Rafael Nadal won a 14th French Open and record-extending 22nd Grand Slam title on Sunday with a straight-sets rout of Casper Ruud to become the oldest male champion at Roland Garros.

In a disappointing final, 36-year-old Nadal won 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 with victory coming 17 years to the day since he claimed his first French Open as a 19-year-old in 2005.

Nadal won the last 11 games of the final and is now two Slams ahead of old rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer with Sunday's victory coming against all the odds.

Nadal, the oldest winner in Paris since a 34-year-old Andre Gimeno in 1972, had not been certain of taking part after a chronic left foot injury, which has plagued him throughout his career, flared up again.

He also needed the best part of a gruelling 12 hours to see off Felix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in the previous three rounds.

His two-hour 18-minute win on Sunday took his record at the tournament to 112 wins against just three losses and also put him halfway to a rare calendar men's Grand Slam last achieved by Rod Laver in 1969.

Nadal, unbeaten in 13 previous finals in Paris and playing in his 30th Grand Slam decider, got off to a flying start against Ruud, the first Norwegian man to feature in a championship match at the majors.

He broke for 2-0 and even though he handed the break straight back courtesy of a two uncharacteristic double faults, he was quickly back in front again for 3-1.

 

The Spaniard wrapped up the opener in 49 minutes against his 23-year-old opponent who has trained at his academy in Manacor since 2018.

World number eight Ruud, the in-form player on clay since the start of 2020 with 66 wins on the surface, was under siege again in the second set, having to fight off three break points in the opening game.

There was a sudden glimmer of hope when he broke for 3-1 with Nadal again coughing up a double fault. However, Nadal roared back with a double break for 4-3.

Ruud saved three set points in the ninth game but his first double fault of the final handed Nadal a two-set lead.Nadal had said on the eve of the final that he would rather lose Sunday's match in exchange for a new foot.

Nadal admits 'I can't keep going like this' but looking for solution

 

Rafael Nadal said Sunday that he cannot keep playing if he has to keep having his troublesome foot numbed, admitting "I can't keep going like this, but I am working to find a solution".

Nadal captured a 14th French Open and 22nd Grand Slam title with a straight sets win over Casper Ruud at Roland Garros but said his future in the sport remains in doubt.

"It's obvious that with circumstances that I am playing, I can't and I don't want to keep going, so the mindset is very clear. I'm going to keep working to try to find a solution and an improvement for what's happening in the foot," said the 36-year-old.

Nadal revealed he needed pain-killing injections in his left foot before every match and will undergo treatment again this week back in Spain.

"If it works, I keep going. If not, it will be another story and I will ask myself if I am ready to do a major surgery which may not guarantee I will be competitive and may take a long time to be back."

Nadal said that taking anaesthetic injections in the nerves in his foot was the only way he could have got through the tournament.

Now he and his medical team will employ a technique which will burn the nerve using what he described as "radio frequency injections" to "sleep the two nerves".

Nadal said he intends to play Wimbledon where he is a two-time champion and gets underway in three weeks' time.

"I'm going to be in Wimbledon if my body is ready to be in Wimbledon. That's it. Wimbledon is not a tournament that I want to miss," he said.

"I love Wimbledon. So if you ask me if I will be in Wimbledon, I can't give you a clear answer. Let's see how the treatment works."

If the treatment works and he can survive with anti-inflammatories and not anaesthetic, he will be at the All England Club having sat out the tournament last year.

"If I am able to play with anti-inflammatories, yes; to play with anaesthetic injections, no. I don't want to put myself in that position again."