With his 22nd Grand Slam win, the Spaniard has pulled away from Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer in the Grand Slam standings
Nadal has Mueller-Weiss Syndrome, a rare degenerative ailment that causes him constant discomfort.
The first set was an absolute breeze for the world no. 1 who completely blew Gauff away with her quick and aggressive tennis.
The 25-year-old exited the court in a wheelchair before returning on crutches and notifying the umpire that he was unable to continue.
Nadal got past third seed Alexander Zverev in the semi-final after the German was forced to withdraw due to what looked like a serious injury.
The Polish superstar reached the final of the 2022 Roland Garros after humbling 20th seed Daria Kasatkina 6-2, 6-1 on Thursday.
While the German overcame a tough test against Carlos Alcaraz, Nadal got the better of top seed and world no. 1 Novak Djokovic in the quarter-final.
Despite the loss, Rune has a lot of positives to take away from this year's Roland Garros and he is only going to get better.
The Croatian fought back to win 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(10-2) and reach the clay-court Grand Slam semi-finals for the first time.
In a match that lasted over four hours, the king of clay beat Novak Djokovic in a performance that simply defies logic.