Rafael Nadal’s Farewell Tour: A Dossier on His Final Season and Roland-Garros 2023 Campaign

Roland-Garros 2023dossierThe 37-year-old Spaniard, in his last season, was released on Tuesday April 30 in the evening against the young Czech Jiri Lehecha in his Madrid garden. After two years of injuries, Nadal, however, emerged from the tournament unscathed and reassured, which brought him a little closer to Parisian ocher.

Late in the night in Madrid, on the Manuel Santana court, Rafael Nadal rushed one last time into the long tunnel which leads to the locker rooms, his aging face covered with a big smile despite the defeat in the round of 16 of the tournament. The 37-year-old Spaniard left the court on Wednesday May 1 to a standing ovation, breaking through a guard of honor of officials while his loved ones wept heartily in the stands. In the background, the organization had chosen A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay. The lyrics say: “Because you are a sky full of stars, I will give you all my heart. […] Because you are a sky full of stars, I want to die in your arms.”

A few weeks ago, Rafael Nadal embarked on a farewell tour. A final pilgrimage on clay after more than twenty years of career which should take him, if his body allows it, to two final tournaments in Paris: Roland-Garros in May, which he has already won 14 times, then the Games Olympics, still Porte d’Auteuil, at the end of July, where he could pair up with Carlos Alcaraz, 17 years his junior.

Before setting foot, if all goes well, two last times on the Parisian ocher, the native of the small town of Manacor (on the island of Majorca) takes advantage and tries to reassure himself. He is relearning to control a body bruised by two decades of roaming the courts all over the world, mutilated by injuries which have kept him almost completely away from the courts these last two years.

“Die” to Roland

Paradoxically, this Wednesday’s defeat in the round of 16 in Madrid against the young Czech Jiri Lehecha (31st) 7-5, 6-4, in a little over two hours, had a taste of victory for Rafael Nadal. She proved to him that he still knew how to play tennis, that he could still endure repeated, extended matches (he played his fourth match in six days on Wednesday) and that his body, for the moment, is holding up. As soon as the meeting was over, the Spanish legend played the humor card, hilariously blurting into the microphone: “It’s a joke, I’ll come back next year!” Before, at a press conference, confirming that this defeat indeed marked his last match in Madrid, in this tournament which he has won five times in his career: “This evening was moving. I was able to say goodbye here on the court, and what’s more, with a fairly decent level of play. It’s an unforgettable, indelible memory.”

If he claims to have arrived in the Iberian capital with “some doubt” and to leave with “fewer doubts”, as well as an overall level “much better than what he hoped for”, Rafael Nadal has however admitted to being “sure of nothing” regarding his program for the coming weeks. As a good sportsman experienced in the media exercise, the former world number 1 says he takes the tournaments one after the other, suggesting that his participation in Roland-Garros is still not guaranteed. For him, it will be Rome first, next week. Then, once the Italian tournament is over, he will say if he feels capable of playing in the French Grand Slam that he loves so much. In mid-April, Rafael Nadal declared on this subject: “If a tournament is worth giving everything and dying, it is in Paris.”

2024-05-01 10:26:09
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