Last year, he didn’t want anything to do with a farewell. This year, Rafael Nadal had to believe it. Exactly twenty years after his first match on Court Philippe Chatrier, he received a tribute to never forget. A report from Paris.
The park is only open for an hour when the first Nadal fans gather around the central court around 10:30 AM. Red shirts, Nadal caps, and Spanish flags pass by.
“We are only here for Rafa,” says a woman, who is standing in line to take a photo of the 3-meter-high Nadal statue, which has been in the park since 2021. She looks like she’s going to a fancy restaurant, but a Spanish neck scarf cannot be missing.
It turns out to be just the beginning of Nadal-mania in Paris. Just before the supporters and the press enter Court Philippe Chatrier around 6:00 PM, all fifteen thousand people receive a gravel-colored T-shirt with the text ‘Merci Rafa’ on it. Just before Nadal enters his beloved gravel, the center court turns rust orange.
“Deux mille cinq, deux mille six, deux mille sept, deux mille huit,…” sounds for the last time in Paris. His fourteen Roland Garros titles are listed one more time. “If you play against him and hear his entire oeuvre, you’ve actually already lost,” said Botic van de Zandschulp, who was his last opponent in November.
‘This is without a doubt the most beautiful court’
This time he has no opponent. Only friends. As soon as Nadal walks onto ‘his’ center court, there is a deafening sound that lasts for at least two minutes continuously. Nadal barely keeps it dry. Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek also make themselves heard.
“I don’t know where to start,” Nadal begins his farewell speech. “This is the most beautiful tournament there is. I was here for the first time in 2005. I was only eighteen then. This is without a doubt the most beautiful court in the world.”
The audience is silent as the tennis icon speaks. Every time he pauses, there is cheering and the fans don’t know how quickly they should take their hands out of their pockets to applaud.
The emotions really come when he addresses his family. In addition to mother and father Nadal, ‘Uncle Toni’ also receives a word of thanks. “It hasn’t always been easy, but it was definitely worth it,” he says to his former coach. “You are without a doubt the best coach I could ever have had in my career and life.”
‘The Big Four’ together again for ‘Adieu Rafa’
From that moment on, the tears flow freely, while the best moment is yet to come. The dream of every tennis fan comes true when Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray enter the court from the catacombs. Everyone dreamed of it, but it was uncertain until that moment that it was really going to happen.
‘The Big Four’ is together again for a while. Together they conquered no less than 69 Grand Slam titles. The public can hardly believe it and Nadal also doesn’t know what to say. He hugs them.
Nadal wipes away his tears and addresses his biggest rivals. “That you are here means everything to me. This is so special. We have built up a great rivalry, but I think we did it in a good way. We fought for titles, but outside of that we were friends. Ultimately, tennis is just a game.”
Both Federer and Murray shed a tear. The public can’t keep it dry either. Djokovic also shows emotions, but the Serbian cannot be caught crying. Perhaps because he is still the only active top tennis player of the four.
Nadal will forever be at Roland Garros
When asked if it can get any better, the answer comes a few minutes later: Yes, it can. All day long, there was speculation in the press room about the tribute.
Will a stand be named after him? Will he get another statue? Or will the French throw their chauvinism overboard and one of the stadiums will be named: ‘Rafa Court’?
None of that is true. From the hands of tournament director Amélie Mauresmo, he receives a unique glass trophy with his fourteen Parisian victories engraved on it. But that is not all.
As soon as Gilles Moretton, the president of the French tennis association, conjures up a broom, the public stands on their toes. Moretton sweeps three times with his broom, after which a white tile appears on the right side of the net.
The man who dominated Roland Garros for no less than twenty years is immortalized with a permanent footprint on Court Philippe Chatrier. Roland Garros and the Spaniard are forever connected. “I don’t normally like these kinds of things, but I will never forget this for the rest of my life,” says Nadal.
