PARIS—Steve Tignor and Joel Drucker discuss what raises Nadal above the rest; what Thiem showed us over the fortnight; and what chance Federer might have had against either of them at Roland Garros.
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Joel,
First, as two writers who have been following the game since at least the 1970s, I think we have to start by acknowledging the scale of what Rafael Nadal has done, and is still doing, at Roland Garros. For me, growing up, Bjorn Borg’s six French Open wins and five Wimbledon wins were the legendary men’s title numbers that loomed in my mind. The idea of anyone with 11 in one place would have seemed laughable. But here Rafa is with as many here as Borg had in Paris and London combined.
As the win count and title count continue to climb, there’s a tendency to take his clay dominance for granted. But even today, in what was nominally a routine straight-setter over Dominic Thiem, Rafa had to earn it.
There’s tension involved in any Grand Slam final, and which you can really only feel when you’re in the arena. Today there was also high humidity in Paris, which Rafa mentioned more than once during the match, and which eventually caused his hand to cramp. And I’m still amazed that in all of Nadal’s 86 wins (against two defeats) at Roland Garros, he’s never played what could be called a home match. The Parisian crowd doesn’t hate him, but it’s always ready to roar for his opponent, whoever it may be. Rafa just blocks it out and wins anyway—every time.