The world number five Spaniard has won 15 straight matches since returning from a foot issue that sidelined him for nearly six months last year.
Rafael Nadal won two Grand Slams this year -- the French Open and the US Open -- to move within one of Roger Federer's record of 20 titles.
Rafael Nadal boasted after his first-round US Open match that he had a video recording of being the first player to hit a ball in practice under the new roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The pair faced each other 40 times over the last two decades in one of the sport's most enduring rivalries, with the Spaniard leading the head-to-head 24-16.
Top seed Rafael Nadal's bid for a maiden Paris Masters title was halted on Saturday when the Spaniard was beaten 6-4, 7-5 in the semi-finals by German fourth seed Alexander Zverev.
Nadal, bidding for a record-extending 14th French Open title, won the first five games of the match as he looked on course to repeat his drubbing of the Serb in last year's final.
Rafael Nadal's hopes of completing a rare calendar year Grand Slam ended on Thursday when the Spaniard pulled out of his highly-anticipated Wimbledon semi-final showdown against Australian Nick Kyrgios with an abdominal strain.
A Sela double-fault secured Nadal the break of serve he needed in the first set and Nadal moved two sets clear with a punishing forehand return.
Tennis titans Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic met with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday and visited the site of a deadly Bangkok bomb blast.
Former world number one Andy Murray eased past Rafael Nadal in the Spaniard's comeback match at the World Tennis Championship exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
Rafael Nadal pulled off an incredible recovery from 1-5 and match-point down to overcome Russia's Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Finals.
Rafael Nadal's preparations for his Australian Open title defence got off to a wobbly start as Cameron Norrie handed him a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat in the United Cup on Saturday to give Britain a 1-0 lead.
Twelfth seed Djokovic resumed two sets to one ahead after snatching a third-set tiebreak the previous night before Wimbledon's 11pm curfew left the match on a knife edge.
'With all the foot issues, just turned 36, he adds his 22nd Major'
A quick look at Rafael Nadal's domination of Roger Federer at Roland Garros.
The tennis star also opened the doors of his Rafael Nadal Academy to those who were affected by the storm.
Pummelling the ball with such force that it appeared distorted into an oval shape at times, the nine-times French Open champion was able to toy with his opponent until ready to finish him off.
Roger Federer saw his men's record haul of 20 Grand Slam singles titles matched by Rafael Nadal on Sunday and the Swiss great was quick to offer his congratulations to the Spaniard.
'I believe I'm in a different moment, in a separate situation and in an unexplored terrain.'
Novak Djokovic beat Casper Ruud in the French Open final to win a men's record-extending 23rd Grand Slam title.
Mats Wilander said it was a 'miracle' that Nadal won two majors during the year.
Kyrgios was raging after losing a challenge on his first serve and then smashed down an unstoppable, untouchable second.
With world number four Ruud already assured of a semi-final berth the match was in reality a dead rubber.
Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion, Rafael Nadal will return to action at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships exhibition event in Abu Dhabi in December.
Even though he withdrew from his semi-final tie with Denis Shapovalov, Nadal's run to the last four in Paris saw him reclaim the number one spot from Novak Djokovic on Monday.
Nadal stretched his record of men's singles Grand Slam titles to 22
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic remained at the top of the rankings chart
Zverev and Rublev among dark horses for French Open
Rafael Nadal is aiming to successfully defend his Australian Open title at the first Grand Slam of the year in January after an injury-plagued 2022.
The two great rivals meet at Roland Garros for the first time in eight years in Friday's tie.
It was only 13-time champion Rafael Nadal's third defeat here since his debut in 2005 and the first time in 115 best-of-five-set matches on clay that he had lost after taking the opening set.
World number two Rafael Nadal has been named in Spain's squad for their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final against Germany in Valencia next month.
Rafael Nadal gave Russian teenager Andrey Rublev a tennis lesson on Wednesday, racing into the semi-finals of the US Open with a ruthless 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 win that cleared the path for a possible showdown with rival Roger Federer.
According to Hola magazine, Nadal and Xisca got secretly engaged in May last year and now planning an autumn wedding this year.
'I wanted to fight until the last ball and that was the key.'
Nadal will resume his fight to stay in the French Open on Thursday
Rafael Nadal said on Friday that he intends to compete at Wimbledon later this month
Images from Day 13 of the French Open, at Roland Garros, in Paris.
Yet the warrior-like instincts kicked in and we were all reminded that Nadal, as long as he is standing, remains a physical and psychological force of nature on a tennis court.
Nadal appeared close to retiring mid-match on Wednesday on Centre Court but he found the will to beat Fritz
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