Rafael Nadal opens up on his 11th French Open title

Every time Nadal steps onto the court in Paris, he makes the opponent work hard for his money, giving him so much to do, leaving him confused and searching for answers.

As a writer, Nadal does something very similar to you, forces you out of your comfort zone and makes you come up with superlatives you didn’t even know existed.

So, be it a player or a writer, Nadal makes you work hard for your money.

The final was pretty much like what it had to be. A spirited Thiem coming out and challenging Nadal shot for shot and Rafa like always soaking in that initial bout of pressure and unleashing his skills when Thiem’s spirit had largely been broken.

Nadal looked uncertain just once in the entire match, that is when he had suffered a cramp in his fingers and wirst during the dying stages of the game.

Nadal conceded that he was extremely worried during that little phase.

“I had to be very aggressive, he’s a very difficult opponent. I had a tough moment in the third set when I had a little bit of cramp. I was a little bit scared. But that is sport. It was very humid and he pushed me to limit.

“I’m very happy to win the tournament. I played a very good match today. Well played to Dominic. He’s a good friend, one of these players the Tour needs. I played my best match today, in the final.” Nadal said.

At the end of his on-court interview, Nadal gave the crowd and his fans something to be relaxed about as he informed everyone that ‘he’ll be back next year’.