King Rafael Nadal wins 12th French Open title

Rafael Nadal swept to an historic 12th Roland Garros title and 18th Grand Slam crown yesterday with a 63 57 61 61 victory over Austrias Dominic Thiem Nadal 33 becomes the first player man or woman to win the same Slam 12 times after seeing off a brave challenge from a weary Thiem in a repeat of the 2018 finalNadal is now just two behind Roger Federers alltime record of 20 majors The World No 2 two also took his Paris record to an astonishing 93 wins and just two lossesFeel sorry for ThiemI want to say congratulations to Dominic I feel sorry as he deserves to win it as well But he has every chance in the future He has unbelievable talent and I want to encourage him said Nadal Its a dream to win again an incredible moment When I first played here in 2005 I never thought Id still be playing in 2019 Its very special for meRafael Nadal falls to the ground after winning the French Open final against Dominic Thiem yesterdaySundays triumph confirmed the Big Three stranglehold on the Grand Slams having shared the last 10 It also gave Nadal an 82nd career title and 950th match win In a 53minute first set of brutal hitting and raw physicality it was Thiem who broke first for a 32 lead But his joy was shortlived as Nadal retrieved the break in the sixth game before racing away with the next three to win Set 1Thiem who had beaten his opponent four times on clay in his career failed to claim a single point off Nadals first five service games in Set 2 However he pushed and pushed to force Nadal into three rushed ground strokes and from nowhere broke to take Set 2 It was the first set he had managed to take off Nadal at Roland Garros after three previous defeats Nadal then swept the first 10 points of the third set carving out a double break for 30 before sweeping to a third break for the setTired opponentThiem bidding to become just Austrias second Grand Slam champ after Thomas Muster won in Paris in 1995 had played four successive days to reach here and the toll was telling He wasted break points in the first and third games of the fourth set and Nadal pounced to stretch to 30 That was soon 51 and the relentless barrage continued with Nadal taking the title on a second match point when Thiem hit longRafael Nadal rivalriesRafael Nadal has had some of the most epic and long standing rivalries in his career Nadals rivalry with Roger Federer in all the Grand Slams over the years can be considered as the best rivalry in tennis history Early in his career the rivalry was mostly with Federer but in the last decade it has been Federer and Djokovic for Nadal in the finals of Grand Slams Therefore it was no surprise wHEN Rafael Nadal was considered as the out n out favourite in the French Open 2019 final against Dominic Thiem932Nadals winloss record at the French Open18No of Grand Slam titles Nadal has won two less than Federer82No of career titles Nadal has won950No of match winsRafas deadly dozen 2005 bt Mariano Puerta 67 63 61 75 2006 bt Roger Federer 16 61 64 76 2007 bt Roger Federer 63 46 63 64 2008 bt Roger Federer 61 63 60 2010 bt Robin Soderling 64 62 64 2011 bt Roger Federer 75 76 57 61 2012 bt Novak Djokovic 64 63 26 75 2013 bt David Ferrer 63 62 63 2014 bt Novak Djokovic 36 75 62 64 2017 bt Stan Wawrinka 62 63 61 2018 bt Dominic Thiem 64 63 62 2019 bt Dominic Thiem 63 57 61 61With inputs from AFPCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates