Nadal tops Thiem for 11th French Open title

Rafael Nadal, playing at Indian Wells last year, joined Margaret Court as the
only players to win a single Grand Slam tournament 11 times. Photo by Mal Taam

   Other than an NFL player getting arrested, it's the surest bet in sports.
   With his punishing groundstrokes and trademark tenacity, Rafael Nadal outslugged Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 today in Paris to improve to 11-0 in French Open finals.
   The top-ranked Nadal overcame cramps in his left hand at 2-1 in the third set and converted his fifth championship point to improve to 86-2 at Roland Garros.
   Nadal joined Margaret Court as the only players to win a single Grand Slam tournament 11 times. Court earned 11 Australian Open crowns between 1960 and 1073.
   Martina Navratilova won Wimbledon nine times (1978-90), and Roger Federer will try to equal that feat next month.
   Federer, 36, holds the record of 20 Grand Slam men's singles titles, and Nadal, 32, is second with 17. They have combined to win the last six majors.
   Thiem, a 24-year-old Austrian, will rise one spot to No. 7 in the world after his first Grand Slam final.
   Sixth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, both 22-year-old Czechs, claimed their first major women's doubles title with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over unseeded Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya of Japan.
   Krejcikova and Siniakova won their first three matches in three sets, including a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6) decision over ninth-seeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands and Johanna Larson of Sweden in the third round.
   Krejcikova and Siniakova also knocked off third-seeded Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals and second-seeded Andrea Sestini Hlavackova and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals.
   Siniakova reached last year's U.S. Open final with compatriot Lucie Hradecka.
   Hozumi and Ninomiya became the first all-Japanese pair to reach a Grand Slam final in women's doubles. They ousted top-seeded Timea Babos of Hungary and Kristina Mladenovic of France in the quarterfinals.