Nadal beats Thiem in Madrid final to win 3rd straight title

MADRID >> Rafael Nadal continued his impressive form heading into the French Open, winning his third straight title on clay Sunday with a 7-6 (8), 6-4 victory over Dominic Thiem in the Madrid Open final.

Nadal withstood a tough challenge from the ninth-ranked Thiem, converting on his fourth match point to earn his 15th straight victory and tie Novak Djokovic’s record of 30 career titles in Masters 1000 events.

The triumph at his home tournament gave Nadal his 72nd career title, and 52nd on clay. It will also move him from fifth to fourth in the rankings, ahead of Roger Federer.

“To try to win Roland Garros, you don’t need to be No. 4 or No. 1 or No. 5, what you need is to play tennis very well,” Nadal said. “I don’t think it changes a lot for me. What I’m really happy about is to achieve a title like this here in Madrid. I see myself being able to win important titles and achieve my goals.”

It was Nadal’s second straight win against the 23-year-old Austrian, coming two weeks after the Barcelona Open final when the Spaniard straight sets.

Nadal also won last month.

“These last few weeks have been very special. I’m very happy for what I achieved,” Nadal said. “It means a lot to me to win at home, it’s always a special place for me.”

Nadal had easily defeated Thiem in Barcelona, losing only five games in a two-set victory, but cruised to victory in Monte in Carlo was forced to work a lot harder on Sunday.

In an even first set, Nadal had to save two set points in the tiebreaker. The Spaniard converted his fifth set point of the match to take that tiebreaker and go one set up. Nadal broke early in the second set but was not able to pull away, and needed to save four break points in the final game before closing out the match.