‘King’ Rafa reigns supreme at Roland Garros with an unsurmountable 11th title

Rafael survived cramps and a tight first set to establish supremacy over Austria’s Dominic Thiem, winning 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.

No one rules Paris like Rafael Nadal, once again proving he’s the greatest clay court player who’s ever lived.

There were a couple of moments in the match when the anointing of the ‘king of clay’ wasn’t going to happen. There was the time when world No. 7 Dominic Thiem broke him in the first set, the deuce games where the Austrian fought toe-to-toe with the Roland Garros ruler, and the when Rafa’s hand cramped up in the third set.

But this is Rafa, and no one fights like the Mallorcan. He fights when he’s up. He fights when he’s down. He simply does not lose on this court. And his title win on Sunday was no different.

Not that Thiem wasn’t brilliant, he was. He utilized a monster forehand. Thiem out-strategized the Spaniard at points. And he hit beautifully. But these were flashes of brilliance. The incredible quality of Nadal’s dominance is that he incorporates the same brilliance, but he bolsters it with inspiring consistency and resilience. It’s just an insurmountable quality that no one else is able to equal.

Nadal owns 11 titles at the French Open, the most at any grand slam. Only Margaret Court owns as many at the Australian Open, no one owns as much besides these two, certainly not in men’s. Roger Federer owns eight Wimbledon titles, Navratilova owns nine there in singles.

“He looks unstoppable – but he is human. I think he bleeds,” John McEnroe said before the match.

Nadal looked anything but human on Sunday. He now owns 17 grand slams, again three behind Federer with 20. 2018 is looking like a repeat of 2017, with the two legends achieving the first two grand slams of the year, with only three separating the two of them.

Rafael Nadal has continued to be plagued by small injuries since last fall, with his knee, and wrist bothering him at times, but in the high-pressure moment of a French Open final, no one is as ruthless as the 11-time champion.

That record will stand for a very long time.