To the shock of no one who follows tennis even a little, Rafael Nadal defeated Stan Wawrinka in straight sets Sunday to win his 10th French Open title.
With the victory, Nadal now has 15 Grand Slam titles, one more than Pete Sampras and behind only rival Roger Federer on the all-time list.
Rafael Nadal passes Pete Sampras for the 2nd-most Grand Slam titles on the men's side, trailing only Roger Federer (18). pic.twitter.com/RXVIyf7Bak
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 11, 2017
Prior to Sunday, Nadal had not won the French Open since 2014, as he battled injuries in this late stage of his career. But the 31-year-old King of Clay absolutely dominated this year’s event, cruising through seven matches without dropping a single set.
Nadal dispatched Wawrinka, the 2015 French Open champion, 6-2, 6-3 6-1 Sunday to secure a result that was never even the slightest bit in doubt.
With a place on tennis’ Mount Rushmore already secure, Nadal certainly didn’t need to win this tournament to secure his legacy, but 10-time French Open champion has a nice ring to it, and passing Sampras in Grand Slam titles gives his resume some extra juice. And given how easily he won this tournament, it seems conceivable that if he stays relatively healthy he could threaten Federer’s record 18 Grand Slam titles over the next few years.
Regardless, Nadal may not be the dominant, world-beating player he once was, but it’s nice to see he can still hit that high gear at his favorite tournament.