Rafael Nadal celebrates victory following the men's singles final. Photo / Getty
Rafael Nadal celebrates victory following the men's singles final. Photo / Getty
By Matt Brown in Paris
There is no end in sight to Rafael Nadal's dominance at Roland Garros.
The Spaniard's win over Dominic Thiem was expected after the Austrian's five-set battle with Novak Djokovic over two days left him physically compromised.
However, for the first two sets Thiem went againstthe script, drawing Nadal into extended rallies and producing tennis of the highest quality. It was exhilarating stuff, full of intensity.
Rafael Nadal poses with the Mousquetaires Trophy. Photo / Getty
But Nadal switched gears in the third set, winning the first 11 points by attacking Thiem, and forcing the Austrian into errors. There were 35 extended rallies in the first two sets and only 11 in the third and fourth sets.
Nadal has now lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy 12 times in as many finals dating back to 2005. Only twice has he tasted defeat here in 95 matches.
He has his birthday midway through the tournament and this time next year he will be 34. If fit and healthy, Nadal will continue winning Roland Garros. He will go in as favourite every year until he retires.
Nadal is now just two Grand Slam titles shy of Roger Federer's record-setting 20 on the all-time list. He has a good chance of overhauling the Swiss great, or at least matching him.
When people watch Nadal they marvel at his brute strength, his athletic ability, the incredible spin he gets on the ball and the long rallies he invariably seems to win.
But the reality is Nadal's dominance on clay is not simply down to his ability to play at a consistent level for five hours, grinding down opponents.
Rafael Nadal stretches for a backhand during the men's singles final. Photo / Getty
The statistics point to the opposite at Roland Garros this year. It's about the first few shots.
Nadal won more than 50 per cent of his points in rallies lasting five shots or fewer, more than 20 per cent of the time he got a free point with a return of service error and 35 per cent of the points he won were in rallies lasting three shots or less.
What this tells us is the Spaniard's serving ability, which is often overlooked, is phenomenal.
It's a serve that just doesn't start the point, but one which puts him in position off the return to hit the third ball in the rally for a winner.
He executed that to near perfection in the third and fourth sets today.
