Back at Porte d’Auteuil for the first time since 2022, the Spaniard with fourteen titles at Roland-Garros aroused great enthusiasm in training this Monday.
Rafael Nadal, fourteen-time winner of Roland-Garros but whose participation remains uncertain less than a week before the start of the 2024 edition, trained at the Parisian Central Monday afternoon, under the eyes of several thousand spectators gathered in the stands.
Nadal had not set foot on Parisian clay since his last coronation in 2022, when he had gone through the fortnight in incredible conditions, his left foot anesthetized to contain the pain caused by the chronic illness from which he has suffered since he was 18 (syndrome). Muller-Weiss).
For a simple training session, but for what has every chance of being his last Roland-Garros – if indeed he decides to play it – the Spanish champion with 22 Grand Slam titles made his entry onto the runs Philippe-Chatrier in front of some 6,000 spectators, who came on the first day of qualifying.
Five minutes before the announced time, the “Rafa, Rafa, Rafa” were already descending from the lower level of the three-quarters full stadium.
Nadal, who is attempting a final return to form at almost 38 years old, remains in a round of 16 in Madrid and an elimination in the second round in Rome, and repeats that he will only line up at Roland-Garros if he feels ready enough.
In any case, having fallen below 250th place in the world, he will not be protected by the status of top seed in the draw.
