MADRID, May 14, 2017
Rafael Nadal edged Dominic Thiem in a thrilling final at the Caja Magica on Sunday, winning 7-6, 6-4 to claim his fifth Mutua Madrid Open title.
The fourth seed from Spain hit 27 winners and broke serve twice to prevail in two hours and 17 minutes.
It was a record-tying 30th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown for the Spaniard, joining Novak Djokovic atop the leaderboard.
Rafa Nadal:
15 straight wins ✔️
5th Madrid title ✔️
30th Masters crown ✔️ pic.twitter.com/uw46TslYSM— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 14. Mai 2017
“I’m very, very happy. It’s just unbelievable. It’s very emotional playing in front of this crowd. I’m a little tired after many matches this week, but all the victories gives me positive energy and confidence. I’m going to be ready for Rome next week,” told Nadal, who extended his unbeaten start to the European clay-court season, which stands at 15-0 and also includes titles in Monte-Carlo and Barcelona.
Thiem was appearing in his first Masters 1000 final and falls to 8-5 in ATP World Tour title matches.
“I gave everything that I could. But there were some chances in the first set. If you want to play a close match, if you want to have a chance winning against Rafa on clay, you have to play your best. There’s no other way,” the Austrian said.
Kubot/Melo Takes Second Doubles Title In 2017
Earlier the day, Lukasz Kubot from Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil clinched their second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title of the year, defeating the all-French-combination of Nicolas Mahut and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and 20 minutes.
Also the champions in Miami and runners-up in Indian Wells, Kubot and Melo have taken the lead atop the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London.
“We can’t feel any better. We played another really good tournament. In four Masters 1000 tournaments we won two and reached another final, so these are pretty big results. I am really happy the way we are playing now and looking forward to the next one,” Melo told.
“We’re learning day-by-day how to improve and we’re having great results. We have to be ready for the tough moments and the next big event in Rome. Let’s see what will happen in the future,” Kubot added.
