Spain's Rafael Nadal bites the trophy as he celebrates winning his tenth French Open title against Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka in three sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, during their men's final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, in Paris, France, Sunday, June 11, 2017.
The 31-year-old claimed a comfortable 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 straight sets win at Roland Garros in Paris to claim the 15th Grand Slam title of his career. He has never lost any French open final and he is the first victor to have 10 Grand Slam singles titles for the same tournament.
2005-Won the French Open on his debut in 2005 and a year later beat Roger Federer in the final for his second title.
The Spaniard also won the title without losing a set, becoming the third man to do so in the Open era after Ilie Nastase and Borg.
The 2016 version of Novak Djokovic, who was utterly dominant on his way to a first French Open title has vanished without a trace and was perhaps the only man who has ever truly got to grips with Nadal on the surface. The feeling I have is impossible to describe. "The adrenaline and nerves I feel on this court I can't describe. It's the most important event in my career".
Spain's Rafael Nadal, right, poses with the special Decima cup while his oncle Toni Nadal holds the men's victor cup after the final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Sunday, June 11, 2017 in Paris. He's won 79 of his 81 career French Open matches, and extended his career record to 102-2 in best-of-five matches on clay courts. He is 3-0 in Grand Slam finals.
Wawrinka, who had won his three previous finals at a major, bowed out on the second match point when he sliced a backhand volley into the net. "So that's the thing that I am more proud", said Nadal.
Five-set match, it's going to be a really tough challenge when you play against him", the Swiss player admitted in press conference. "I think from the beginning from my side, for sure, I didn't play my best tennis.
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But, from a seemingly fruitless position, he then engineered one of the sport's most remarkable seasons.
"It's truly awesome", Nadal said.
One area of significant improvement for Nadal over the years is his serve. Instead, Nadal held serve and then broke convincingly to win the first set against serve.
Nadal's opponent in today's match Stan Wawrinka had won the crown in 2014.
"For sure he's playing the best he's ever played, not only here", Wawrinka said.
Coming into the final having not dropped a set all tournament, Nadal needed only a tick over two hours to get the job done and complete "La Decima".
Sergio Ramos saluted the achievement as "great", Santi Cazorla called his compatriot "the best in history", a view supported by Alvaro Arbeloa, while Barcelona defender Gerard Pique considers Nadal to be a "king on Earth". But if I have pain on my knees I know it is nearly impossible and my chances are not there.
Gustavo Kuerten, the much loved Brazilian who was feted along with other tennis Hall of Famers prior to the finale, insisted last week Nadal could win several more French Opens.
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