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TENNIS-FRA-OPEN-NADAL-TITLES
Thanks for the memories: Rafael Nadal’s 10 French Open triumphs
PARIS, June 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Rafael Nadal goes for an 11th French Open
title on Sunday when he faces Dominic Thiem in the final.
AFP Sport looks at the Spaniard’s perfect 10 in Paris:
2005: bt Mariano Puerta (ARG) 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 7-5
— At just 19, Nadal became the youngest winner of a Grand Slam title since
Michael Chang won at Roland Garros in 1989 at 17. He was the first man since
Mats Wilander in 1982 to win the French Open on his debut. Puerta was to
later fail a drugs test and handed an eight-year ban, eventually reduced to
two years.
2006: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6
— Nadal became the first man to beat Federer in a Slam final, ending the
Swiss star’s hopes of holding all four majors at the same time. It was
Nadal’s 60th win in a row on clay.
2007: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
— The 21-year-old Nadal became the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to
win three successive titles at Roland Garros. He again also shattered
Federer’s hopes of becoming only the third man in history to hold all four
majors.
2008: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 6-1, 6-3, 6-0
— Nadal condemned his great rival to his worst ever loss in a Grand Slam
event. The Spaniard also won the title without losing a set, becoming the
third man to do so in the Open era after Ilie Nastase and Borg.
2010: bt Robin Soderling (SWE) 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
— Nadal avenged his defeat to the Swede at Roland Garros 12 months
earlier. Again, Nadal finished the tournament without having dropped a set.
He also regained the world number one ranking for the first time since July
2009.
2011: bt Roger Federer (SUI) 7-5, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1
— Nadal claimed his sixth French Open to equal the record of Borg, also
taking his Slam total into double figures at 10. Federer had ended Novak
Djokovic’s 43-match undefeated run in the semi-finals.
2012: bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5
— Nadal goes past Borg’s record of six titles and ends Djokovic’s bid to
be the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four majors. Rain meant
that the final was completed on Monday which was tough on Djokovic who was a
break up in the fourth set when the match was halted for the night.
2013: bt David Ferrer (ESP) 6-3, 6-2, 6-3
— Nadal comfortably beats his compatriot for an eighth French Open but
the hard yards were achieved in the semi-finals when he defeated Djokovic 6-
4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7, 9-7 in a 4-hour 37-minute epic.
2014: bt Novak Djokovic (SRB) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4
— Title number nine in his ninth final for Nadal and his 14th Grand Slam
success on an afternoon where temperatures nudged 30 degrees. It was his 45th
career clay-court title.
2017: bt Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 6-2, 6-3, 6-1
— Nadal coasts to a record 10th French Open title, demolishing Wawrinka in
a brutally one-sided final which also earns the Spaniard a 15th Grand Slam
crown. Nadal, 31, becomes the first man in history to win the same major 10
times. It is his most one-sided final win since allowing Federer just four
games in the 2008 final.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1922 hrs