Superstar Rafael Nadal swept to an historic 12th Roland Garros title and 18th Grand Slam crown with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Austria’s Dominic Thiem.

The 33-year-old Spaniard becomes the first player, man or woman, to win the same Slam 12 times after seeing off a brave challenge from a weary Thiem in a repeat of the 2018 final.

Nadal is now just two behind Roger Federer’s all-time record of 20 majors and three ahead of Novak Djokovic who was knocked out by Thiem in the semi-finals.

Merci @rolandgarros for this amazing experience. 12!! Still can’t believe it pic.twitter.com/iNj8Me4iRJ — Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) June 9, 2019

The world number two also took his Paris record to an astonishing 93 wins and just two losses having previously won the title in 2005-2008, 2010-2014, 2017 and 2018.

Sunday’s triumph confirmed the ‘Big Three’ stranglehold on the Grand Slams having shared the last 10 between them.