By Damola Emmanuel
Once again, Spanish tennis super star, Rafael Nadal, on Sunday, showed the stuff of his legend when he won his 12th diadem at the Roland Garros Stadium, Paris, raising the bar at the French Open, and setting a new height in the game’s history.
Nadal, 33, dispatched his younger opponent from Austria, 25-year-old Dominque Thiem, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.
Nadal was on top of his game throughout the final, keeping his fans at the arena cheering endlessly.
It was Nadal’s 12th win in the championship. It was Nadal’s third consecutive French Open win and second back-to-back victory over Thiem.
With Sunday’s victory, Rafael Nadal becomes the first player in any era to win 12 singles titles at the same Grand Slam tournament.
He has lost only twice in the tournament. In 2009, he succumbed to Robin Soderling and in the quarterfinals in 2015 to Novak Djokovic.
To get to Sunday’s final, the Spaniard demolished his arch rival Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Details later.
