Reborn Rafa romps into history

Nadal ends Slam drought with record tenth French Open title

PARIS - As he sat in front of a TV to watch last year's French Open final, sidelined by an injured left wrist, Rafael Nadal must have feared he might never return to the height of his powers.

For the second year in a row, the most important match at the most important clay-court tournament was being contested without him. And as the 2017 edition at Roland Garros began, Nadal's drought without a Grand Slam title had stretched to three years.

"It was difficult," said Nadal's uncle and coach, Toni. "We were asking ourselves whether Rafa would be able achieve this one more time."

Rafael Nadal poses with the French Open trophy after cruising to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Stan Wawrinka in Sunday's final in Paris. It was the 31-year-old Spaniard's 10th Roland Garros title and his 15th Grand Slam triumph. Petr David Josek / AP

Turned out he could - and did, as masterful as ever.

Nadal was overwhelmingly good from start to finish over the entire two weeks, capped by Sunday's final when he captured his record 10th French Open title with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 victory over 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka.

"A perfect Roland Garros for me," Nadal said.

Call it a Perfect 10. Or as the Nadals prefer: La Decima, Spanish for "The Tenth".

"I play my best at all events, but the feeling here is impossible to describe. It's impossible to compare it to another place," Nadal said.

"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."

Not only did Nadal win every set he played in the tournament, he dropped a total of only 35 games, the second fewest by any man on the way to any title at a major tournament in best-of-five-set matches in the Open era.

"On paper, when you look at the scores, it all seems fairly easy," Nadal said. "But it's not."

No other man or woman has won 10 championships at the same major in the Open era.

Along with improving to 10-0 in finals at Roland Garros, Nadal increased his haul to 15 Grand Slam trophies, breaking a tie with Pete Sampras for second place in the history of men's tennis, behind only rival Roger Federer's 18.

It marked a stirring return to the top for Nadal at the site he loves the most: He is 79-2 at the French Open, 102-2 in all best-of-five-set matches on clay.

"He's playing the best he's ever played. That's for sure," said Wawrinka, who had won 11 matches in a row on clay. "But not only here."

True. Nadal leads the tour with four titles and 43 match wins this season and will rise to No 2 in this week's ATP rankings.

Last year in Paris, Nadal withdrew before the third round, making the announcement while wearing a blue brace on his left wrist and resignation of his face.

He couldn't bring himself to watch much of the rest of the 2016 French Open, he said, other than some doubles matches and the singles final.

Finally back to full strength in the offseason, Nadal returned to work, reconstructing his forehand and redoubling his efforts.

"Back in November, when we were together, I told him he needed to get his forehand back, to improve his serve a bit and to put on a champion's face again," said Uncle Toni.

"He had to become No 1 on clay again. And here, we have the confirmation."

Nadal is no longer the 19-year-old who won the French Open in his debut in 2005, wearing long white pirate shorts, his flowing locks wrapped by a white headband, his sleeveless shirt revealing bulging biceps.

Now he is 31, the shorts are shorter, the hair more closely cropped, the shirt has sleeves. And his game is better than ever.

Nadal won again at Roland Garros in 2006, 2007 and 2008. After a fourth-round loss on bad knees in 2009, he grabbed five consecutive French Opens between 2010 and 2014. A quarterfinal loss in 2015 ended that run, and then came last year's injury.

"Last year was not an easy one," he said.

On Sunday, the conditions were exactly to the liking of a guy who grew up on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca. The sun was shining, there was barely a trace of cloud in the sky and the temperature was around 30 C.

Wawrinka insisted a five-set, four-and-a-half hour semifinal win on Friday over No. 1-ranked Andy Murray had not drained him physically. The problem against Nadal, Wawrinka said, was more mental.

"He puts this doubt in your head when you play against him," said Wawrinka, who was 3-0 in Grand Slam finals, including a victory over Nadal at the 2014 Australian Open.

After netting a forehand in the second set, Wawrinka pounded his racket on his head several times. Later, he spiked it ... then finally broke it over his knee.

Nadal has that way of wearing down opponents.

On this day, he was terrific. He won all 12 service games, made just 12 unforced errors and won 94 points to Wawrinka's 57.

One area of significant improvement for Nadal is his serve. Once passable, it is now potent.

Confronted with the match's first break point, 10 minutes in, he solved the predicament by pounding a service winner at 173 kp/h, an ace at 189 and the service winner at 194.

That proved to be Wawrinka's lone break chance.

When the ball was in play, Nadal barely missed at all. His groundstrokes were delivered with loud, long grunts on Court Philippe Chatrier, where the 15,000 boisterous spectators tried in vain to cheer Wawrinka back into the match.

"Nothing to say about today," Wawrinka told Nadal during the trophy ceremony. "You were too good."

Indeed. Good as ever.

Associated Press