Final thoughts to put 2012 French Open to bed, plus mail

Rafael Nadal shook off the anxiety of a tense, wet evening in Paris just in time to defeat the world's top-ranked tennis player and make French Open history.

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic meet in the men's French Open final, both with an eye on the record books.

The agony of victory: In recent times, few have fought harder to lose a match than Kaia Kanepi did in the third round of this year's French Open. Kanepi choked away 5-1 leads in both the second and third sets of her match

PARIS, FRANCE – JUNE 11: Rafael Nadal of Spain poses with the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy in the men's singles final against Novak Djokovic of Serbia

The French Open followed the script on the men's side, complete with a tense denouement weighted with the echoes of history, while the women once again made it up as it went along.