Rafael Nadal was again crowned as the king in Paris as he won his record 12th Roland Garros title of his career after defeating Dominic Thiem 6-3, 7-5, 6-1, 6-1 in the finals. The 12th title in Paris is one of the most special titles for the 18-time grand slam champion.
The 'King of Clay' did not have the best of the season before entering the French Open 2019. He went title-less till the Italian Open for the first time since 2004. He didn't reach the finals of any clay court event before the Rome Masters. However, Nadal shifted the gear at the right time in Rome as he was seeking his 12th French Open title and the Spaniard got the momentum before entering the Roland Garros.
The 2019 season was one of the worst seasons for Rafael Nadal. However, he still entered the French Open 2019 as a favorite because of his unimaginable record at the Parisian clay. However, it looked like someone will upset him on the Parisian Clay as the dominance was not the same as previous years. Rafael Nadal also revealed that he was struggling from the past 18 months due to injuries.
Rafael Nadal was forced to pull out from 10 tournaments, last year due to multiple physical issues. After pulling out of the semifinals of the US Open 2018 against Juan Martin Del Potro, he did not play for the rest of the season and returned at the Australian Open after undergoing ankle surgery in November. He had a spectacular Australian Open as he was the runner-up of the event.
The Spaniard did not play for 2 months after the Australian Open. He returned at the Indian Wells where he again pulled out of the event due to a knee problem before his semifinals clash against Roger Federer. He again missed the tour for over a month returning back to the clay season at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Italian Open before entering the French Open.
The injuries and lack of practice made it less likely for him to win the Roland Garros title. However, the world no. 2 proved that beating him on clay is certainly the toughest thing to do in any sport as he conquered the 18th grand slam title of his career on the Parisian Clay making this title a special one for the Spaniard.
Even Rafael Nadal suggested that this title has a special place in his long career. He said, "I've had too many issues. So that makes these last few weeks very, very special."
"One possibility was to stop for a while and recover my body. And the other was to drastically change my attitude and mentality. I was able to change and fight for every small improvement that I was able to make," added the 33-year-old.
"After Indian Wells, as I said a couple of times, mentally I was down," he said. "I lost a little bit of energy because I had too many issues in a row."
Rafael Nadal revealed that he was mentally down which is very rare for a player like Nadal who enjoys, every time he hits the court.
He said, "It is tough when you receive one and then another. Mentally I was not enjoying things. I was too worried about my health and, being honest, I was being too negative. After the first round in Barcelona, I was able to stay alone for a couple of hours in the room and think about what's going on, what I need to do. And since that first match in Barcelona, I think things have been improving every single day."
