Rafael Nadal captured the 2018 French Open title at the end of an emphatic run. With only a single set dropped in the last two weeks, the 32-year-old made defending his title look like a walk in the park. The hours before the men’s final, in Paris, brought with them a sense of hope that the NextGen could step up as Dominic Thiem was set to take on Rafael Nadal.

The 24-year-old Austrian was the man who delivered the last two clay court defeats to Rafael Nadal, one of which occurred earlier this year in Madrid. But playing on Court Philippe Chatrier in a Grand Slam final match is where Nadal is yet to know the bitter taste of defeat.

Rafael Nadal clinched straight-sets win over Dominic Thiem

A slow start of the match gave Nadal the upper hand. Being a break down so early in the match meant nothing for Dominic Thiem who bounced back to level the sheet. And, at that point, it seemed that the battle was on. After a bit of a struggle with his own serve, Nadal managed to access that extra gear that separates him from the pack, and, from that point on, he didn't look back.

Losing the opening set, mostly due to a faulty delivery on his own serve, made Thiem implode. Smelling the fresh blood gave Nadal the ultimate momentum as the Spaniard started to dismantle his opponent piece by piece. As the second set landed in Nadal's pocket (6-3) it became clear that the fight was over for Thiem.

The third act was simply a formality and despite having an injured finger (cramping), Nadal went on to seal the match by 6-2.

A couple of minutes later, the 32-year-old graciously embraced the Coupe des Mousquetaires in front of an emotional crowd gathered to watch history.

Rafael Nadal, positive about the future, sees no limits at French Open

Once the dust settled, the attention shifted from the actual clay court to a rather remote location, a place where analysis plays its own part. During the post-match press conference, Nadal offered some clues on how his future might look like.

According to the ATP official website, Rafael Nadal returned to the highest spot in the men's ranking. Moreover, his record at the French Open gained a surreal aura as well. Following his latest success, Nadal is 86-2 in win/ loss ratio at this event. Robin Soderling (2009) and Novak Djokovic (2015) are the only ones who managed to skip past Nadal at the French Open.

And that's why funny tweets are getting their fair share of attention. Well aware of Nadal's impressive record, the American Mardy Fish, a former top Tennis player himself, decided to give it an extra nuance of color with a funny statement on Twitter.

On the other side, for Dominic Thiem, things are moving in the right direction. He made it into this maiden Grand Slam, and, although it wasn't to be another first as in the women's game, the Austrian has the weapons to stay relevant on this surface in the years to come.
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