5 Things We Learned: Roland Garros
1. Nadal Continues To Make History
Rafael Nadal transcended tennis history with his performance at Roland Garros, achieving one of the greatest feats in sports by completing La Decima with a victory over Stan Wawrinka in the final. He picked up his 15th Grand Slam title, surpassing Pete Sampras on the all-time win list and only trailing Federer at 18. Nadal dropped just 35 games, an average of five per match, to finish off one of the most flawless performances at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.It’s unlikely that we’ll see anyone match Nadal’s level of dominance at Roland Garros. He officially joins other legends of the sport in producing jaw-dropping moments that may never be repeated, such as Rod Laver winning a calendar-year Grand Slam twice.
Nadal will move up to No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday, marking the first time he’s been in the Top 2 since October 2014. If he continues this level of play in the second half of 2017, he'll be the hot favourite to finish the year as No. 1.
2. Wawrinka Always Raises His Level For Slams
Although Sunday’s final didn’t go the way he envisioned, Wawrinka should be still commended for a tremendous fortnight. Not many people would have penned the Swiss star for his second Roland Garros final at the start of the event. He opened his clay season with a tame 2-3 record. Despite retaining his title on home soil in Geneva, it was unclear if his form would lead to another big run at a major.But like he has done throughout his career, Wawrinka produced his best tennis when it mattered most. He stormed into the final four without losing a set and then prevailed in an epic five-set battle over World No. 1 Andy Murray in the semi-finals. In reaching the championship, he became the oldest man to play a final in Paris since Niki Pilic in 1973.
Wawrinka is already looking ahead to Wimbledon by hiring respected coach Paul Annacone for the grass-court season. As he looks to triumph at the only Grand Slam he’s yet to win, hearing a new voice could serve him well as he seeks to build on his recent success.
3. Murray Is Back In Business
After a disappointing clay season by his high standards heading into Paris, Murray turned the corner with a semi-final finish. After struggling in his first two rounds, he continued to improve with every match, scoring impressive wins over Juan Martin del Potro, #NextGenATP player Karen Khachanov and Kei Nishikori. Fitness played a factor in Murray fading out in the fifth set against Wawrinka, but it was vintage tennis from the Brit for most of the match.The World No. 1 now turns his attention to his strongest surface as he aims to defend titles at the Aegon Championships and Wimbledon. With an always-supportive home crowd sure to back him over the next few weeks, a revitalised Murray is likely to make plenty of noise on the grass.
4. Thiem’s Stock Continues To Rise
Dominic Thiem turned in another solid performance by reaching the semi-finals before falling to a red-hot Nadal. The Austrian was particularly impressive in his quarter-final match against Novak Djokovic, finishing with a bagel set to pick up his first win over the Serbian in six attempts. Thiem was the second-most dominant player on clay this year behind Nadal, scoring numerous wins over top players and going deep in almost every event he entered.Although Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam that Thiem hasn’t reached the second week of, he has the game to excel there. He defeated Roger Federer last year en route to prevailing in Stuttgart (d. Kohlschreiber) and reached the semi-finals in Halle. Thiem is currently No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Race to London and will go deep at SW19 if he continues to produce his current level of tennis.
5. Any Team Can Win In Doubles
Not many people would have pegged Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus to win the doubles title, but their triumph shows the level of depth in the game. The doubles draw was particularly wild this fortnight, with only five seeded teams advancing to the third round. The top two seeds (Kontinen/Peers, Herbert/Mahut) bowed out in the first round for the first time in the Open Era at Roland Garros.With three different teams also prevailing in the Masters 1000 clay-court events this year (Bopanna/Cuevas in Monte-Carlo, Kubot/Melo in Madrid and Herbert/Mahut in Rome), it’s anyone’s guess as to who will assert their dominance during the grass-court season.