That was a complete domination! The King of Clay didn’t leave any chance to Milos Raonic in this final to win his 58th career title.
Rafa had just a perfect match against the young Canadian. The result (6-2 6-2) looked almost inevitable as the Spaniard was at his very best and he showed a level of confidence in this final that (so far) is completely unknown by Milos Raonic.
This was Rafa’s 81st final (!!!) and his 25th 1000 career Master, while this was Milos’ first 1000 Master final and the Canadian was playing in front of his home crowd… so you may understand why the tension played a huge role in it.
Rafa wrapped up the match in just 68 minutes to break Milos twice per set. The Canadian was struggling with his best weapon (the serve) as he fired only 4 aces (same as Rafa!), he put only 50% first service in and he won only 61% points on his first serve. So… no chances! Match Stats.
From Rafa
A very happy Nadal commented “I did a lot of things well. My return was huge this afternoon. I returned a few first serves of his in important moments, decisive. Then I think he play with more mistakes than usual. That helped me.”
From Milos
“There’s a lot of things, a lot of steps, a lot of professionalism that is not optional really to get to this level, stuff I really pride myself in, I put a lot of emphasis on.
To do it here is really special for me, but also it’s very motivating for the next steps to sort of know that I’ve made that step to where I want to be.
It makes me want to push harder and work more to make the next step to go down that line and try to get as close as I can to my goals.” said Raonic
After this tournament Rafa will be ranked world no.3 and he will have a clear shot at becoming world no.1 by the end of the year. Milos will break in the top 10. Well done to both of them!
Rafa’s hot shot
