Rafael Nadal harbored plenty of doubts when he returned to tennis in February after a seven-month layoff because of a left knee injury.
His uncertainty was magnified when he lost in the final of his first tournament to Horacio Zeballos, an Argentine ranked 73rd who had never won a title before. "I felt a lot of pain in my knee," Nadal said. "I was more worried about other things than (whether I would) win or lose that match in that moment."
Memories of that painful defeat in Chile, along with the worrisome layoff that preceded it, made Nadal's latest French Open title Sunday that much sweeter. He became the first man to win eight titles at the same Grand Slam tournament when he beat fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in the final 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Since his return, he has won seven titles in nine tournaments, with losses only to Zeballos and top-ranked Novak Djokovic in Monte Carlo. He'll take a 22-match winning streak to Wimbledon in two weeks.
Following Sunday's victory, Nadal sat next to the French Open trophy and discussed his comeback. When asked about his troublesome knees, he managed a smile. "My knee, not knees. I am lucky that is not both. It's only one," he said. "Some weeks I didn't feel well, but the last couple of weeks I start to feel my knee better. I am still going week by week, day by day."
In the past, Nadal has played a Wimbledon warm-up tournament on grass, but the 27-year-old pulled out of Halle this week to rest before heading to london. After years of grinding away on courts around the world, curtailing his practice and tournament schedules are a necessity now.
That didn't hurt him in Paris. The King of Clay broke the men's record for match wins at Roland Garros, where he improved to 59-1, with his lone defeat against Robin Soderling in the fourth round in 2009.
In the wake of his five-set semifinal victory over Djokovic, Sunday's final seemed anticlimactic. But not for Nadal, not when he was hoisting his 12th Grand Slam championship trophy and his first since that long enforced break.
Nadal drops from 4th to 5th in ATP rankings
Eight-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal drops from No. 4 to No. 5 in the ATP rankings this week, swapping places with David Ferrer, the man he beat in the Roland Garros final.
Nadal only retained the ranking points he earned by winning last year's French Open, while Ferrer gained points by reaching his first Grand Slam final. Ferrer joked after his straight-set loss to Nadal: "I prefer to win here and to stay No 5."
Novak Djokovic remains No. 1 on Monday, followed by No. 2 Andy Murray and No. 3 Roger Federer. French Open champion Serena Williams increased her lead at No. 1 in the WTA rankings, while the runner-up, 2012 winner Maria Sharapova, fell from No. 2 to No. 3, trading spots with Victoria Azarenka.