Connect with us
Rafael Nadal (Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal (Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal came into the French Open as the heavy favorite. He dominated the clay court season, winning three straight tournaments. Sunday was no different.  Rafael defeated 2015 French Open champion, Stan Wawrinka, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.

From start to finish, Rafa controlled the match. Rafa faced only one break point on serve and broke Stan six times throughout the match, including the last game. Though their winner count wasn’t that far off, Rafa had 29 and Stan had 19, Rafa made far less errors at 12 to Stan’s 29. Further showing the separation was the total point difference. Rafa won a total of 94 points, while Stan only won 57.

With this win Rafa now holds the most grand slams at a single event. Prior to today he was tied with Martina Navratilova for the most titles at a grand slam, with Martina having nine at Wimbledon and Rafa with his nine at the French. Also with this win, Rafa passes Pete Sampras 14 grand slam account to move into second place in total grand slams on the men’s side (Roger is in first with 18 grand slams).

After his win Rafa said “I play my best at all events, but the feeling here is impossible to describe. It’s impossible to compare it to another place. “The nerves, the adrenaline, I feel on the court are impossible to compare to another feeling. This is the most important event in my career.”

On the lady’s side, unseeded Latvian, Jelena Ostapenko shocked Simona Halep to win her first grand slam (and first title). Ostapenko was down a set and 0-4 in the second before turning it around. Despite losing the first set it was clear that Ostapenko was in control. She had a whopping 54 winners to Halep’s mere nine winners. The 102 errors were what was hindering Ostapenko from taking control of the match.

In the end, all those errors didn’t matter as Ostapenko was able to seal her first victory with a stunning backhand winner down the line. Ostapenko said after her win “”I was losing 6-4, 3-0, and then in my mind I was just, I’m just going to enjoy the match, and I will try to fight until the last point.” With her win, Ostapenko became the first unseeded player since 1933.

The following two tabs change content below.
Ricardo is the lead Tennis Analyst here at DoubleGSports.com
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

More in Tennis