Mutua Madrid Open—Madrid, Spain
No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal continued his stellar clay-court season on Sunday, defeating No. 8 seed Dominic Thiem 7-6(8), 6-4 to capture his fifth Madrid Open title. In a match that featured a breathtaking first set, Nadal trailed by a break at 2-1 before storming back to force a tiebreaker. Needing five set points to seal the first set, Nadal broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set and never looked back. Adding to his titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Nadal cemented himself as the clear favorite at Roland Garros, which takes place later in the month in Paris, France.
Notching his 72nd overall career title, 30th Masters 1000 trophy and 52nd crown on clay, Nadal will move to No. 4 in the world on Monday and No. 1 in the race to the London Finale.
Thiem, who lost to Nadal in the Barcelona Open final last week, continued his strong season on Tour. The Austrian captured the title in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil in February, while falling to 26-11 on the season.
Nadal and Thiem—the two best clay-court players in 2017—will next see action at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Italy next week.
Go Rafa !!! Good luck for Rome. Nadal, Djokovic, Thiem, Murray & Wawarinka – Contenders at ATP Rome
http://www.138mph.com/nadal-djokovic-thiem-murray-wawarinka-contenders-at-atp-rome/
I think it’s great to see Nadal healthy and winning again. I also think that for maybe the last two years a lot of people, including current players and ex-tour players, were writing him off and saying that his best days were over. So I’m glad to see that he’s proved them wrong. Go Rafa!!!