Rafael Nadal’s ‘Decimation’ a delight to watch

La Decima or should we say the Decimation — such was the dominance of Rafael Nadal as he conquered Roland Garros for a record 10th time.

At the start of the tournament there was no doubt in my mind that Nadal was the man to beat.

He had a near perfect run-up to the tournament and was looking as fit as he was five years ago.

The last two matches of the tournament proved that Nadal has got a few Grand Slams left in him.

He was clinical in his demolition of Dominic Thiem, the man who had defeated him in Rome just a few weeks ago.

However, Nadal is a different player when he is at the Philippe Chatrier Arena and the Austrian was not allowed to settle at all.

The power and aggression he brought to the semi-finals showed that he was confident about his fitness and clearly Thiem has some way to go before taking on the maestro in his favourite venue.

I hope Thiem, Nikolas Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev all continue to improve in order for us to see these youngsters in big games over the next few Grand Slams.

Coming back to Nadal’s remarkable 10th French Open, there will be many who would be disappointed at how Stan Wawrinka was unable to put up any resistance before the Spaniard in the final.

A couple of things went against Wawrinka on Sunday.

First, the four-hour marathon to get past top-seed Andy Murray did impact his energy levels.

His game was just a shade below its normal power and at this level that can break your strategy.

Further, Wawrinka was unable to grab his opportunities in the first set.

He did have a couple of break points early in the first set which he was unable to capitalise on.

In fact, the first set scoreline is a little misleading as the points were really closely fought.

However, once that set was won by Nadal, he was like a runaway freight train that was really hard to catch.

What made Nadal’s win so remarkable was the fact that he was able to dominate each point so completely even against a former champion like Wawrinka.

Such was the force of his groundstrokes, as well as his incredible reach. I don’t think I have seen him so fleet-footed in his court coverage in a long, long time.

So now, when we look at the first two Grand Slams of the year, we have a challenge to the hegemony of Novak Djokovic and Murray.

However, it’s coming in the form of a resurgent Roger Federer and a reinforced Nadal.

The new rankings show Djokovic at number four which will not please him as he gets ready for Wimbledon.

However, he has to work on his game and brace himself for the challenge that lies ahead.

The same applies for Murray who has had a rather dull first half of the year, save for his semi-final at the French.

Interesting times lie ahead with the big four and Wawrinka once again forming a huddle that’s pulling away from the rest of the contenders. (Gameplan)