It marked a stirring return to the top for Nadal at the site he loves the most: He is 79-2 at the French Open, 102-2 in all best-of-five-set matches on clay. Overwhelmingly good from start to finish in Sunday's final, and for the entire two weeks, Nadal won his record 10th French Open title with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 victory over 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka. And given how easily he won this tournament, it seems conceivable that if he stays relatively healthy he could threaten Federer's record 18 Grand Slam titles over the next few years.
"I'm a little emotional", Nadal said before getting to clamp his jaws on La Coupe des Mousquetaires. "It's the most important event in my career, so to win here is something I can not describe", Nadal said after his win. The nerves and adrenaline I feel on this court is impossible to compare. In all my time watching tennis, I've never seen or heard of anything close to a tournament like Nadal just had. But you need the right circumstances, the right ingredients to win 10 French Open titles.
"It has been a while since I played a good Wimbledon and after what happened with my knees in 2012 it has been tougher and tougher to compete on grass", he said. He is far and away the best clay court player of all time, and his utter dominance on the surface has lifted him into the conversation for greatest player of all time.
Nadal was forced to pull out of last year's French Open - the tournament he cherishes most - after potential career-threatening damage to his left wrist tendons. From the opening serve, the win was nearly never in doubt for the 31-year-old Spaniard, who now has a record 10 French Open victories to his name.
Wawrinka had also turned around a poor clay season by capturing Geneva and he held a 10-match win streak until hitting up against Nadal.
Rafael Nadal captured his 10th French Open title when he overwhelmed Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 on Sunday afternoon.
London tower fire protesters storm town hall
As she met with victims of the fire, angry protesters gathered outside the church waiting for her to come out and meet them. The Prime Minister has been confronted by angry crowds after meeting victims of the Grenfell Tower fire in Kensington.
Rafael Nadal says the feeling of winning a record 10th French Open title is "impossible to describe".
Wawrinka, who lost a grand slam final for the first time, said he had been beaten by a man at the peak of his game.
The only time Wawrinka matched Nadal's strokes was in the early part of the first set in when he held the first two service games and had a break point in the third game.
"From the beginning I didn't play my best tennis. Trust me, I'm very happy that I'm the one who did it", Nadal said.
Having beaten world number one Andy Murray with a majestic display of power in the semi-final, third seed Wawrinka arrived full of confidence.
"It was the Rafa I was expecting". But if I have pain on my knees I know it is nearly impossible and my chances are not there.