Nadal given fitting tribute at Roland Garros
French Open 2025 has started on Sunday, 25 May. On the first day of the tournament, an emotional tribute was presented to the king of clay court, Rafael Nadal. On this occasion, some of his biggest rivals – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – also made their presence on the court alongside the former world number 1.
Rafael’s record in French Open
Rafael Nadal, also known as ‘The King of Clay’, ended his brilliant career in November last year. He is the second highest Grand Slam winner with 22 titles. While Djokovic is at first with 24 and Federer in third place with 21 Grand Slams. Apart from this, Nadal has won the French Open title the most 14 times. In his 20-year French Open career, he won 112 matches and lost only four matches on the clay courts in Paris.
A great tribute was presented to Rafael Nadal
More than ten thousand spectators sat in the stands wearing T-shirts with the name Rafael Nadal on them during the farewell ceremony of the Spanish player. On which the number 14 and a heart were made. Apart from this, a short film of Nadal was shown on the big screen, which depicted his incredible French Open journey. As soon as the film ended, the entire stadium applauded for three minutes and during this time Nadal also couldn’t hold back his tears.
What did Nadal say in his farewell speech?
On this occasion, Rafael said in French, ‘Merci Beaucoup’ After playing on this court for the last 20 years, I do not know how and where to start. I enjoyed this court, suffered, won, lost. Above all, I got a chance to play here.’
Nadal spoke about his time at Roland Garros and said, “I am deeply grateful to Gilles [Moreton], Amelie [Mauresmo] and the entire Roland Garros team for giving me this opportunity to bid farewell on the most important tennis court of my career. It is an incredible story that started in 2004 when I first came to Roland Garros. I was 18 years old at the time and my first big experience was the match I played against my childhood friend and rival Richard Gasquet. From that day on, I fully understood what Roland Garros means to me.”
