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SteemSports Editor: Nolan Jacobson, @theprophet0, STEEM Witness & PeerPlays Witness.
Fact: Rafael Nadal is the only player in the world to win any Grand Slam, 10 times. The world has never seen (and probably won't)ever see a better tennis player on clay.
Nadal's all time Roland Garros record is 79-2. The man has only lost 2 matches - a fluke against Soderling, who played the match of his life, in 2010, and an upset against Djokovic in 2015 when Nadal was not yet recovered from a serious injury.
The road to the trophy: Nadal didn't lose a set in his 7 matches. In his worst match against Hasse, he only lost 8 games. To put it in perspective, you would have won every single bet placed on Nadal's handicap in Roland Garros. No one has ever dominated Grand Slam like that.
Rafael Nadal is chasing Roger Federer: Rafa is only 3 Grand Slams behind Roger Federer now. If we take into consideration that Nadal is almost 5 years younger... well, who knows, he might steal the record of the most Grand Slams won from Roger Federer in the near future.
The Final
If anyone could beat Rafa in Roland Garros this year, it was the power shots of Stanislas Wawrinka. Sadly... as we can see from the results, Stanislas had better chances to win NBA championship against Golden State Warriors on his own than winning the final against Rafael Nadal. Poor Wawrinka could not do a thing to destroy Nadal's perfect defense. Wawrinka only had chances before the first ball hit the court.
On his only 2 losses in Roland Garros, Nadal opened up his backhand's side of the court when he was defending, and both Soderling and Djokovic made sure to use this (the only one) weakness of Nadal's game. Today, however, Nadal defended without any flaws. He made sure to take the perfect position in order to get every single ball back to the game, and Wawrinka could not get pass through the defense. It looked like the Swiss was playing against the Spanish wall.
There was a time in the second set when Wawrinka had a chance to get himself back in the game when he led Nadal's serve 30-15. What happened? Rafa dominated the next 3 shots, won the game and set 6-3. Same stuff happened in the third set as well. Wawrinka won some beautiful points, got all hyped up just to hit the reality by the name of Rafael Nadal once again.
It is probably not even worth to analyze the game any much further, but if I had to point out what Wawrinka must have done to at least have a shot at the final that would be his aggressive plays. Stan the man only made 19 winners and managed to make 29 unforced errors. To win against Nadal, it should have been something closer to 60 winners and 15 unforced errors. Of course, no one could say that Wawrinka didn't try to play aggressive because he did. It was just the man on the other side of the court who did not let this to happen. Nadal's forehands were absolutely dominant. Also, he only made 12 unforced errors throughout the game, which shows how focused and determined Nadal was.
Rafael Nadal Could Beat A Tennis Player Made From Every Other Guy On The Tour
If we took all the guys on tour and made one flawless player, he would still lose to Rafael Nadal on a clay court. The most frightening part is that I am not even exaggerating. Today, and throughout all Roland Garros, I couldn't see a single aspect of the game which Rafa could have improved. If you looked up a word perfect in a dictionary, you would see Rafael Nadal's performance in 2017 Roland Garros.
I was never the biggest fan of Rafael Nadal, but I cannot be happier for him today. He deserves all 10 of his Roland Garros trophies, and he also deserves to be called the greatest player ever to play on clay. What makes it even more beautiful is that Nadal was fighting against serious injuries for the last three years and many people didn't think that he will reach this level ever again. Well, Nadal shut all the critics up with this win, and he also became a legend.
The clay season is over this year, though, and Rafa will have to prove everyone that he is as good on any other surface as he is on clay. He will get his first chance in Wimbledon. I can tell you that it will be one heck of an exciting tournament - Roger Federer will be back on court after his fantastic start of the season; Rafael Nadal will come in with much confidence on his side; world's no. 1, Andy Murray, will play with even more energy in front of his nation; Novak Djokovic will want to prove that he can still be dominant; Stan will be hungry for victories after such a sad loss; and all the youngster like Thiem or Goffin will want to write their names in the history of tennis.
Nadal is like bitcoin, when people say it's dead you know what happens.
Couldn't be happier for him and a very well deserved win. More than anything it's great to see him regain his form.
Vamos rafa!
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Will be argued as the greatest ever when he retires..
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I love Nadal...but as a Swiss, I support Federer :D
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I am not a Swiss, but I support Federer as well. That said, there is no one even close to Nadal when it comes to clay.
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If the U.S.A. wants tennis players that can compete, the USTA should consider calling in the TennisPolice!!!
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I really idolized Rafael Nadal. He is outstanding and I'm hoping to see him play against Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic.
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You have to really give credit to these two champions of this year's French Open, On one side you have a great veteran in Nadal and on the women's side you have a 20 year old newcomer in Ostapenko winning it! Looks like tennis is in full swing.
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@steemsports indeed a great player bring on wimbeldon im sure will be great
have a great day
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It's all about FOCUS !
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the champion
nice post @steemsports
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MAYBE YOU COULD CHECK MY POSTS, I JUST MADE A NEW EPISODE CALLED "SPORTSchatSPOT" the #1 and #2 are out ! If you like check @kid4life ! I do it myself!
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best performance of his life for sure, no sets dropped by nadal the whole tourney!
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He is such a champion. What a comeback.
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Is Goffin playing? I know he had to withdraw from the French with a bad ankle injury. Kyrgios is also a wildcard. I think his game is much better suited for the grass courts. But, you never know when he is going to flip out. Just as long as he doesn't tank.
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