By Chris Oddo | Sunday April 30, 2017
Ten titles, two venues, one king of clay.
Rafael Nadal marched to his tenth Barcelona Open title with an impressive 6-4, 6-1 victory over Dominic Thiem to claim the “Double Decima” and shoot another message across the bow of the ATP this clay court season.
“Unbelievable feeling,” said Nadal. “To play here in front of my crowd in my club and win for the tenth time – it’s impossible to dream about it.”
Nadal’s impeccable performance improves his tour-leading win total in 2017 to 29. He has now won 22 of 23 sets in Barcelona finals and he captures his 51st clay-court title and 71st overall.
Is he feeling like the Roland Garros favorite?
Hardly.
“Next stop for me is Mallorca,” he said. “Have some rest and then start to think about Madrid—I never think about Roland Garros before Madrid and Rome.”
Nadal saved a break point in the first game when he placed a touch volley far away from a defending Thiem, and it would be the only one he would need to save. The pair marched to the business end of the set in lockstep, but Nadal punched through with the Austrian serving at 4-5 and trying to stay alive in the set.
Nadal put the second-serve return on Thiem’s backhand and the 23-year-old deposited it into the net to give Nadal the set in 50 minutes.
Thiem would manage a hold to level at a game apiece in the second set but Nadal would soon take over, reeling off the final five games to secure the title in 90 minutes.
Nadal blasted a forehand winner for a break and a 3-1 lead, and he broke at love for 5-1 when Thiem cracked a forehand just long of the baseline.
On his second match point Nadal hit a steaming wide serve to Thiem’s backhand that the Austrian returned long. He stood at the baseline, his arms spread wide and his head tilted to the sky.
It was another crowning achievement for the king of clay.
Nadal finished with a stingy statline—14 winners and 16 unforced—while Thiem’s impatience showed in his numbers. The Austrian powered 17 winners past Nadal but he let his error count get too high. His 36 errors left him at a great disadvantage against the Spaniard, and allowed Nadal to reel off eight of the final nine games of the final.