Rafael Nadal Is Now The Oldest Roland Garros Champ In Addition To Being Most Dominant

Seventeen years to the day when he won his first Roland Garros title and his first major title, Rafael Nadal won his 14^th Roland Garros title and his 22^nd major title.

He defeated Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 in a tension-less final that increased Nadal’s career record at Roland Garros to an incredible 112-3.

With a win, Nadal, two days past his 36^th birthday, passes fellow Spaniard Andres Gimeno as the oldest Roland Garros men’s singles champion in history. Gimeno, at age 35 years and 10 months, set the record exactly 50 years and one day earlier in 1973 when he defeated Patrick Proisy of France in the 1972 final.

It was also on June 5, back in 2005, when Nadal won Roland Garros for the first time for his first major title, as documented in the “On This Day In Tennis History” book and excerpted here:

2005 – Nineteen-year-old Rafael Nadal of Spain fends off a charge from unseeded Mariano Puerta of Argentina to win his first major singles title at the French Open. Nadal wins the title and his 24th consecutive match with a 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1 7-5 decision over the No. 37-ranked Puerta to become the fourth youngest men’s singles champion at Roland Garros. Nadal joins 1982 champion Mats Wilander as the only player to win Roland Garros in his debut.

Nadal is now a perfect 14-0 with the Coupe des Mousquetaires on the line and has never lost two sets in a Roland Garros final, much less three. His 14 Roland Garros titles are the most won by any man at a single Grand Slam event in history, followed by Novak Djokovic’s nine at the Australian Open and Roger Federer’s eight at Wimbledon.

Nadal is now a perfect 14-0 with the Coupe des Mousquetaires on the line and has never lost two sets in a Roland Garros final, much less three. His 14 Roland Garros titles are the most won by any man at a single Grand Slam event in history, followed by Novak Djokovic’s nine at the Australian Open and Roger Federer’s eight at Wimbledon.

For the first time in his career, Nadal has swept the Australian Open and Roland Garros in the same year and equaled his lowest ranking as a Grand Slam champion. He was also No. 5 at 2005 Roland Garros and the 2022 Australian Open.