
World number one Rafael Nadal won an 11th French Open title by beating Austria's Dominic Thiem in straight sets.
"Physically I enjoyed more watching him on the couch", smiled Thiem, who was 11 years old when Nadal won his first French Open in 2005.
Nadal seemingly knows how, as on Sunday he crushed the challenge of Dominic Thiem to claim a remarkable 11th title in Paris.
For the second year running Federer opted against playing at the French Open to spare his knees, but will be favorite to win Wimbledon next month and re-establish a four Grand Slam gap over Nadal on the list of all-time collectors of major titles.
Sharapova had a similar story, working her way past Richel Hogenkamp and Donna Vekic before finding her feet against Karolina Pliskova with a 6-2 6-1 victory.
It will serve as a huge boost for the 20-time Grand Slam victor if he manages to win at Stuttgart and then at Halle the following week for it will enhance his chance of claiming the position of the top seed in Wimbledon. He caused a sensation in Rome past year by handing the Spaniard the first defeat of his clay season.
But ultimately, a rested Federer is an irrepressible force at Wimbledon, just as Nadal is at Roland-Garros.
And entering Sunday, there was at least some reason to believe that Thiem could make things interesting in the final. At one point finally, Thiem tried going around the post in the penultimate game, just after a Nadal cross-court backhand return seared so close over the net cord that it made the Parisians murmur. The two players were going for heavy, lung-busting shots.
More news: Kevin Durant Restrained After Hecklers Shout 'UT's Butt' and 'Where LeBron At?'Nadal had a brief moment of weakness in the first set, when the 24-year-old Austrian broke him in the third game.
"Rafael Nadal on Chatrier in the final of Roland Garros - no man has won this match", he added.
"Honestly, I never expected that one day I would play the finals here so I am still really happy".
There was still fight in Thiem, though, and he had a break point when Nadal served at 4-2 ― a game in which the Spaniard was warned for taking too long to serve. Even more astonishingly, these two pillars of the old firm have now shared the past six majors equally between them.
"For me [it] was scary, because I felt that I was not able to move the hand, the finger", Nadal said.
Despite matching Nadal forehand for forehand, Thiem was undone in the 10th game when three errors handed Nadal the opening set after 52 minutes on court.
He set his jaw and stared off into space, downcast, as the love poured down for Nadal after the match, but managed a smile when Nadal predicted he would win a championship here.
Related News:
-
USA expands China health alert amid illness reports
USA personnel in Havana began reporting the incidents in 2016, and they were first disclosed publicly past year . Recall that from China sent several American diplomats and their family members to undergo medical examinations.'Fallout 76' brings the apocalypse to West Virginia
What did you guys think? Rage 2 and Fallout 76 are obviously expected, with more surprises in store during the showcase. Microsoft showed off Bethesda's Fallout 76 during its Electronic Entertainment Expo event today in Los Angeles.Canadian F1 Grand Prix 2018 Qualifying: Saturday's Results, Times, Final Grid
Verstappen believes Red Bull have some pace in hand though with more to be found overnight ahead of qualifying. Kimi Raikkonen in the other Ferrari and Monaco victor Daniel Ricciardo are in the third row. -
Winner of $315 million Powerball jackpot comes forward in NJ
The latest Powerball drawing offers another hefty jackpot for anyone fortunate to hold a lottery ticket with the right numbers. The winning numbers for the drawing were: 03, 06, 09, 17, and 56, while the Powerball was 25 and the Multiplier number was 3.After wiping out hundreds of homes, Kilauea lava forms new coastline
Since May 3rd, Kilauea's lava, ash and rocks have destroyed about 600 homes, closed major highways and prompted health warnings. The most recent eruption included new lava flows through Kapoho Beach Lots and Vacationland that destroyed almost 500 homes.China's trade surplus with USA grows in May
Beijing has cut import duties on automobiles and some consumer goods and to ease curbs on foreign ownership in its auto industry. Import growth had been expected to slow to 18.7 percent in May, compared with 21.5 percent one month earlier. -
$106 Student Rush Tickets to the Tony Awards Will Be Available
To all artists out there, she said: "Just be your true self and the world will take note". The show went on to win best musical revival, beating " My Fair Lady " and " Carousel ".Tiger Woods to play with No
The luxury vessel has a crew of nine and costs $2 million a year to run, making it worth getting every use possible out of. He'll reportedly be holed up on a yacht for the duration of the tournament.Hurricane Aletta becomes Category 3 in Eastern Pacific | Don't Miss This
Forecasters believe Aletta will keep the worst conditions well offshore, which will limit the potential for any threats to land. Future Bud is expected to quickly intensify over the warm Pacific waters in a similar manner to Aletta's development. -
Xbox Game Pass Adds Even More Games, Including Fallout
In fact, we can't actually verify that Rare is working on this game, but we'd be shocked if that wasn't the case. Something else noted by the Battletoads E3 2018 trailer is that the game will have 4K hand drawn 2.5D graphics.Guardiola: I will never coach Barcelona again
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has urged Barcelona fans to appreciate the achievements of Ernesto Valverde this season. The midfielder had to wait until City's final home game of the season against Brighton for his first start of the season.Ebola: WHO records 62 cases, 27 deaths in Congo
But the Congolese health ministry said on Wednesday that "no experimental treatment has yet been given to hospitalised patients". The newest confirmed case is in rural Iboko and is linked to a probable Ebola patient who died on 20 May, the ministry said.