To death and taxes being life's only two certainties can be added a third -- Rafael Nadal winning the French Open.
The Spaniard secured a 12th title at Roland Garros with victory over Dominic Thiem on Sunday and 18th major of his career.
He now has 93 match wins on Paris' famous crushed red brick against just two defeats in 14 years.
Roger Federer, who suffered his worst loss at a Slam in 11 years at the hands of the world number two in the semifinals, said: “There is nobody who even plays remotely close to Rafa.
“I don't even know who I need to go search for to go practice with somebody who plays like him.”
However, you will never hear Nadal indulge in any similar self-praise.
Read: Peerless Nadal makes history again with 12th title at Roland Garros
Just as happy fishing or playing golf in Mallorca, Nadal is ruthless on the tennis court but disarmingly humble off it.
“I have doubts every day but that's good as it makes me work hard with more intensity,” said Nadal, whose career has been constantly under siege from knee and wrist injuries.
“Life is never clear. If you have no doubts, then you are very arrogant. I am not an arrogant person.”
It is that forthright modesty which endears Nadal to his legion of fans as is his respect for opponents.
He applauds every vanquished foe off court at every tournament.
- Injury misery -
His idiosyncracies are just as charming to his supporters.
His picking at the rear of his shorts and mopping of his brow, aligned with his obsessive devotion to lining up his water bottles, labels facing out, are parts of the Nadal DNA.
Victory on Sunday moved Nadal to just two Slams behind Federer who, at 37, is more than four years older.
His Grand Slam CV boasts 12 French Opens, three US Open titles, two at Wimbledon and one at the Australian Open.
His 2008 Wimbledon final triumph over Federer is widely regarded as the greatest ever final at the majors.
He has 82 career titles in total of which 59 have been on clay.
As well as his 18 majors, he possesses a record 34 Masters.
Along with Federer and Novak Djokovic, the other member of tennis' 'Big Three', Nadal has comfortably passed the $100 million prize money barrier.
Tennis has been good for Nadal but he has been just as influential as a key driver of the sport's growth.
He won an under-12 regional crown at age eight and by 12 had captured Spanish and European age-group junior titles.
By 15, he had turned professional and, two years later, won his first match against Federer.
At 19, he won the 2005 French Open on his debut.
Nadal has Wimbledon crowns in 2008 and 2010, an Australian Open title in 2009 and completed the career Grand Slam in 2010 by defeating Djokovic in the US Open final, becoming the youngest in the Open era to complete the four-event career sweep.
Nadal added another US Open crown at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York in 2013 and a third in 2017.
Only Nadal and Andre Agassi can say they have a career Grand Slam and an Olympic men's singles gold medal, Nadal having claimed his in 2008 at Beijing.
He has also led Spain to four Davis Cups.
Knee and wrist injuries have taken a toll throughout his career, however, costing him nine Slam appearances.
After he failed to even reach a Slam semifinal in 2015 and 2016 some figured his greatest moments were behind him.
But Nadal roared into the 2017 Australian Open final, losing to Federer, then captured a record 10th French Open crown in June that year, setting the stage for another title run in the Flushing Meadows fortnight at the US Open in September.
Only Nadal, Pete Sampras and Ken Rosewall have managed the feat of winning Grand Slam titles in their teens, 20s and 30s.
“This is something I never dreamed about five, six, eight years ago, but it's happening today,” said Nadal.
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