This Monday will be the day of Rafael Nadal in Roland Garros. The Spaniard, who may be playing for the last time in the French Grand Slam that he won 14 times, will take to the court to seek his first victory in the 2024 edition of the tournament against a very tough rival, the German Alexander Zverev, champion a week ago in Rome. The event, the highlight of a day in which four Argentines will debut, is in the third shift of the Philippe Chatrier, around 9:30 in Argentina, and will be televised by ESPN2 and Star+.
Straight to the sand: the gladiator Nadal will enter into battle against one of the most fearsome lions on the circuit. It can be the first chapter of a new adventure. It may also be his last function in the place where he built an empire. No one can dare to say that a defeat will mean goodbye – hypothetical, probable or merely possible – since the Spaniard himself prefers not to close the door completely.
In fact, the French tennis federation confirmed on Sunday that it decided to cancel the tribute it had planned. Amélie Mauresmothe director of the French Open, noted on the first day of action at the orange Grand Slam that Nadal let the organizers know that he did not want to close the door on a return before raising it at a press conference.
“As you can imagine, we had planned something for him. But…since he doesn’t know if it will be his last Roland Garros or not, he wants to leave the door open, so we won’t pressure him to do anything.”Mauresmo noted.
What did Nadal say? “There are great options that it will be my last Roland Garros. I can’t say 100%, nobody knows what can happen”. The concrete thing is that at the age of 38, this visit to the Bois de Boulogne is very different for him. He arrives at the tournament as 275th in the worldafter two seasons in which he barely played due to injuries, and after a very discreet career, which initially puts him in the position of victim against a Zverev who is fourth in the world and who has just won the Masters 1000 in Rome.
Nadal spent almost all of 2023 without competing. This year, he returned in January in Brisbane and was injured again there, which sidelined him from the circuit until April. He returned in Barcelona, where he fell in the second round. In Madrid he reached the round of 16 and in Rome he lost again in the second round, being swept by the Polish Hubert Hurkacz (6-1, 6-3).
Doubts about his participation remained until this week, when Nadal’s training in Paris seemed to convince him to confirm his participation in the tournament where he built his legend and where he has a statue at one of the entrance doors to the complex. “I don’t train with too much pain. This week I have fewer or few limitations”he pointed.
But time is against him and having to start with a highly demanding match like Zverev’s does not seem the best for him. “Being drawn against a rival like that is something that can happen when you are not seeded. You have to accept it. On paper it is obvious that it is not the best draw, it is rather one of the toughest possible rivals. But what “Can I do it?”Nadal resigned himself.
But although The Mallorcan is far from the standards of his best days, he is still Nadal and Roland Garros is still Roland Garros. His favorite place. “A magical clue”as he himself says.
That’s why many of the names breathed a sigh of relief when they avoided him in the draw. “I’m not ashamed to say that I’m happy that I don’t have to play him in the first round,” the Russian said Friday. Daniil Medvedev (5th in the world), who trained with Nadal this week in Paris and this Monday he will appear before the German Dominik Koepfer.
The Spanish Carlos Alcaraznumber 3 in the ATP, narrowly avoided Nadal in the first round draw. “Obviously I would have liked to play against him at Roland Garros, but not in a first round,” he admitted. Maybe in the final? “Hopefully”wished the 21-year-old young man from Murcia, who this Sunday overwhelmed the American JJ Wolfwho could barely win four games.
Zverev also acknowledged that he preferred to have faced Nadal “later” but said he was happy to have the opportunity to erase the memory of what happened in 2022, when he abandoned the Spaniard in the semifinals due to an injury. “To be honest, I wanted to play against Rafa again in my career and in his career because I didn’t want my last memory of a match against him to be me leaving in a wheelchair”pointed out the German.
His injury in that semifinal was due to a sprain of his right ankle, which broke several ligaments and caused him to undergo surgery and be out for several months and with doubts about whether he would be able to recover his level. “It was always said that there were three ligaments, but there were seven that were damaged. Three were operated on. In seven weeks everything had healed, but I had bone edema that did not heal properly. I started training too soon and that made it worse”Zverev himself explained to the newspaper Bild at the beginning of 2023.
At the time of his injury, Zverev was facing Nadal, who had taken the first set by a tight 7-6 (8) and in the second set they were tied 6-6.
The Spaniard has 22 majors on his record. The last one he achieved was precisely in 2022 in Paris, where after Zverev’s injury he had a much more comfortable final against the Norwegian Casper Ruud, whom he beat 6-3, 6-3 and 6-0.
The German is still chasing that first Grand Slam title. He now has the opportunity to take revenge for his disappointment two years ago, although his record against Nadal is unfavorable: 7 victories for the Spaniard and only three victories for him. Zverev’s last victory over Nadal was in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters 1000 in 2021. We will have to see what happens this Monday on the central court of the clay mecca. It will be after two matches of the women’s team: the Tunisian will open the day Our Jabeur (8th) and the American Sachia Vickery and then, before the main course, it will be the time of the polish Every Swiatek (1st) against the French Leolia Jeanjean.
Four Argentines put first in Paris
After the debut and farewell starring Thiago Tirante in a marathon defeat at the hands of the Spanish Pedro Martínezthere will be four Argentines who will appear this Monday for the first round of Roland Garros.
Sebastian Baez (20th seed) will be the first to see action when he jumps to court 9 to play in the second round against the Brazilian Gustavo Heidewho comes from raffle the classification.
Francisco Cerúndolo (23rd seed) will also see action in the second round, but on court 8, against the German Yannick Hanfmann. This is a risky rival for one of the great hopes of the albiceleste legion.
In that same scenario, but towards the end of the day, he will play Julia Riera. one of the three Argentines participating in the women’s tournament along with Nadia Podoroska y Lourdes Carlé. The woman from Pergamin, in her baptism in a main draw of a Grand Slam, sees she gets through the qualy and will seek to take the hit against the experienced Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu33 years old and who at his peak was in the top 40.
The Cordoban Pedro Cachin He will be the last to appear this Monday and will have a complex debut against the American Tommy Paul (14th) in the final turn on court 7.