World no. 2 ranked tennis player Rafael Nadal has made history again, beating Austrian Dominic Thiem to win his 12th French Open title at Roland Garros in Paris.
[jwplayer lYPokGdh]
The previous record was 11 French Open titles, which was held by none other than Rafael Nadal when he won, er, last year. On top of that he’s won the title in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2017. So it’s safe to say the Spaniard has quite the stranglehold on the event, with only Roger Federer (2009), Stan Wawrinka (2015) and Novak Djokovic (2016) getting a look-in since 2005.
À nouveau ensemble 🏆🙌@RafaelNadal | #RG19 pic.twitter.com/UgJb2CAoJo
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2019
After a strong start taking the first set 6-3, Rafa lost the second set 5-7 to Thiem. Seemingly spurred on by this, the 33-year-year old stormed home to smash Thiem in the third and fourth sets 6-1, 6-1. After all, the record books show that rafa has never lost a final at the French Open or ever been taken to five sets, so he wasn’t gonna start today.
The win takes Rafa up to 18 career Grand Slam titles, taking him to just two behind his rival but also good mate Roger Federer who holds the men’s record of 20, while GOAT Serena Williams is the women’s record holder with 23.
But after the match in a press conference, Rafa insisted he doesn’t care about these records, saying: “I am not very worried about this stuff, no?” You can’t be frustrated all the time because the neighbour has a bigger house than you or a bigger TV or better garden. That’s not the way that I see life.”
Upon winning the title, Rafa did his trademark biting of the trophy, which is a weird flex and I worry about him chipping a tooth but honestly when you’re this much of a millionaire tennis genius you can do anything you damn want.
Vamos, mate.
Love at first bite…@RafaelNadal | #RG19 pic.twitter.com/rIK3FXUIvI
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 9, 2019
