Rafael Nadal and Gael Monfils are two of the best—if not the best—showmen in tennis.

They lived up to the billing, and then some, in the Monte Carlo Masters final on Sunday.

Playing in his 100th career final, Nadal defeated the Frenchman, 7-5, 5-7, 6-0, in an endlessly entertaining marathon for his ninth career Monte Carlo Masters title and first trophy of the season.

The match, which lasted two hours and forty-five minutes, was a thrilling back-and-forth affair filled with jaw-dropping winners, exceptionally impressive rallies and many plot twists.

The 14-time Grand Slam champion was the clear-cut favorite coming into the match in Monaco. Not only had The King of Clay won this tournament eight times prior, but he defeated the likes of Dominic Thiem, Stan Wawrinka—the reigning French Open champion—and world No. 2 Andy Murray en route to the final.

Monfils didn’t drop a set in the first five rounds, but Jiri Vesely’s upset of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic made his path significantly easier.

Monfils came back from 5-3 down in the first set to tie it at 5-5, but Nadal took the final two games to take command of the match.

Conventional wisdom said that, after a crushing first-set loss, Monfils would likely regress in the second set and his opponent would seize the momentum and finish the job. Conventional wisdom was wrong.

La Monf, undeterred and unfazed, jumped out to a lead in the second set and appeared in control. He led 3-1 and then 4-3, but Nadal won two consecutive games to retake the lead 5-4 and put himself in position to capture the title in straights. But Monfils buckled down, held serve to tie it and won the next two games to force a deciding third set.

Unfortunately for those of us who wanted a breathtaking third set to complement the first two, the final installment of the contest was a dud. Nadal utterly dominated Monfils 6-0 to claim the title.

It wasn’t a fitting finish, but it was a fitting performance between two men who consistently put tennis fans on the edges of their seats.