Rafael Nadal pulled away to beat Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in the French Open final on Sunday for his 14th championship at Roland Garros and 22nd Grand Slam title overall, adding to two records he already owned.

Nadal’s victory came two days after his 36th birthday and made him the oldest title winner in the history of the clay-court tournament.

Ruud led 3-1 in the second set, a deficit that spurred Nadal to raise his level — he took the last 11 games.

Nadal performed so well and efficiently that he accumulated more winners than Ruud (37 to 16). Nadal committed 16 unforced errors to Ruud’s 26.

He covered his face in taped-up hands and threw his racket at the red clay that Nadal had just finished with with his down-the line backhand.

At age 19, the Spaniard won his first Paris victory in Paris. He was 19 years old when he won his first Paris victory. Nadal is the only man to have won more Grand Slam titles.

Roger Federer is now two points ahead, while Novak Djokovic is still recovering from a series knee surgeries. Novak Djokovic missed the Australian Open in January due to not being vaccinated against Covid-19, but lost at Roland Garros to Nadal.

Nadal, despite his age and more concerning, his chronic left-foot pain that has been a problem for years, has repeatedly stated that he doesn’t know if each Court Philippe Chatrier match will be the last.

It doesn’t seem like a good idea to give up now. He managed to get past four French Open competitors ranked among the top 10 (No. 9 Felix Auger – Aliassime in round four, No. Djokovic reached the quarterfinals. 3 Alexander Zverev — who stopped because of a foot injury — in the semifinals, and then No. 8 Ruud).

Nadal’s finals score at Roland Garros was 14-0, while his overall record at the tournament is 112-3.

Nadal is half way to a Grand Slam in calendar years, thanks to the titles at the Australian Open as well as the French Open.

Ruud was a 23 year-old Norwegian player who took part in the Grand Slam final. He hadn’t played in any major quarterfinals before now.

Nadal is his idol. He recalled watching the Paris finals of Nadal on TV. He trained in Nadal’s Mallorca tennis academy.

There was nothing at stake except bragging rights, and they have enjoyed many practice sets. Ruud joked that Nadal won these often and Nadal was just trying to be polite.

They had not met before Sunday’s match, which saw them face off in real life. And Nadal demonstrated, as he has so often, why he’s known as the King of Clay — and among the game’s greatest ever.

This Coupe des Mousquetaires is now available to him, along with the other trophies that he has accumulated at Roland Garros between 2005-08 and 2010-14 as well as 2017-20. He has also been awarded the U.S. Open 4 times, the Australian Open twice and Wimbledon once each.