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2017 Mutua Madrid Open FINAL Rafael Nadal bt. Dominic Thiem  7/6(8) 6/4

Rafael Nadal won his fifth Mutua Madrid Open title and his record-tying 30th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown, matching World No. 2 Novak Djokovic for the all-time lead. 

“Today is a day to be satisfied, to be happy and to have this trophy,” Nadal said. “This is a very emotional period of the season. I really enjoy these tournaments. I just try to go for all of them. I try to compete. In Monte-Carlo and Barcelona, I did well, same here. I hope to do the same in Rome.” 

“I'm very happy for what I achieved. I think it's difficult to win three different trophies in a row on clay. They are all important championships,” Nadal said.

Happy mother day to all the mothers out there. I haven’t been able to make posts this week due to exams and sickness but as you know I make updates to Facebook. Nadal continued his clean sweep of the clay court season today with a 7-6(8), 6-4 win over Thiem.

So congrats to him and to Thiem as well for another good week where he made his first Masters semi-final and final. He did very well in the final where he broke Nadal in the third game and came back from 3-5 in the tiebreak where he had two set points but in the end, Nadal had the edge.

This is Nadal’s 5th Madrid title. On his way to the title, he also won his first match against Djokovic after losing 15 consecutive sets and 7 matches to his nemesis, 6-2, 6-4. Unfortunately for Djokovic, Nishikori’s withdrawal in the quarterfinals didn’t help him at all.

After a promising 6-4, 7-5 victory over Lopez Djokovic was scheduled to play Nishikori in the quarterfinals who withdrew due to physical problems like so many times before. This meant an already heavily undercooked Djokovic had to sit the day out while Nadal could get into prime shape against Goffin.

Not that he needed to. He’d already won Monte Carlo and Barcelona as well as many more matches earlier this year. So the result was no surprise at all. It was not the conditions I hoped for as far as their first clay court meeting went.

Rafael Nadal was up to his old tricks at the 2017 Mutua Madrid Open. He looked hungry and produced some explosive tennis on centre court. He is playing like the unbeatable Nadal on clay from the last decade. Rejuvenated, enjoying the experience and breathing new life into what were his strengths in another era. The Spaniard is enjoying the fruits of persevering through days of injury and inconsistency.

His reward was a stunning 7-6(8), 6-4 victory over Dominic Thiem to win the Spanish event for the fifth time (2005, 2010, 2013, 2014), and his 30th Masters 1000 to level Novak Djokovic. They are followed by Roger Federer (26), Ivan Lendl (22), John McEnroe (19), Jimmy Connors (17), Andre Agassi (17), Bjorn Borg (15) and Andy Murray (14).

The home player came back from 1-3 down in the first set and saved two set points in the tiebreak (forcing an error from his opponent in the first and connecting with a forehand winner in the second). In the second set he broke Thiem’s first serve, but was unable to convert a match point at 5-3 and, after saving three break points at 5-4, he took his head-to-head with the Austrian to 4-1.

The 30-year-old left-hander is back to his best. For the first time in seven years he has started a season with a record of 15-0 in his first three tournaments on clay. He did so in 2010, 2009, 2007 and 2006. And he has now done so in 2017 close to the age of 31.