Rafael Nadal creates history with unprecedented 11th French Open title

Rafael Nadal’s remarkable Roland Garros reign continued as the world number one clinched an 11th French Open title with a straight-sets win over Dominic Thiem on Sunday. Thiem is the only man to have beaten Nadal on clay over the past two seasons, including a surprise victory in the Madrid Open quarter-finals last month, but there was no repeat shock on Court Philippe Chatrier as the top seed prevailed 6-4 6-3 6-2. Nadal’s latest triumph in Paris sees him join Margaret Court, who dominated the Australian Open in the 1960s and 70s, as the only player to win 11 singles titles at one grand slam.

Updated on: Jun 11, 2018 9:43 AM IST

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Rafael Nadal continued his historic run in the French Open as he defeated Dominic Thiem to secure the title at Roland Garros for an unprecedented 11th time. (Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports)

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Rafael Nadal squared off against Austria’s Dominic Thiem in the French Open final, with the Spaniard aiming for an unprecedented 11th title at Roland Garros. (AFP)

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Thiem, who was the only player to defeat Nadal in the 2018 clay court season, was tipped to give a tough fight. (AFP)

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Nadal, who has lost to Thiem twice on clay, started off brilliantly by winning the first set 6-4 (AFP)

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Thiem made several unforced errors and his serve was under immense pressure. (AFP)

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Nadal continued to punish Thiem as the Spaniard won the second set 6-3 and closed in on the title. (AFP)

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Nadal had lost only one set in the whole tournament and he neared the title. (AFP)

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Nadal created history as he won his 11th title at Roland Garros with a 6-4,6-3,6-2 win over Dominic Thiem. (AFP)

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For Thiem, it was a sobering loss having played wonderfully to enter the final. (AFP)

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Nadal’s 11th French Open title was his 17th Grand Slam championship. (REUTERS)

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Nadal is now only three wins away from equalling Roger Federer’s mark of 20 Grand Slams. (REUTERS)

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Nadal became only the second player in history to win a single Grand Slam 11 times, the first being Margaret Court who won the Australian Open 11 times. (REUTERS)

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President of the French Tennis Federation (FFT) Bernard Giudicelli (L) and former Australian tennis player Ken Rosewall, arrive for the awards ceremony. (AFP)

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Nadal’s 11th French Open title has cemented his reputation as the ‘Emperor of Clay’. (AFP)

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From 2005 till 2018, the story of the French Open has been the dominance of Rafael Nadal. (AFP)