After a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 tour de force against Stan Wawrinka in the final at Roland Garros on Sunday, capping two weeks of almost flawless tennis on red clay - zero sets conceded; only 35 games dropped in seven matches - Nadal was asked whether he would rate himself as highly as ever right now. It showed great moments of my career.
But, from a seemingly fruitless position, he then engineered one of the sport's most remarkable seasons.
Rafael Nadal has become the first player in the Open era to win ten titles at the same Grand Slam.
"For sure if it becomes 10 it will be my favourite". But it's not. I have been playing great during the whole event, since the beginning.
Nadal had not reached the final ever since he last won the title in 2014 in Paris. It is not that I am playing more or less aggressive.
Federer is next in line to qualify for the event, for which he is a near certainty after winning the Australian Open earlier this year.
While hosting Eurosport's flagship "Game Set and Mats" programme, he said: "I'm not that interested in the numbers".
They have been reinvigorated this season winning the first two Grand Slams, pushing aside Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray who have both had poor seasons.
Defeat by Austria's Dominic Thiem in Rome was a minor blip as Nadal went on to enjoy total domination at Roland Garros, emulating his 2008 and 2010 titles when he did not drop a set.
He returned, though, to win two Grand Slams - a feat he no doubt hopes he can repeat this year.
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"Nine here is probably hard".
"Maybe the lack of matches hurt me a little bit in the end today", he said.
"It's not been special but it will be next year when I am watching it on my TV at home", Toni, 56, told AS. "I could not play previous year because of injury so I look forward to returning in November".
"I am only going to see my nephew and to see if he does well. It's very emotional for me".
A backhand which sailed long gave Nadal the first set with the Spaniard having crunched 10 winners to Wawrinka's four while committing half the unforced errors.
But there is no doubt that he is a big match player.
Nadal was forced to pull out of last year's French Open - the tournament he cherishes most - after potential career-threatening damage to his left wrist tendons.
Wawrinka will be the third oldest victor of the men's title if he succeeds on Sunday. No other men's tennis player has won more than seven singles French titles.
Per Newbery, Wawrinka could only praise his opponent and express just how hard it is to play against him in this form: "For sure he's playing the best he's ever played, but not only here". He continued his in-form performance on his favorite surface, where he recorded the most wins in 2017, at Roland Garros without losing a set en route to the final.
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