In Barcelona, in Madrid, in Rome and in his training at Roland Garros before his debut this Monday against Alexander Zverev (around 4:00 p.m., Eurosport), crowds of fans gathered wherever he passed Rafael Nadal to fire him. Since his announcement in the spring of last year, the majority of the public had accepted that he was retiring, that in 2024 he would abandon the French Grand Slam forever and that he would play his last matches at the Paris Olympic Games, but they were not in it. TRUE. Who denied it? Nadal himself.
First, the previous weeks, timidly and finally, this Saturday, the winner of 22 Grand Slams emphatically denied everything. «I don’t want to force myself to say that this is my last Roland Garros. I don’t want to close doors on myself. “I am enjoying tennis, traveling with my family and I don’t know how I will respond if I play with fewer limitations,” he commented in the press room at Philippe-Chatrier, his home. A joy for his audience. Or not. Because Nadal dreams of playing another season, but he also recognizes that any setback, any ‘growth’, any pain, would return him to the abyss of retirement. The balance is uncertain. The Spaniard plucks and plucks the daisy of his future, but the flower still does not respond to him. It’s not the moment.
“I understand. He continues to feel motivated, in training he feels good and thinks there is no need to retire, but then in games his physical condition hinders him and he changes his mind. One day he sees the sun and the next, the clouds and so it is difficult to make a firm decision. You have to think that Rafa does not retire because he wants to, he retires because his body forces him to. That is very important », he analyzes in Paris, Alex Corretja twice a finalist here, now a commentator for the second Grand Slam of the season for Max and Eurosport, who will broadcast it in full.
Strong in training
The former number two in the world thus collects the perceptions of Nadal’s own environment, which ensures that his physical level is above what has been shown in the last matches. The harsh defeat against Hubert Hurkacz in the second round of the Rome Masters 1000 was very disconcerting. But it had already been the difficulty of defeating Zizou Bergs at the premiere of the tournament. Nadal then came from a week of training at very high intensity, with a practice set won by Stefanos Tsitsipasand he understood himself capable of more.
Now, before Roland Garros, he also arrives after defeating rivals of the caliber of Sebastian Korda, Stan Wawrinka, Daniil Medvedev y Holger Rune, so not even he himself can deduce what will happen. The work of the last few months could flourish, beat Zverev and pounce on the tournament as he did so many times. Or he could fall soon, hurt himself and understand that yes, now it’s time to say goodbye.
No tributes in Paris
He has been doing this tightrope walking for more than a year. A continuous yes, but no. “My intention is for 2024 to be my last year,” he said in March 2023 when he left the slopes, but a few months later, in September, already recovered from his hip operation, he retracted: “I cannot assure that 2024 will be My last year”. Absent from the Monte Carlo Masters 1000, this season he also did not completely say goodbye to the Conde de Godó Trophy and the Rome Masters 1000 and was only blunt about his last participation in the Mutua Madrid Open, a tournament towards which he feels love and hate. Nadal has never said that this will be his last year in Rome.
“I think that in 2025 he will play in Monte Carlo and Rome, but it will depend on how he does in the next tournaments,” he said this week. Paolo Lorenzi, former player and director of the Italian tournament, who also recalled that the Spaniard has a calendar left this season. Because Nadal has signed up for Wimbledon – although it is unlikely that he will play – and has confirmed that he will be at the Rod Laver Cup in September.
His indecision has prevented Nadal from receiving official tributes beyond the one he lived in Madrid and there will be no similar events at Roland Garros either. Despite the sculpture that looks splendid at the entrance to the Philippe-Chatrier, the Spaniard could simply leave the Parisian tournament, since he has requested it. «We had something planned, but he wants to leave the door open, so we won’t pressure him. “I can confirm that there will be no tribute this year,” commented yesterday the director of the competition, Amelie Mauresmo, who trusts that, when the time comes, the Parisian fans will improvise a farewell to Nadal at his level.