Nadal needed two hours and 18 minutes on court to beat Norway's 8th seeded Casper Ruud in straight-sets.

Nadal beat Ruud 6-3, 6-3 and 6-0 to become the oldest player ever to win a singles title at the French Open.

Nadal didn’t mince his words in explaining what the Philippe-Chatrier Court means to him.

“Without a doubt for me and I think for a lot of people who love the history of this sport, this is the best tournament of the world… You make me feel like home.

“For me personally, it’s very difficult to describe the feelings that I have. It’s something that I’ve for sure never believed being here at 36, being competitive again playing on the most important court of my career one more time in a final.

“It means a lot to me, it means everything. It means a lot of energy to try to keep going. I don’t know what can happen in the future but I’m going to keep fighting to try to keep going.”

Nadal now also has the most men's singles Grand Slam titles with 22. Roger Federer is in 21 Grand Slam titles while the world number one, Novak Djokovic, has 20 to his record. Nadal beat Djokovic in the quarter-finals in 2022.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport