Rafael Nadal confirmed his date with destiny on Sunday at Roland Garros, defeating Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 for a historic 10th title. The Spaniard is the first player to lift a decade of trophies at a single Grand Slam event. Nadal not only secured 'La Decima' on the terre battue, but also moved into solo second on the all-time major titles list with No. 15, behind only Roger Federer's 18 victories. He ascends to World No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday as well, moving into the Top 2 for the first time since 2014. Wawrinka was vying for his second Roland Garros title, having prevailed in 2015. Fewest Games Dropped In Winning Major Title Player Games...
Another gripping fortnight on the terre battue of Roland Garros is nearly in the books, with two former titlists set to square off for the Coupe des Mousquetaires. There have been no shortage of storylines throughout the first 14 days of the tournament and the same can be said for Sunday's championship between third seed Stan Wawrinka and fourth seed Rafael Nadal. Nadal has been careening towards a date with destiny, marching into a 10th final in the French capital without dropping a set. As ruthless as the Spaniard had been in streaking to the titles in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid, he has been arguably even more impressive at Roland Garros, relinquishing just 29 games - an average of just...
Rafael Nadal is one victory away from a historic 10th Roland Garros title, but he’s more focused on Sunday’s championship battle against Stan Wawrinka than any of the statistics or implications accompanying it. The Spaniard put in a flawless performance on Friday, dropping just seven games against Dominic Thiem in their semi-final to set up the match against Wawrinka. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 15-3 and has won five of their six meetings on clay. However, the Swiss star’s victories against Nadal have come in some of their most important matches. Nadal lost his most recent Grand Slam match against Wawrinka in the 2014 Australian Open final, but the nine-time Roland Garros champion said it won’t be on...
Rafael Nadal's historic clay-court season will reach its apex on Sunday as the Spaniard will attempt to win his record 10th Roland Garros title and his third “La Décima” of the season. Nadal advanced to his 10th Roland Garros final on Friday by avenging his lone clay-court loss of the season, dismissing Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in the semi-final. On Sunday, Nadal will meet another former Roland Garros champion in third seed and 2015 titlist Stan Wawrinka, who prevailed past top seed Andy Murray 6-7(8), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-1 in four hours and 34 minutes. Something will have to give during what should be a battle of a final. Wawrinka has never lost in a Grand Slam title...
