With the trophy on the line and all to play for, Rafael Nadal produced a masterful display to reign at Roland Garros for the 12th time. The Spaniard overcame a determined effort from Dominic Thiem to prevail 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 on Sunday afternoon in Paris.

The years may change, but Nadal’s stranglehold on the Coupe des Mousquetaires remains the same. The Spaniard secured his 12th Roland Garros title after three hours and one minute, striking 38 winners and converting seven breaks of serve.

With the victory, Nadal further closes the gap on Roger Federer for most Grand Slam titles in the Open Era. The Mallorca native’s 18th major triumph moves him to just two behind Federer and his record 20-title haul.

Thiem held his ground for the first two hours of the final, even taking his first-ever set from Nadal in four meetings on the terre battue. A majestic shotmaking display greeted fans as both competitors pushed each other to the limit. But as the match wore on, Nadal found his top gear and Thiem was unable to sustain his level.

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It is as unprecedented as it is unfathomable. Nadal’s 12th tournament title puts his tenure in Paris in a class by itself. Never before has a player lifted a dozen trophies at a single tour-level event. The Spaniard has become the first to achieve the feat in the Open Era.

At the age of 33, Nadal continues to defy the test of time. The Spaniard extended the streak of Grand Slam titles won by players aged 30 and older to 11 straight. He is now the third-oldest Roland Garros champion, only younger than Andres Gimeno (1972) and Ken Rosewall (1968).

Moreover, in notching his 93rd match win in the French capital, Nadal joins Stefanos Tsitsipas at the top of the tour-level wins list in 2019. Both players own a tour-leading 32 match victories this year, with Nadal also adding a second piece of silverware to his trophy case. He entered Roland Garros on the heels of lifting a record 34th ATP Masters 1000 trophy in Rome.

It is an examination of ability: technique, tactics, physical-conditioning, emotional and mental stamina. Roland Garros is a great advertisement for the sport, where crowds take matches, grim struggles to heart, and Rod Laver, who arrived in Paris 50 years ago, knew that he faced his toughest fortnight of the year. Every player of consequence was present in 1969, prize money was increasing, and there were new names under the heading, ‘Le comité du tournoi’ on the front page of the 1969 programme. French tennis meant business.

“I enjoyed the emotional involvement, watching matches and witnessing the crowds cheer and boo,” Laver told ATPTour.com, 50 years on. “Coming back is much more possible on clay than on grass courts. Early on, you looked forward to and dreaded every match, the low-pressure balls, but by Roland Garros in 1969, I was as fit as I’d ever been in my life. In late Spring that year, I remember that the clay was dry, dusty and, as a result, slippery.”

Laver, who had beaten Andres Gimeno in January for the Australian Open crown, had played at a round-robin tournament in Amsterdam the week before and was confident after claiming the second biggest title of the year, two weeks earlier, at Madison Square Garden in New York over Roy Emerson on a slow, synthetic court. Having swept past the Japanese Koji Watanabe in the Roland Garros first round, the 30-year-old looked up to fellow Australian Dick Crealy.

“He was 6’5” and had a big forehand,” recalls Laver. “He hit the ball extremely hard and throughout the first set I was chasing balls. By the time he let up, I was two sets down, but rain stopped play, when it was dark under the lights, at two sets to one up.

“I remember waking at 7 a.m. the next day, practised with Emmo before 9am for a 45-minute pre-match workout, then was ready to go for 10:30am, when it was very windy. It wasn’t a spectator’s hour, as I reckon there were four people in the stadium. I won nine of the next 11 games, but Dick recovered from 1-3 in the fifth set to lead 4-3. He missed a volley into an open court, in the ninth game at 40/30. It was the good fortune I had.”

Laver completed a 3-6, 7-9, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 second-round victory with the wind on his back, grateful to survive. “The tournament committee were eager to get to the quarter-final stage by the end of the week, so, on the same day, after some lunch, I came out to beat Italian Pietro Marzano [6-1, 6-0, 8-6],” he said.

“I then played Stan Smith, the 6’4” big-hitter, who was rapidly improving and I had a tough match against him a month later at Wimbledon. He had a cold, it was cold and the match finished in drizzle. I didn’t want it to be carried over to the next morning [again], so I worked hard in the third set [for a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win].”

Laver, who first travelled to compete in Paris in 1956, had to learn to play on clay, and prior to 1962, when he won his first calendar-year Grand Slam, had a 6-5 match record at the championship. “I had to learn to play on clay,” said Laver. “I’ve always believed that the key to playing well on clay is having patience and strength in your legs. It is all about accuracy over speed as clay blunts serve power, but it’s an exciting test of your abilities. To me, the importance of getting first serves in was key, as I didn’t have a cannonball serve, but I did fire the occasional ace.”

Through to the quarter-finals in 1969, Laver then waited on Gimeno, who shook off nerves to edge past 1961 and 1964 champion Manuel Santana, who had pulled a groin muscle in lunging for a ball in the fourth set. “Perhaps the victory in the previous round, helped him to win the first set against me, but I got down to work by keeping the ball low, slicing my backhand and heading to the net. Slicing was more often the best form of attack, giving you time to approach the net. You didn’t think Gimeno ever thought he could beat you, but he gave a good show and I won in four sets [3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3].”

Laver then challenged Tom Okker, a terrifically quick Dutchman with fast reflexes and a hitter of big topspin strokes. “This was early Okker, but he won the first set and I knew that I had to dig in,” says Laver. “By then, I’d sharpened my anticipation and remember half-volleying well and taking the net away from him to win [4-6, 6-0, 6-2, 6-4].”

In a re-match of the 1968 Roland Garros final, the sport’s two best players came face-to-face once more for the 75th time – through amateur, pro tour and Open Eras. In the 11th edition of their clay-court rivalry, Laver, who had beaten Ken Rosewall two weeks earlier, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 at the Dutch Pro Championships, was totally focused as they walked through the dark tunnel in the bowels of the stadium and out onto the main show court. Rosewall had defeated 1966 titlist Tony Roche 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 in the other semi-final.

“I played him in the final the year before, when he beat me in four sets,” says Laver. “So I just knew that I had to change my game a little bit. I decided I was going to hit my groundstrokes, heavy groundstrokes and pressure him when I could. Bill Tilden always used to say, “Never change a winning game.” I always knew that a player who played cautiously after building up a lead took a risk, so I’d tend to go hard for the first point of a game, and the first two games of every set.”

During the 1969 Roland Garros final, Laver’s groundstroke length kept 1953 champion Rosewall under pressure to force errors. Rosewall was simply unable to pounce on any short ball with his backhand and hit the net to produce crisp, well angled volleys. Laver knew, anything less than keeping his long-time rival behind the baseline and he was in trouble.

“It all worked for me,” said Laver, who collected $7,000 in prize money. “I was timing the ball perfectly that day, perfect control from game one. That’s what it takes to win any match. I led 3-1, then went 3-4 down in the first set, but came through 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 [in one hour and 33 minutes]. I think Ken felt that I played him better on instinct. My form stayed all the way through.”

Laver would later see a 4-3, 40/0 advantage evaporate in the fifth set of the Roland Garros doubles final with Emerson against John Newcombe and Roche, who won the 13 straight points for the match. But Laver was halfway to the Grand Slam, seven years on from his first in 1962, having conquered the most physically demanding championship.

“A Grand Slam year starts in January and ends in September; from the Australian Open and ends with the US Open,” said Laver. “You have to win 28 matches, not beat 128 players in every draw. While I knew Wimbledon and the US Open would be tricky, the dream was alive.”

Coming up in July 2019: Laver Reflects On 1969 Wimbledon

Rafael Nadal is to Roland Garros titles as water is to wet. So former World No. 1 Jim Courier, the 1991 and 1992 champion, believes that fourth seed Dominic Thiem will need to produce a special performance Sunday if he is to upset 11-time titles Rafael Nadal and lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires.

“He’s going to have to play a nearly flawless match because the next time you see Nadal play a bad match at Roland Garros will be the first time,” Courier told ATPTour.com.

Nadal is an astonishing 117-2 in best-of-five matches on clay, and 92-2 at Roland Garros. So the onus is on Thiem to find solutions to the questions Nadal asks on the terre battue rather than the Spaniard needing to do anything different than he has since earning his first title at this event in 2005.

“Unless Dominic is doing something that gets him out of his patterns, which would be hitting the hard backhand crosscourt into Nadal’s forehand, it’s just [Rafa] playing into his patterns and forcing Dominic to do something that’s uncomfortable for him,” Courier said. “If Nadal plays his normal patterns on clay, best of five, it’s been proven that he’s virtually unbeatable. And that will hold tomorrow unless Thiem does something extraordinary.”

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Nadal has lost twice at Roland Garros, though, and Thiem has defeated the Spaniard once in each of the past four years on clay. So it’s a matter of the Austrian bringing what he’s learned from his victories to Court Philippe Chatrier against a man who has dominated on that court. Courier points to how World No. 1 Novak Djokovic has played Nadal in the past, including in a straight-sets victory against the lefty at Roland Garros in 2015.

“Thiem’s going to need to take away Rafa’s patterns, so he’s going to need to replicate what Novak does so well against Rafa and stand in in the backhand corner, take the ball early, go hard crosscourt to move Nadal out of the centre of the court and then attack with the forehand from there,” Courier said. “That’s his best chance in the rallies to make damage. Novak has really written the playbook on how to play Rafa if you have a certain skill to take on his forehand.”

Watch Highlights Of Thiem & Nadal’s Most Recent Match (Barcelona 2019)

Thiem is well-known for the onslaught of heavy groundstrokes he sends towards his opponents from the baseline. While Djokovic neutralises Nadal’s crosscourt forehand with his two-handed backhand, though, Thiem uses a one-handed backhand. He will need to rely on remaining on the baseline or inside the court with that shot, in a way like Federer did during his recent five-match winning streak against Nadal before falling to the Spaniard in the semi-finals here.

“He won’t be able to run around a ton of those shots with his forehand if the rallies are starting out with Rafa in control. But we saw Roger Federer from 2017 on standing in and taking his one-handed backhand hard crosscourt, using Novak’s patterns as well with great success against Rafa on hard courts,” Courier said. “He was trying to do the same thing yesterday in their match in that windstorm, but it was very difficult to take clean hits at the ball.”

Although Thiem has struggled against Nadal at Roland Garros, losing all three of their previous meetings at this tournament without getting closer than 6-4 in a set, the Austrian has defeated the World No. 2 at four separate clay-court tournaments dating back to 2016 Buenos Aires.

“It’s important, the fact that he’s beaten Rafa on clay, the fact that he’s beaten him this year in Barcelona, a tournament that’s very important to Rafa. That certainly should and I imagine will give him confidence to believe that he could go toe-to-toe with Nadal,” Courier said. “Whether that’s enough to beat him in best of five, we’ll see. Many have beaten Rafa in best of three on clay, but few have done it in best of five. But he does have the ability to do it. He knows that from a two-out-of-three standpoint. If you could win two sets, you might be able to convince yourself you can win three.”

The 10 Stats To Know Before The Roland Garros Final

At last year’s US Open, Thiem pushed Nadal to the brink. The Spaniard needed four hours and 49 minutes in a match that went past 2 a.m. to defeat the powerful Austrian, doing so in a final-set tie-break. And Thiem also showed his fitness against the World No. 1 Saturday when he outlasted Djokovic in five sets over two days.

“I think the experience of having played Rafa last year [in the Roland Garros final] will help him more than anything that happened today. I think certainly it was important for him to win. But for those players, the conditions they played in yesterday and today, in some respects it was a matter of survival. It was less about tennis,” Courier said. “Tomorrow, if the wind is a little bit less, which is what the forecast is for, it becomes more about the Xs and Os and executing under pressure repeatedly against Nadal’s consistent pressure. So maybe the experience he had last year where he overplayed and went for too much will help him play a little bit of a more controlled, aggressive match, if you will.”

It’s no secret that Thiem is capable of playing sensational tennis. But it’ll be about taking the positives from all of his previous successes against Nadal and doing his best to apply them Sunday in what consistently has proven to be one of the toughest tasks in sports: defeating Nadal at Roland Garros.

“You can take confidence from anything if you can convince yourself to do it or if your team does,” Courier said. “It’s all about Dominic’s perspective on what things he wants to use to problem-solve Rafa going into a match where statistically his probability of winning is very low.”

Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem have taken markedly different paths this fortnight, but find themselves in the same place. After weathering swirling winds, flying umbrellas and stiff challenges from the world’s best players, the second-seeded Spaniard and fourth-seeded Austrian meet on Sunday for the Roland Garros title.

Who will win the latest @FedEx ATP Head2Head match between these players?#RG19

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) June 8, 2019

The 25-year-old Thiem is aware of the challenge he faces in toppling the greatest clay-court player of all time in Court Philippe-Chatrier. But having reached the final here last year, he won’t be content with simply making it to another championship match.

“To play Rafa here on this court is always the ultimate challenge, one of the toughest challenges in sports,” said Thiem. “I think it’s really important that I go into the match with the belief to win. That’s the most important thing. It’s a big dream for me to win this match, to win this title.”

Eleven-time champion Nadal leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Thiem 8-4, but the Austrian has scored a clay-court win over Nadal each of the past four years, including their most recent meeting this April in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell semi-finals. He’s the only player in that time to defeat the Spaniard more than once on this surface and joins Novak Djokovic as the only players with at least four clay-court victories over Nadal.

It’s a different story at Roland Garros, though. Nadal has swept all three matches and nine sets they’ve played here, including last year’s final. Although the second seed has history on his side, he’s approaching tomorrow’s battle with a clean slate

“In a final like this one, the opponent is always at a very high level, but that’s the rule of sports. That’s why this sport is even more interesting,” said Nadal. “I think that I’m confident in myself. If I’m not able to execute my game plan, it’s going to be complicated. But if I play well, and I have played well up to now, I’ve got all my chances. But it’s always a match and anything can happen.”

Nadal’s eye-raising credentials at the second major of the year are well-documented. He holds a staggering 92-2 record here and has won the title in 11 of his past 14 appearances. The Spaniard gets even more dangerous at the business end at this event. His Grand Slam final record is a combined 6-8 at the other three majors, but a flawless 11-0 in Paris.

Read: Nadal vs. Thiem: The Key Stats

It was hardly a guarantee that Nadal would make it back to the final Sunday this year. He started his clay-court season with three consecutive semi-final losses, falling to Fabio Fognini at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, Thiem in Barcelona and Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Mutua Madrid Open. Critics were quick to wonder if the Spaniard’s reign of dominance on clay had come to end.

The Spaniard silenced his doubters over the past four weeks. He defeated Djokovic for his 34th ATP Masters 1000 title at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and has been in dominant form this fortnight. Nadal dropped a set in his third-round win over David Goffin, but lost an average of seven games in his other five matches.

“Being in the final of Roland Garros again means a lot and especially coming back from a tough situation with all the injuries that I had,” said Nadal. “Being able to recover the level that I had the past couple of weeks is something that I am very proud of. I’m just focused on keeping going and doing my thing well.”

Read: How Thiem Can Enter The Year-End No. 1 Conversation

Although Thiem took the title in Barcelona (d. Medvedev), early exits in Monte-Carlo and Rome put a question mark on whether he’d bring his top form to Paris. He struggled early in the tournament, dropping sets in each of his first three matches.

But Thiem found a new gear in the second week. He posted convincing scorelines over Gael Monfils and Karen Khachanov before his five-set semi-final victory over Djokovic that spanned two days. Saturday’s win made Thiem the first Austrian player to reach multiple Grand Slam finals.

Read: Thiem Ready For ‘Ultimate Challenge’ 

Thiem has been quick to reject suggestions that fitness could play a factor in Sunday’s match. Thiem has spent 15 hours and 25 minutes on court this fortnight, compared to 13 hours and 24 minutes on Nadal, and will compete for the fourth straight day on Sunday. But with a chance at his first Grand Slam title on the line, he’s prepared for one last push.

“I’m feeling fine. I’m full of adrenaline from today’s match and will have that tomorrow,” said Thiem. “I’m not going to be tired. It’s all going to come after the tournament. I’m ready to leave everything that I have out on the court tomorrow.”

After an exciting fortnight at Roland Garros, it has all come down to the final between 11-time champion Rafael Nadal and red-hot World No. 4 Dominic Thiem, who defeated top seed Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, halting the Serbian’s chase for a fourth consecutive Grand Slam title.

Nadal leads Thiem 8-4 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, but the Austrian has found success in recent years against the Spaniard on clay. And fresh off an intense five-set victory against Djokovic, the 25-year-old will be confident in his game heading into the championship clash. ATPTour.com looks at the 10 stats you need to know before they walk on Court Philippe Chatrier Sunday:

1. Nadal Has Won All Three Of Their FedEx ATP Head2Head Meetings At Roland Garros
Thiem has shown his ability to defeat Nadal on clay, as he has beaten the Spaniard on the surface in each of the past four seasons. Nadal has only lost five additional clay-court matches during that span, with no player beating him more than once.

But Nadal has dominated Thiem at Roland Garros. The legendary lefty has won all nine sets they have played in their three meetings in Paris, with the Austrian never winning more than four games in any of those sets.

2. The Importance Of The First Set
Based on their history, odds are that whoever wins the first set in Sunday’s final will go on to lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires. Ten of their 12 matches have been decided in straight sets, and only once has the first-set loser gone on to triumph. That came at last year’s US Open after Nadal failed to win a game in the opening set.

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3. Rafa’s First-Serve Success Against Domi At Roland Garros
The key stat in the pair’s three previous Roland Garros meetings was their rate of first-serve points won. Nadal has won 73.6 per cent (117/159) of points on his first delivery against the Austrian in Paris. On the other hand, Thiem has struggled to win points on his first serve against the Spaniard, only managing to win 57.8 per cent of those points.

What may be more concerning for Thiem is that last year, in the final, Nadal won 82 per cent of his first-serve points, his highest rate of their three matches at the year’s second major.

4. Nadal’s Success Under Pressure Against Thiem In Paris
Nadal has broken Thiem’s serve at Roland Garros more often than he has faced break points himself. The 11-time champion has saved 11 of the 15 break points (73.3%) he has faced against Thiem on the terre battue, while the righty has saved 19 of the 37 break points (51.4%) he has confronted.

5. The Time Advantage
Nadal has spent 13 hours and 24 minutes on court so far this fortnight, whereas Thiem needed 15 hours and 25 minutes to reach the final. Although an extra two hours and one minute over the course of six matches may not be a massive difference, the Austrian had to finish his semi-final victory against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic on Saturday after rain suspended play Friday evening. Thiem also contested his quarter-final Thursday, so he will be competing for the fourth straight day. 

6. Repeat Final
Nadal and Thiem are meeting in the Roland Garros final for the second straight year. They are the 11th pair of players to battle in multiple championship matches at this event since 1925. Nadal has played Federer (2006-08, 2011) in the final here three times and Djokovic twice (2012, 2014).

Watch Highlights Of Nadal & Thiem’s Most Recent Match (2019 Barcelona)

7. Top 2 Conqueror
After defeating World No. 1 Djokovic in the semi-finals, Thiem has a chance to become the ninth man in the Open Era to defeat the Top 2 players in the ATP Rankings at a major. The only active player to accomplish that is former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, who has done it twice: en route to titles at the 2014 Australian Open and 2015 Roland Garros.

8. Ending The Big Three’s Streak
If Thiem claims his first major, he will end a streak of nine consecutive Grand Slam titles won by Djokovic (3), Federer (3) and Nadal (3). The only other active players who have won a Grand Slam are Wawrinka (3), former World No. 1 Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro (1) and Marin Cilic (1). 

9. Undefeated In Roland Garros Finals
Nadal has long dominated at Roland Garros, entering the championship match with a 92-2 record at this event. However, he has perhaps been even more impressive in finals in Paris, winning all 11 he has played. The Spaniard has been pushed to four sets in six of those matches, but he has never had to go the distance on Court Philippe Chatrier with the trophy on the lines.

Nadal could become the first man to win 12 tour-level singles titles at any event. No other man has captured more than eight trophies at a single major. Federer has earned eight Wimbledon crowns.

10. Austrian History
Thiem can become just the second Austrian man to win a Grand Slam singles title, joining Thomas Muster, the 1995 Roland Garros champion. The 25-year-old is already the first Austrian man to reach multiple major finals.

Thiem is trying to become the 150th man in history to win a Grand Slam singles title, with Cilic the most recent player to join the group at the 2014 US Open.