Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep win 2018 French Open Titles

Simona Halep with 2018 French Open winner trophy. Photo by Rob Prange/REX/Shutterstock (9708998r)

Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep are the winners of 2018 French Open. Nadal defeated Dominic Thiem in men’s singles final for his 11th Roland Garros title, while Halep won the women’s singles final in a match against Sloan Stephens for her first Grand Slam title.

Rafael Nadal never lost a French Open final, and it wasn’t anything different this year. He never gave Thiem a chance and finished the job in three sets to claim 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory. Although this was a dominant win for Nadal, he faced some challenges along the way. In the third set, he suffered cramps in his middle finger to the extent that he couldn’t straighten it.

I was not able to move the hand, the finger,” – said Nadal after the game. “I was not [in] control of my finger.

The 32-year-old Spaniard then took a break halfway through the third set and with the help of his trainer managed to take care of the issue. After getting back into the match, Nadal strolled through the set and claimed his 17th career Grand Slam.

If you tell me seven, eight years ago that I will be here … having this trophy with me again, I will tell you that is something almost impossible,” – said Nadal. “But here we are.

In 2018 French Open women’s singles finals, the No.1 ranked female tennis player in the world, Simona Halep, was looking for her first career Grand Slam title again 10th seeded Sloane Stephens. It didn’t start well for Halep, who lost the first set 3-6 and it looked like Stephens is on the way to win her second Grand Slam, after claiming the US Open title in 2017. The odds were against Simona Halep since tennis player who won the first set had managed to get the title in 43 out of the last 46 women’s Grand Slam finals.

When I was down a break in the second set,” – said Halep after the match. “I thought, ‘Everything is gone. I’m going to start to relax and enjoy the match.‘”

Still, Halep managed to turn things around and won the two remaining sets with 6-4 and 6-1 and have her first Grand Slam title. She became only the fourth female tennis player who won her first major title after being ranked No.1.

Sloane Stephens, on the other side, has become the first American tennis player other than Serena and Venus Williams to play in French Open final since 2001.

Not the trophy I wanted,” – said Stephens about her runner-up plate, “but it’s still beautiful.”

Harley loves music and tries to go to a music festival every summer. When he's not listening to music, he writes about movies, food and wine, art, and sport.