Rafael Nadal’s possible final French Open came to an end quickly on Monday. The 14-time champion at Roland-Garros fell in straight sets to No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6 (5), (6-3) in the first round.
“I don’t know if this is farewell, but if it was, it was special to feel the love in the place I love the most.
“I have to congratulate Sacha on victory and winning in Rome. For me, I have been going through a tough two years in terms of injuries.
“I went through the process to get back to Roland Garros, the dream. I was competitive, I had my chances, but it was tough against this opponent.
“It is a big percentage this was my last match at Roland Garros but I cannot say for sure. I am enjoying travelling with my family. My body is feeling good.
“Maybe I two months I say it’s enough, I can’t give more. But I hope to be back on this court for the Olympics. That’s another chance. I hope to be prepared.
“This court, I could not have imagined being here at almost 38 years old, with winning so many times. I could not have dreamed about it. It was beautiful.
“All the people make it special, ever since the first time. All the support, my people, my team. Everybody who helped me. I can’t thank them enough.
“Last, all the fans. It was unforgettable. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope to see you again, but I don’t know.”
Rafa is very intent and motivated to play the Paris Olympics. Here are his words after the match with Zverev: “It wasn’t to be, but I was close to having a real chance of doing something big. That’s how I feel.”
“I played a good match, taking into account how I arrived. At times I played well, really well. In other moments I made mistakes, but you can’t build a house in two days. Even though I played in previous tournaments, I had a week here practising without limits. That’s the reality, only the week before Roland Garros.”
Rafa felt he played his best tennis of the year, despite the loss. That is very positive.
Although Rafa took it as a challenge, doubling down on his motivation and desire, in reality, he had a mountain to climb. Playing his opener against the German, the recent champion in Rome, was too soon.
“I managed to play without limitations, I fought and I had real chances of taking the match to a completely different situation against one of the best players in the world,” said Nadal. “Two things prevented me from doing it— he is very good, and I needed more [matches] to play with instinct in all those moments and to get the confidence to understand what I had to do in those key points.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve done that.”
So, we look forward to more progress and something very special for Rafa in Paris at the Olympics on the same court. Vamos Rafa!
According to Mats Wilander (3-time former RG champion):
Nadal showed enough against Zverev to prove he can still compete at the top, even though he turns 38 next week.
“Obviously the Olympics are huge and for him to have the chance to play on Phillipe Chatrier is amazing and could be an unbelievable end to his career,” Eurosport expert Wilander said.
“But he’s too competitive, he’s playing too good. I think he beats 90 per cent of the draw. There’s only a few guys that would beat him playing this well.
“And Zverev was the worst opponent possible in the first round, worse than playing (Novak) Djokovic, worse than playing (Carlos) Alcaraz.
“Also the circumstances; it’s indoor, cold outside, the ball doesn’t travel. So I think all that, and still being so close – it’s all positive for Rafa and with that passion, why not? He knows how to win big matches on this court.”