Nadal's first French Open win set him on a path to untold dominance. Here's how it unfolded, according to those that lived it.

Few athletes have become more synonymous with a single event than Rafael Nadal and the French Open. The Spaniard won a record 14 titles at the grand slam in his career and Roland Garros gave its champion one final goodbye on Sunday.

Rafael Nadal stepped out into Court Philippe-Chatrier on Sunday to the sort of unending adulation, thunderous applause and chants of his nickname, “Rafa,” that greeted him for years as he accumulated a record 14 French Open championships,