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Manoj BhagavatulaESPN
Spain’s Rafael Nadal defeated Austria’s Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the French Open on Sunday to win the season’s second Grand Slam for a record 11th time.
Here are some of the key numbers from the Spaniard’s clay-court season, which culminated in the successful defense of his Roland Garros title:
11
Nadal is now the first player in the Open era, male or female, to win the same Grand Slam tournament 11 times, a feat that has been dubbed La Undécima, after Real Madrid’s bid to win an 11th European Cup. He is, however, the second player overall to win a major 11 times after Australia’s Margaret Court, who won four of her 11 Australian Open titles after the start of the Open era in 1968.
The players, male or female, with the next-highest number of singles titles at the same major are Martina Navratilova (nine, Wimbledon), followed by Roger Federer (eight, Wimbledon), Serena Williams (seven, Australian Open and Wimbledon), Steffi Graf and Pete Sampras (seven, both at Wimbledon), Federer and Novak Djokovic (six, both at the Australian Open), Graf and Bjorn Borg (six, both at the French Open) and Williams (six, US Open).
1
Nadal is now the first player in the Open era, male or female, to win 11 titles at three different tournaments, having also completed La Undécima at Monte Carlo and Barcelona in April this year.
Federer (nine at Halle, eight at Basel) and Argentine clay-court legend Guillermo Vilas (eight, Buenos Aires) are the male players with the next-highest number of titles at a tournament below Grand Slam level.
4
Nadal is now the fourth man in the Open era to win three or more Grand Slams after turning 30, having won his third since turning 30. The other three are Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and Federer, all of whom have won four each.
17
The number of Grand Slam singles titles now held by Nadal, who is second on the all-time list among men in the Open era, behind Federer (20), and ahead of Pete Sampras (14), Djokovic and Roy Emerson (12 each).
7
The number of consecutive Grand Slam tournaments now won by a man age 30 or older, the longest streak of its kind in the Open era. The previous record was four, when Australian legend Laver won all the majors in 1969 to complete the Calendar Slam.
86-2
Nadal’s win-loss record at the French Open, his only losses coming against Swede Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009 and against Djokovic in the quarterfinals in 2015. The Spaniard officially withdrew before the start of his third-round match in 2016. Of those 86 victories, 78 have come when Nadal has won the first set, after which he has never lost a match on Parisian clay.
57
The number of titles won by Nadal on clay, extending his lead at the top of the men’s Open era leaderboard, ahead of Vilas (49) and Austria’s Thomas Muster (40).
79
Nadal’s career title count, which is now fourth on the all-time list, behind Jimmy Connors (109), Federer (97) and Ivan Lendl (94), and ahead of John McEnroe (77), whose tally he equalled and then surpassed with titles this year in Barcelona and Rome, respectively.
24
The number of Grand Slam finals now contested by Nadal, extending his position at second on the men’s Open era leaderboard, behind Federer (30) and ahead of Djokovic (21) and Lendl (19).
11-0
Nadal’s win-loss record in Roland Garros finals, which is the best in a Grand Slam final among men in the Open era, ahead of Sampras (7-0, Wimbledon), Djokovic (6-0, Australian Open) and Borg (6-0, French Open). Federer’s record in Wimbledon finals is 8-3.
50
The number of consecutive sets won on clay by Nadal, breaking the previous record for most consecutive sets won on a single surface by McEnroe, who won 49 on carpet in 1984. Nadal’s streak began at Roland Garros last year and was ended by Thiem, who beat the Spaniard in straight sets in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open.
400
Nadal’s Barcelona Open semifinal win over David Goffin was his 400th tour-level clay-court match win, making him the fourth man in the Open era to win 400 matches on clay, after Vilas (659), Manuel Orantes (502) and Muster (422). The Spaniard also became the first man in the Open era to win at least 400 matches on both clay and hard courts. After Roland Garros, Nadal’s win-loss record on clay stands at 415-36.
32
The number of Masters 1000 titles won by Nadal, the most by a single player since the series began in 1990. The Spaniard’s 11th Monte Carlo title and his eighth Rome title were his 31st and 32nd Masters titles, respectively, breaking a tie with Djokovic, who has won 30.
(Statistics courtesy of ESPN’s Stats & Information Group)