“If you had told me, seven, eight years ago, that I would be here at 32 to have this trophy again, I would have told you it was almost impossible but here we are. ”
– Spain’s Rafael Nadal after winning La Undecima (11th Spain) on June 10, 2018.
Mallorcan just won her 11th French Open title, matching Margaret Court’s all-time record for the number of times a player has won a singles Major, and the tears showed the Major how much clay still means to him.
Incidentally, his 11-title memories will take on a slightly different tone from here on, as after the final, the iconic Philippe Chatrier field at Roland Garros was torn down for redevelopment with a new roof. home.
Nadal’s clay-court season ahead of 2018 French Open
As has been the case on five previous occasions in the past 11 years, Nadal’s hard-court season has caused his body to betray him once again at the Australian Open. He was forced to retire midway through his quarter-final against Croatian world number 6 Marin Cilic due to a hip injury after a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 2-6 defeat, 0-2. The world number 1 Spaniard did not set foot on the tennis court for the next two months.
When he returned in April, it was Spain’s Davis Cup quarter-final against Germany on his beloved clay court in Valencia. Nadal won both of his singles fights in consecutive sets against Philipp Kohlschreiber (6-2, 6-2, 63) and Alexander Zverev (6-1, 6-4, 6-4) in victory. 3-2 against Spain. “Coming back from injury is always difficult, but it was great to be in front of my crowd on a very memorable day,” said Nadal. ESPN after the victory over Kohlschreiber.
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Nadal’s 13 French Open Championships Part 10 – 2017
After a successful national mission, the Spaniard began preparations for his record-long 11th French Open title with a stunning 11th Monte Carlo Masters title. Nadal has not lost more than four matches in a set in any of his five matches against Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, Karen Khachanov of Russia, Dominic Thiem of Austria, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Kei Nishikori of Japan Copy. It was his fifth title in Monaco that he came without missing a single goal.
Nadal continued his run of momentum as he won his 11th title in Barcelona the following week in a similar fashion – no sets were dropped.
Nadal will most likely lift the trophy in Madrid as well, as he knocks out France’s Gael Monfils and Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman in the second and third rounds, respectively. The Spaniard won 50 consecutive sets on clay, breaking John McEnroes’ Open Era record for most consecutive sets won on a single court, ahead of his quarter-final against Thiem. The Austrian was the last man to beat Nadal on clay as he reached the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters 2017. A year later, Thiem took it upon himself to end that drought with a 7-5, 6- 3 in the quarterfinals in under two hours in Madrid. The loss, though brief, cost Nadal the No. 1 spot, to his longtime rival Roger Federer.
FROM THE ARCHITECTURE: French Open 2018 – Reckless Rafa, Resilient Halep reign supreme
In his final match against Roland Garros, Nadal won his eighth Italian Open title. However, unlike Monte Carlo and Barcelona, this did not come so easily. After his victory over Fabio Fognini in the second round of the Madrid Masters in 2017, Nadal admitted that the Italian has always been a difficult opponent to face on clay.
It was not without reason that Fognini, playing in front of a home crowd in Rome, came back to win 1-4 to open the scoring 6-4 in his quarter-final against Nadal before the Spaniard got through to the next two. follow, beat them 6-1, 6-2.
Nadal continued his win over Fognini by beating Serbian Novak Djokovic 7-6 (4), 6-3 in the semi-finals. It was a high quality competition even though Djokovic returned from a long injury.
In the final, Nadal defeated defending champion Zverev 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 to win his first Italian Open title since 2013.
French Open 2018
Defending champion and top seed Nadal began his campaign by nearly dropping a set in the first round. Facing Italian Simone Bolelli, Mallorcan won the first two sets 6-4, 6-3 but fell 0-3 in the third round when the game was halted due to rain. The next day, Nadal was forced to return, bringing the set to a tie-break before going 3-6 behind. Bolelli failed to take advantage of any of the four set points he had and Nadal won 11-9.
The next three rounds were much more comfortable for the Spaniard as he beat Argentina’s Guido Pella, local favorite Richard Gasquet and Germany’s Maximilian Marterer (his 900th career win).
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Nadal’s 13 French Open Championships Part 9 – 2014
In the quarterfinals, Nadal faced Schwartzman, who dragged him to four sets at the Australian Open, earlier this year. The Argentine 5’7” broke Nadal’s streak of 37 consecutive sets at Roland Garros with aggressive style to take a 6-4 lead. In the second round, Nadal also took the lead with a score of 5-3 when it started to rain on the Philippe-Chatrier court, bringing the match to a halt.
When the game resumed the next day, it was classic Nadal as he quickly took the second goal 6-3 and overcame the next two with an identical score of 6-2. to get to the semi-finals.
Nadal overcame the last four clashes with the then world number 6 and another Argentinian, Juan Martin del Potro as he won 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 in just two hours 14 minute. “If you lose, you lose. But I will play with my highest passion, my love for sport. I have a lot of injuries and I know the years go by very quickly. I love competitions, I love sports. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t be here,” said Nadal Guardians after defeating del Potro.
From the remaining draw, Thiem had to fight hard until the final. The Austrians had tough wins in four sets against Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, Matteo Berrettini of Italy and Nishikori. While his semi-final victory over Marco Cecchinato (who beat Djokovic in the first half) was in consecutive sets, it was easy for the first two sets.
The stage is set for Nadal and Thiem’s third meeting at Roland Garros. The Spaniard won his 2014 fourth-round match and 2017 semi-final in consecutive sets.
The 2018 showdown was the climax and lasted longer than the previous two but the results perhaps suggest that Thiem still has work to do if he has to beat Nadal in the best of five sets.
Nadal won 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in two hours and 42 minutes to lift the record-long 11th Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy.
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Rafael Nadal’s Road to the French Open in 2018 First round: won 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (9) against Simone Bolelli (ITA) Second half: won 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 against Guido Pella (ARG) Round three: won 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 against Richard Gasquet (FRA) Fourth round: won 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (4) against Maximilian Marterer (GER) Quarterfinals: won 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 against Diego Schwartzman (ARG) Semifinal: won 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 against Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) Final: won 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 against Dominic Thiem (AUT) |
