Nadal clinches 11th French Open title
Paris, June 10: Rafael Nadal of Spain powered past Austrian Dominic Thiem in straight sets to clinch his record-extending 11th men's singles title at the French Open tennis championships here on Sunday.
Following his 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 victory, Nadal became the second player in history to have won 11 singles titles at any Grand Slam event after Margaret Court, who won 11 Australian Open titles, reported Xinhua news agency.
He also became the first player in the Open Era to have won 11 titles at three different Tour-level events, as he had done at ATP Monte-Carlo Masters and Barcelona Open.
Nadal, who led 6-3 in previous head-to-heads, broke Thiem's service in the second game, before the Austrian had his own response to tie at 2-all through a break.
Thiem was the only player to have defeated Nadal on clay prior to Roland Garros for the second straight year, and his quarterfinal victory over Nadal at the Madrid Masters snapped the Spaniard's 50-set winning streak on clay.
He displayed his lethal weapon of single-handed backhand, while being troubled by unfavorable performance on his first serves, conceding the first set 6-4.
Thiem already suffered four double faults despite four aces at the start of the second set, while Nadal maintained all of his serves in the second set to move a step further at 6-3.
Thiem save three break points to hold his service into the third set, but the "King of Clay" responded by fully exhibiting his powerful forehand for astute winners.
The Austrian was hampered by his many unforced errors after long rallies. Nadal finished another break in the third game to move in front, while injuring his left middle finger midway through the fourth game.
He continued his momentum following the medical timeout, and managed to convert his fifth match point on Thiem's poor backhand in the eighth game.
After claiming his 17th career Grand Slam title, Nadal is set to retain his top position at the latest ATP rankings ahead of arch rival Roger Federer.
"It's amazing, I can't describe my feelings because it's not even a dream to win here 11 times. It's impossible to think something like this," he said after the win.
"(The final) It was the best match tournament of me. It was important because Dominic is a very aggressive player. I had a tough moment in the third set when I got cramp in my hand. I was very scared."
Thiem, who had already recorded his best result at Grand Slams with a final appearance in Paris, will rise to No. 7 on world rankings.
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Siddaramaiah in 'helpless situation', under some 'compulsion', claims Cong MLA Rajanna
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Bengaluru (PTI): Amid claims that Siddaramaiah's confidants are being targeted within the ruling Congress in Karnataka, following recent actions against some party leaders, senior MLA K N Rajanna on Friday alleged that the chief minister is "helpless" and under some "compulsion" as he is not standing up to defend his people.
The comments from the former minister, who is considered close to Siddaramaiah, came after Congress took action against some of its minority community leaders--considered close to the CM--following allegations of an internal conspiracy against the party candidate in the Davanagere South bypoll held on April 9.
Rajanna himself was sacked from the Ministry last August on the instructions of the party high command, following his alleged comments criticising top party leader Rahul Gandhi's "vote theft" charge.
"There will be vested interests in the party who will try to conspire against those who have been loyal to the party and want the party to grow for the welfare of the people. Nothing can be done about it. What we expect from our chief minister is that when such a situation arises, he should stand strong, but he is not standing and that is a sad thing," Rajanna said in response to a question whether Siddaramaiah's followers were being targeted in Congress.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "... I don't know what his thinking is. But we did not expect such a helpless situation from Siddaramaiah."
When asked who had made Siddaramaiah helpless, the former minister said, "I won't say who, you understand it yourself."
"People are saying that those close to Siddaramaiah are being targeted...I don't know what compulsions Siddaramaiah has. If he tells, we can know, but he won't say. I don't know under what compulsion he is following this neutrality," he said, adding that the CM is helpless and a person becomes "helpless" when his/her voice shrinks.
The Congress recently suspended MLC K Abdul Jabbar from the party's primary membership and relieved another MLC Naseer Ahmed from the post of chief minister's political secretary. This action came after a group of Muslim leaders accused members of their own party of "conspiracy" to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.
Following the action against Jabbar and Naseer Ahmed, speculation is that Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan may also face action during the next cabinet rejig, as these three wanted a Muslim to get the bypoll ticket in Davanagere South, which the party gave to the late MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa's grandson Samarth Mallikarjun. They also did not actively participate in campaigning.
Citing a Kannada saying that there is no punishment for the mistakes committed by the King, Rajanna, in what seemed to be a veiled dig at Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, asked, "Does sharing a stage with a person (referring to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev) who said, 'Who is Rahul Gandhi? I don't know,' not amount to indiscipline?"
Referring to AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge's statement on whether poverty could be ended by taking a dip in the Ganga at Prayagraj, he said, "...but this person (again referring to Shivakumar) goes there and compliments UP CM Yogi Adityanath for arrangements made for the Kumbh Mela. He also goes to Ambani family marriage, while Rahul Gandhi did not even accept the invitation."
"I'm not saying that action should be taken against this person too, but the party will have to observe these things also," he added.
Rajanna further pointed out that no action was taken when veteran Congress leader and late MLA from Davanagere South Shamanur Shivashankarappa made a speech seeking votes for BJP candidate B Y Raghavandra during Shivamogga Lok Sabha polls, and asked if this did not amount to indiscipline.
"The same people were at the helm then (referring to Shivakumar as KPCC chief), even a verbal warning was not given to him (Shivashankarappa)," he said, adding that, similarly no action was taken when Samarth Shamanur filed his nomination in Davanagere South before the party announced its candidate for Davanagere South-- that was also an act of indiscipline.
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