Rafael Nadal has moved to within one set of capturing a historic 14th title at Roland Garros and a record-extending 22nd Grand Slam trophy Sunday, winning the second set to lead Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-3 in the final in Paris.

In front of a raucous crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier, the 36-year-old produced an intense and aggressive first-set performance, hitting his forehand with heavy topspin to outmanoeuvre the Norwegian and move ahead.

After making a slow start to the second set, the Spaniard rallied from 1-3 by returning to basics. He hung in points, won the longer exchanges and produced an array of stunning passing shots off both wings to take further control after one hour and 42 minutes.

Nadal is trying to become the oldest Roland Garros men’s singles champion in history, surpassing countryman Andres Gimeno, who set the record 50 years ago. If Nadal can improve to 112-3 at the clay-court major and capture his 22nd Grand Slam crown, the Spaniard will move further clear of Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the Grand Slam race, with the Serbian and Swiss tied on 20 major titles.

Nadal, who will rise to No. 4 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday regardless of the result, has showcased his fighting qualities en route to the final, spending 11 hours and 46 minutes on court in his three previous matches. The fifth seed moved past Top 10 stars Felix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev to set a first ATP Head2Head meeting with World No. 8 Ruud.

If the Spaniard defeats the Norwegian, he will become just the third player to earn four Top 10 wins at a Grand Slam event since the inception of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in 1973. Mats Wilander at Roland Garros in 1982 and Federer at the Australian Open in 2017 also achieved the feat.

Nadal will draw level with the Carlos Alcaraz on a Tour-leading four titles in 2022 if he improves to 14-0 in Roland Garros finals, having lifted the Australian Open, the Melbourne Summer Set and the Abierto Mexicano Telcel presentado por HSBC this year. The Spaniard has never won the Australian Open and Roland Garros titles in the same season.

Ruud, who has trained at Nadal’s academy in Mallorca since September 2018, is playing in his maiden Grand Slam championship match after he overcame Croatian Marin Cilic to improve to 30-9 on the season.

The 23-year-old had never been beyond the fourth round at a major prior to his run in Paris and is the first Norwegian man to reach the championship match at a Grand Slam. Before Ruud, the last Scandinavian male to advance to the final at a major was Swede Robin Soderling at Roland Garros in 2010.

The eight-time tour-level champion, who has earned a Tour-leading 66 match wins on clay since 2020, will rise to a career-high No. 6 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings on Monday even with defeat.

Set One

In lively conditions, Nadal immediately flew out of the blocks, forcing Ruud deep behind the baseline with his heavy forehand, which consistently rose above the Norwegian’s shoulders. After breaking for a 2-0 lead, the Spaniard suffered a slight dip in his second service game, double faulting twice, to give Ruud the opportunity to move onto the scoreboard, which he took. However, Nadal responded quickly by breaking again and continuing to fire his forehand with precision and power, hitting 11 winners to once again take the lead in a Roland Garros final.

Set Two

Ruud turned the tables at the start of the second set, though, raising his level and intensity to force Nadal into errors, with the Norwegian striking his watertight groundstrokes through the court. However, from 1-3 behind, Nadal quickly rediscovered his best level. He cut down on errors and demonstrated great footwork to start to dictate on his forehand once again.

The Norwegian tried to take the match to Nadal, but the fifth seed started to have all the answers. The 36-year-old scrambled around the baseline to force Ruud into hitting another shot, before he pushed the World No. 8 deep into the backhand corner with his own power, rolling off five games in a row to move to within one set of victory.

Two-time women’s Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek is blazing her own path at the top of professional tennis but says that lessons drawn from her idol Rafael Nadal have helped keep her dizzying success in perspective.

After claiming her 35th consecutive match win and sixth consecutive title Saturday against Coco Gauff in Paris, the Pole said that watching how Nadal has faced success and failure had helped to shape her own approach to the highs and lows of life on tour.

“I think the best thing I can learn from him is how he’s cool about what’s going on around him,” Swiatek said. “Because sometimes in our heads, I think many players are overanalysing everything. We treat those finals… [that] if we are gonna lose suddenly, our life is bad.

“I feel like all these great champions, they kind of accept that they may lose. I remember even last year when Rafa lost in semi-finals, I met him coincidentally next day, at breakfast in the hotel, and I said to him that I was crying basically the whole evening because he lost.

“He was, like, ‘Oh, it’s just a tennis match. You win, you lose. It’s normal’. Not everybody can do that and just treat those big moments as another match.”

Nadal, who on Sunday will chase record-extending 14th Roland Garros and 22nd Grand Slam titles against Casper Ruud, has been full of praise for Swiatek.

“When somebody like her is winning the tournaments and is winning with these results, I mean, it’s something special, no?” Nadal said in his pre-tournament presser at Roland Garros.

“It was a big surprise probably the first time, that couple of years ago when she won here. But the way that she’s playing this year looks unstoppable… I’m just happy for her. She’s very spontaneous and natural girl. Is good to have girls like this, good people like her having success.”

Alexander Zverev has reported that initial medical checks indicate that he has torn several lateral ligaments in his right foot following his sickening injury at Roland Garros Friday.

The 25-year-old German was more than three hours into an epic semi-final with Rafael Nadal when he badly rolled his ankle while moving to his right. The World No. 3 crashed to the ground and was taken off court in a wheelchair before returning several minutes later to shake the hand of the chair umpire and hug Nadal.

“I am now on my way back home,” the World No. 3 wrote on Instagram. “Based on the first medical checks, it looks like I have torn several lateral ligaments in my right foot.

“I will be flying to Germany to determine the best and quickest way for me to recover. I want to thank everyone all over the world for the kind messages that I have received since yesterday.”

Zverev and Nadal had enthralled fans on Court Philippe Chatrier for three hours and 13 minutes before Zverev’s injury brought the match to a jarring conclusion on the eve of the second-set tie-break. Nadal had rallied from 2/6 in the first set tie-break to hold a 7-6(8), 6-6 lead at the time.

Zverev was chasing his first Grand Slam title and the No. 1 Pepperstone ATP Ranking, which he would have claimed for the first time by winning the title.

Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer captured their first Grand Slam title as a team Saturday, rallying past Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3 in the Roland Garros final.

In a hard-fought clash on Court Philippe Chatrier, Arevalo and Rojer produced a strong serving display and showed their fighting qualities. They saved three championship points on serve at 5-6 in the second set, before raising their level in the third set to seal victory after three hours and three minutes.

“I am really proud,” Rojer said during the trophy ceremony. “I know I am getting older and it makes these moments much more special because you don’t know how many more times you have left to play on such beautiful courts. I am extremely, extremely grateful.”

“I want to congratulate Ivan and Austin, this was an amazing battle,” Arevalo said. “You guys are amazing opponents… I feel we are super lucky to win the title today. I want to thank everyone inside the stadium, it was amazing. You guys made our moment precious. Thank you Roland Garros and Paris for this.”

Arevalo of El Salvador and Rojer of the Netherlands have now captured three tour-level titles as a team this season, having triumphed on hard in Dallas and Delray Beach in February. With their victory, they have improved to 24-10 as a team in 2022.

The 40-year-old Rojer is now the oldest Grand Slam men’s doubles champion in the Open Era. It is the third time he has captured a major title, after lifting trophies with Horia Tecau at Wimbledon in 2015 and the US Open in 2017.

“I really want to thank my partner,” Rojer added. “We spent a lot of time living and training in Miami. We decided to play together. I know this kid has a big heart. He showed it today and I thank him. I am glad he trusts me and I am so happy and proud of this moment here.”

Arevalo, 31, is the first Grand Slam men’s double champion from Central America. He has now clinched five tour-level doubles crowns.

In a tight final, both teams dominated behind serve in the first two sets, with opportunities on return limited. After Dodig and Krajicek won the first set, the unseeded tandem then conjured up three championship points on Arevalo and Rojer’s serve at 5-6 in the second set.

However, the 12th seeds saved all three championship points, before they won the tie-break to force a decider. Fuelled by momentum, Arevalo and Rojer gained the first break of the match to move 4-2 ahead in the third set, before they held serve to secure a memorable victory.

Dodig and Krajicek, who saved five match points en route to victory over Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the quarter-finals, were competing as a team for the fifth time this season. They arrived in the French capital in form, after winning the trophy in Lyon last month.