For the first time since 2004, Roland-Garros will take place without the owner. Rafael Nadal will not defend his chances in the capital as he announced this Thursday afternoon. He even plans to retire at the end of the 2024 season and it has moved some of his opponents.
His compatriot Carlos Alcaraz, whom everyone sees taking up the torch, posted a message on his Twitter account: “Good luck Rafa! It’s very painful and sad for everyone that you can’t be there at Roland-Garros and that you can’t continue to play this year, but I hope that 2024 will be a great season for you, and that you will be able to retire like the great champion that you are! »
“His absence opens up possibilities”
The Russian Daniil Medvedev sees this as an opportunity for the competitors: “I believe that his absence opens up possibilities for many players, because even if he was not at 100% physically and had decided to play, he would have been one of the favorites, that’s for sure. The world number three certainly remembers last year, when the Manacor bull won the Grand Slam undercover due to his foot injury.
Medvedev still addressed words of support to Nadal: “I hope he can come back as soon as possible, because he is a fantastic player, an incredible athlete, one of the best in history. I hope he can come back and play a few more Grand Slams. »
Perhaps the saddest in this story are the tournament organizers, who know how popular Nadal is at Porte d’Auteuil. “I am extremely disappointed for Rafael Nadal, who has had to give up Roland-Garros, his favorite tournament,” tournament director Amélie Mauresmo said in a statement. I am also for the public at Porte d’Auteuil as well as for all tennis fans, who will be deprived of this immense champion this year. »
“Rafael Nadal, whose destiny is intimately linked to that of the Roland-Garros tournament which he won fourteen times, will obviously be greatly missed by us, she continued. But at this moment, I think of him first and imagine the pain and sadness he must feel after having to make such a decision. It must have been a real heartbreaker. We now hope that he recovers as soon as possible in order to see him quickly tread the tennis courts and find him again next year at Roland-Garros. »
