Rafael Nadal, 32, defeated Austria's Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the French Open on Sunday afternoon, marking the 11th time that he has won the Grand Slam. Thiem is the only man to beat Nadal on the clay in the past two seasons, but the top seed was not to be denied yesterday, as he improved his French Open win-loss record to a remarkable 86-2.
According to ESPN, Nadal is now the first player in the Open era, male or female, to win the same Grand Slam tournament 11 times. In total, the "King of the Clay" has now won 17 Grand Slam singles titles, which ranks second all time among men in the Open era, behind Roger Federer's 20, and ahead of tennis legend Pete Sampras, who finished his decorated career with 14.
Following his victory on Sunday, Nadal told reporters that he isn't "crazy" about catching Federer on the all-time Grand Slam title list.
"You can't be frustrated if somebody has more money than you, if somebody has a bigger house than you, if somebody has more Grand Slams than you," said Nadal, who will be top seed at Wimbledon.
"I've never been crazy about this kind of stuff. You can't live with that feeling. You have to do your way.
"I'd love to have 20 like Roger in the future or more, but it is not something in my mind. I know I've had an amazing career so I want to keep fighting for these things."
Nadal will look to capture his 18th Grand Slam title next month at Wimbledon.
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