Two games into his first taste of a match-up that had played a million times in his head, there came a fleeting millisecond in which Stefanos Tsitsipas thought he was finally ready to face Rafael Nadal. Finally, with the score at 1-1 0-30, the early scattering of backhand errors gave way to three quality backhands. The youngster first flicked two heavy, flighty backhands crosscourt, pushing Nadal behind the baseline, then, radiating confidence and intent, he stepped in and sent a third whistling down-the-line.

As Nadal scuttled to his right in response, it seemed the 19-year-old held the upper hand. But suddenly, what Tsitsipas had only seen on television and YouTube unfolded before his eyes. Two of his own backhands later, Nadal had turned the point on its head. First, he deflected the pace with a short, angled crosscourt backhand, then he crunched an even sharper angle crosscourt to end the point with an exclamation mark.

And that was that. That was the totality of the first contest between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rafael Nadal. From 1-1 0-40, the match was essentially over. On the next point, Tsitsipas landed a great first serve, but already rushed and uncomfortable, he panicked and overhit a mid-court forehand to hand over the break. Throughout this breakthrough week, Tsitsipas has spoken about the clarity he has executed his tennis with, but within three games Nadal had tossed his composure out the window. Tsitsipas spent the rest of the match either being prodded uncomfortably out of position by Nadal’s expert of angles, bludgeoned by the Nadal forehand or else helplessly taking large, wild cuts at the ball.

“It was tougher than I thought,” the youngster said afterward. “I watch him a million of times, but when it comes in reality he is amazing. I was pretty much in a rush, I didn’t think clearly. I was trying to go for the lines, which was wrong. I was so confus[ed]. I had no plan and no options. He didn’t give me any air to breathe.” He said afterwards.

Even though his inexperience excuses him, its absence wouldn’t save him. This a sight that has played out on repeat both throughout Nadal’s esteemed career on clay-courts and, specifically, over the last 46 consecutive games he has captured since the last year’s Roland Garros. The two certainties of Nadal matches on clay courts - broken serves and broken spirits. A day earlier, Goffin had started his semi-final against Nadal playing lights out. He left with the beatdown punctuated by a bagel. He made the challenge of facing Nadal sound impossible.

“You have to play the perfect shot,” he said. “And you have to win every shot all the time.as soon as you play a short point he goes with his forehand even if the backhand is really good.”

There may be nothing new about this, but the manner in which Nadal inflicts pain has shifted. Throughout Nadal’s physical prime, the greatest stressor of facing him on clay was the way in which he seemed to stretch time to infinite. Point by point, he would grind the spirit of his opponents to dust. Even the most aggressive players stepped onto the court prepared for endless rallies. But now the players are disarmed most by his urgency. Nadal doesn’t always attack, he still rests on, but he constantly carries the threat of aggression from all parts of the court and all sides in a way that he didn’t in his prime.

This is partly down to the court positioning that has become increasingly more advanced late in his career. As Nadal practiced for his final match of the day, his coach Francisco Roig continually repeated the necessity of moving back towards the baseline within three shots of being pushed back. Meanwhile, Nadal’s backhand has been the talisman of his late career rejuvenation. His crosscourt backhand has become his most reliable groundstroke, capable of opening up the court from any position, constantly setting up his forehand and injecting pace on its own.

Three years ago, in the definitive nadir of his late-career struggles, Nadal sat in the same seat as Goffin and Tsitsipas after falling to Fabio Fognini and lambasted the greatest forehand in the history of tennis. “My forehand has been my biggest virtue,” Nadal said. “But my forehand was vulgar, it wasn't a forehand worthy of my ranking and career.” Throughout those dark times, much of his struggles stemmed from his strongest wing. But as his serve and forehand faltered, for the most part, his backhand was solid. It became the one stroke he could trust, and that seems to have reaped even greater rewards as the rest of his game has returned.

With his 19th consecutive victory on clay, Nadal has secured his 11th Barcelona title a week after his 11th victory in Monté Carlo and his 400th clay-court victory. He is heaping death and destruction on the rest of the field, yet still, he isn’t fully satisfied, his determination to improve probably even greater than those futilely chasing him.  “The day wasn’t as good as the other days,” he said today after conceding three games. “I did a solid match, I play good points in some moments and not that good in others.” And so, the gap widens further.