somewhere in his late 30's and a part timer. I believe he got a couple of wins over Borg on the WCT circuit. Gonzales is often wrongly left out of best ever discussions but then a lot of people seem to dismiss anyone before Borg, or before the open era. Gonzales played everyone from Kramer to Connors, competing in to his 40's. Amazing. He rated Lew Hoad highest of everyone.
CJ
Guest
Thanks again for your continuing analysis. For tennis buffs and sentimentalists there are quite a lot of matches between Laver and Borg on Utube. Laver was still pretty competitive despite being twice Borg's age and could still pull out some screamers. There is also an interview with John Mac asking Laver, Borg and Sampras who is the best ever. No set answer of course but Laver reminds the viewers about Pancho Gonzales. Also, footage is there of Borg and Fed against John Mac and Blake in doubles (would have been Rafa but he was on Davis Cup duties). Saw them live in Macau and still pinching myself at how lucky I was.
Rory
Guest
Yes and the difference was starker for Laver and Borg, the grass being faster then due to actually being a different type of grass.
Johnno
Guest
CJ, and Laver and Borg only had 2 week rest time. In 2008 Rafa won both in 2 weeks. Now the guys get 4-week break between French/Wimbledon.
CJ
Guest
Many thanks. Great insights. Shows what an amazing effort it was for the likes of Laver and Borg and (acknowledging comparisons can be odious across eras) to win the French and Wimbeldon in the same year.
Sydneysider
Guest
"Makes it harder to hit winners as the bounce means good attacking shots can be chased down and retrieved. Players that can grind out long baseline rallies do well, and no one can grind like Rafa. Also I imagine it’s not much fun dealing with his looping forehand from around yours ears all day long." Yep, nailed it with that statement. Rafa is almost unbeatable on that type of surface. On other surfaces though he looks like a mug, but it all depends on the tournament directors for these major tournaments and what sort of surface they provide. Federer has won tournaments on clay, and Nadal has won tournaments on grass as well - so they can both adapt. Djokovic is the same. We are lucky to have witnessed this current era of great players. Once Federer and Nadal retire, men's tennis won't be the same.
Rory
Guest
Euro clay has a coarse yet powdery surface, it's like a layer of ground up terracotta pottery varying from fine ground to actual little pieces. When the ball hits this it tends to bite into it, making a tiny crater and then it kicks up on the bounce, rather than projecting through as it would on a "fast" surface like grass. Makes it harder to hit winners as the bounce means good attacking shots can be chased down and retrieved. Players that can grind out long baseline rallies do well, and no one can grind like Rafa. Also I imagine it's not much fun dealing with his looping forehand from around yours ears all day long. Also the slippery surface is hard to get used to if you didn't grow up on it and suits some more than others.
CJ
Guest
Why specifically from a technical angle is Rafa so much better than anyone else on clay?
Johnno
Guest
Amazing achievement, Rafa is a closer not a choker I knew the big occasion wouldn't overawe him.
Doc Disnick
Roar Guru
Rafa's a beast. Fed's the man when you want someone playing for your house. Rafa's the man when your life is on the line. All other peasants of the game can live in awe of these two for an eternity.
Brian
Guest
What an effort no one even took him as far as 5-5 in the 21 straight sets he won.