The season of “La Décima” ascends to its final stage during the next two weeks, and the conquistador, Rafael Nadal, appears primed for more history. Nadal will go for a record 10th title at Roland Garros, the season's second Grand Slam, which starts Sunday. He's approaching unprecedented tennis history: No man or woman has won a Grand Slam title 10 times in the Open Era, since April 1968. But Nadal, who won Roland Garros crowns in 2005-08 and '10-14, has already entered double digits at two tournaments this year. The Spaniard captured his 10th title at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and at the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell. Two weeks ago, he also won his fifth Mutua Madrid Open crown. Nadal...
In-form Rafael Nadal faces a major test if he is to claim ‘La Decima’, a 10th title at Roland Garros this year. The Spanish superstar has been drawn in the same half of the draw as defending champion Novak Djokovic, Milos Raonic and Dominic Thiem, the player who beat him in last week's Internazionali BNL d’Italia quarter-finals. View Draw Fourth seed Nadal will meet France’s Benoit Paire in the first round as he looks to add to his incredible 72-2 record at the clay-court Grand Slam championship, where he has clinched the 2005-08, 2010-14 crowns. Nadal could meet No. 31 seed Gilles Simon in the third round, with a potential quarter-final against fifth seed Raonic, who begins his quest against...
All good things must come to an end. Rafael Nadal’s 17-match win streak on clay was halted on Friday by Dominic Thiem at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, but the Spaniard isn’t hearing alarm bells ringing. “It’s normal that one day you don't feel perfect. If you are unlucky on that day, the opponent plays unbelievable,” said Nadal. “So tomorrow, I will be in Mallorca fishing or playing golf or doing another thing. That's it.” After playing nearly flawless tennis to win three straight titles in Rome, Barcelona and Madrid, the backlog of matches caught up to Nadal and he wasn’t able to recover from a comparatively off day against Thiem. He acknowledged that the Austrian “was better than me this...
Watch Rafael Nadal manage a punchy backhand winner en route to his win over Jack Sock on Thursday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. Watch live tennis at tennistv.com. Photo: Pete Staples/ATP World Tour
Watch highlights of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Milos Raonic advancing, while John Isner upsets Stan Wawrinka Thursday at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. Watch live matches at tennistv.com. Photo: Pete Staples/ATP World Tour.