The match on center court Philippe-Chatrier was not started until 22.37 and the roof remained open.
For the first time, the arena has a functioning electric light, which meant that the match was never interrupted.
Nadal was not disturbed by the late hour - but had major problems with the night cold.
- Of course it is not ideal to end a match at 01.30 but the big problem was the weather.
It was too cold to play.
It was a bit dangerous to play in these difficult conditions, says the king of gravel who had No. 12 on his black shoes.
The world number two is looking to secure his 13th title in Paris and expand his record and at the same time catch up with Roger Federer with 20 Grand Slam titles, also a record.
Born the same year Nadal became a professional
Nadal and Sinner had to wait for their match after five matches at Philippe-Chatrier, including Diego Schwartzman's victory match against US Open champion Dominic Thiem took five hours to finish.
- I do not understand why they put five matches on Chatrier today, it was a risk-taking, says 34-year-old Nadal according to AP.
Normally, four matches are played.
Now the organizer had also added a rain-postponed match to the program.
75-ranked Italian Sinner shook Nadal in the first set where he had the chance to serve it home at 6-5.
- I had the chance in the first and second set but did not take it.
It's tough not to use it against him because he misses so little, says the passable Sinner after his breakthrough in world tennis.
The Italian, who was born in 2001, the same year that Nadal became a professional, played completely without respect.
In the last round, Sinner knocked out world number six Alexander Zverev, who played despite breathing problems and fever, something he did not inform the organizer about.
Afterwards, the German left a negative covid-19 test.