The age of Rafael Nadal shows no sign of ending at Roland Garros. The Spaniard claimed an unprecedented 12th title at a single major in his trademark imperious fashion, downing Dominic Thiem in the final for a second straight year, 6-3 5-7 6-1 6-1.

When he first arrived in Paris as a 19-year-old in 2005, Nadal became the youngest man to win a Grand Slam in 25 years. In 2019, aged 33 years and six days, he becomes the third-oldest men’s Roland Garros champion of the Open era, behind 1972 champion Andres Gimeno and Ken Rosewall, winner in 1968.

The run to his 18th Grand Slam title extends Nadal’s win-loss record in Paris to a barely comprehensible 93-2, while he has claimed the last three titles in succession for the loss of just three sets. It stands as a testament to Nadal’s enduring dominance in Paris that Thiem must be praised for taking a set from the Spaniard in the final; he may be getting closer, but Nadal still seems light years ahead of the rest, despite his doubts earlier in a less-than-vintage clay court season by his own standards.

“Monte-Carlo and the beginning of Barcelona I said a couple of times have been tough for me, because mentally I was not enjoying,” Nadal said. “[I was] too much worried about the health and, being honest, too negative.

“After the first round in Barcelona, I was able to stay alone for a couple of hours in the room and think about it and think about what's going on, what I need to do. And there were a couple of issues that I had to decide, no? One possibility was stop for a while and recover my body, and the other was change drastically my attitude and my mentality to play the next couple of weeks.

“Thinking a lot, finally I think I was able to change and was able to fight back for every small improvement that I was able to make that happen. And since that first match against [Leonardo] Mayer in Barcelona, I think the things have been improving every single day until today.”

After a wind and rain-affected second week in south-west Paris, the men’s singles final began in sunshine in the wake of the women’s doubles final, which saw Kristina Mladenovic and Timea Babos claim their second major together after winning the 2018 Australian Open title. The duo downed Chinese pair Zheng Saisai and Duan Yingying 6-2 6-3, Mladenovic triumphing in Paris for the second time after partnering Caroline Garcia to the title in 2016.

Would Thiem draw inspiration from his partner’s triumph? There was also Saturday’s men’s doubles final to look to, which saw the unheralded Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies become the first German duo to claim the title in the Open era with a 6-2 7-6(3) victory over French pair Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin.

The Austrian, contesting his second final in Paris after ending world No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s quest to hold all four majors simultaneously in the semi-finals, pushed his game to the limit for the first two sets, snatching a break to seal the second and breathe fresh life into the match as a contest.

There is perhaps no other player in today’s game that can force Nadal to such extreme regions of Chatrier as Thiem. The 25-year-old plays with pace, effervescence and angles that few others can exploit, asking fresh questions on clay. But Nadal has rarely met a test he could not ace in Paris, imposing his spin-laden game and under-appreciated hands at the net to devastating effect time and again, winning 23 of 27 points after venturing forward.

Each time Thiem threatened, Nadal responded with interest. It was the No. 4 seed who broke first in the match to briefly hold a 3-2 lead, only for Nadal to claim the next four games to seal the opener. And when Thiem nicked the second, winning the only break point of the set to level the score, Nadal’s retort was decisively emphatic. Having left the court for a comfort break before the third, within 12 minutes he led 4-0; an hour later, he had claimed 12 of the last 14 games to win his 12th title here in 14 years.

“I wanted to think and be clear-minded and go back to the court with the right mindset to keep control of the match, because up until then I hadn't felt that,” Nadal said of the break before the third set.

“He had served well. Every time I was in a bad position after he served because, with someone like Dominic, it's very difficult to return. He hits very hard. I managed to hit the first ball from a good position. But with him, it's very difficult to return when he's in attacking position.

“So I analysed things, and I felt that I had to solve this particular problem. For the rest, I was playing well.”

Thiem admitted that his intensity slipped early in the third, but few players could expose such a moment like Nadal.

“I played very good the first two sets, and then I had a little drop, which is against most of the players not that bad, but he took the chance and stepped right on me,” Thiem said. “He uses the situation and goes all in. That's what he did in sets three and four.

“Even though I didn't win the tournament, still, two years finals in a row, it's nice,” said Thiem. “I think that I developed my game. I was also closer than last year in the finals, I feel, especially in the first two sets, so I'm on the right way.

“And I failed today, but my goal and my dream is still to win this tournament or to win a Grand Slam tournament. I will try my best next year again.”