PARIS.- There was no epic at Roland Garros: Rafael Nadalat almost 38 years old and crowned fourteen times in the tournament, lost in three sets to the German Alexander Zverevfourth player in the world, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) and 6-3, this Monday in a first round that may have marked the Spanish’s farewell to Paris.
Did the Philippe Chatrier audience, including stars like Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz, attend Nadal’s last match on the stage that built his legend? Time will give the answer, but for the moment he was able to witness the Mallorcan’s earliest defeat in his participation at Roland Garros, where he had never fallen in the first round.
“I cannot say with 100% certainty that I will not play here again, but I can say with 100% that I have enjoyed every time I have played on this court and in front of this crowd,” Nadal said in his speech from the court after losing. .
His three previous lost matches in the tournament had been in 2009 in the round of 16 against Robin Soderling and twice against Djokovic, in the 2015 quarterfinals and in the 2021 semifinals. To this he added a withdrawal due to physical problems before play their 2016 third round clash.
In his last match before Paris, in Rome, he had been swept off the court by the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (6-1, 6-3) in the second round.
In doubt until the last moment, Nadal chose to be present at ‘his’ Roland Garros, but the draw did not allow him to have even a warm-up round, giving him this explosive duel for his debut against a Zverev who is also in a great moment, after being champion at the Rome Masters 1000.
Debt settled for Zverev:
Zverev was also able to get rid of the regret of the last time he faced Nadal, in 2022 precisely at the Roland Garros center. Then it was in the semifinals and an injury to his right ankle, which later forced the German to undergo surgery and ruined his season, made him have to leave the court in a wheelchair.
Two days after that semifinal clash, Nadal won Roland Garros with an infiltration in one of his sore feet, easily beating the Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final.
It was exactly 722 days ago and that was the last title won by Nadal and his last match at Roland Garros until this time.
Source: AFP
