The lengthy final chapter of greats, especially in an arena as inconsistent and unreliable as professional sports, is a true test of the spirit. It’s like a long-standing light bulb burning out: You flip the switch—more than once, as many as three times—in a subconscious instruction to your brain that it may not be time to recycle and replace. But sometimes the undeniable is undeniable, no matter how unpalatable. Power is no longer possible.
Yet nothing has been as consistent and reliable over the past twenty years as Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. Eighteen performances, 14 titles, one king of clay. A dominance that is unparalleled, not only in tennis, but also in the history of the sport. His legacy is undisputed, best illustrated by his silver statue on the east side of the complex. But in the end, no one is fooling Father Time.
And so it happened that after 116 matches, Nadal lost for the first time in week one at the French Open. Alexander Zverev was handed the toughest first round draw possible – against the most in-form, injury-free player on the tour – Alexander Zverev pulled out a punch to brutally dismiss any idea of a glorious swan song and triumphed with 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6 -3.
Two years after tearing his ankle ligaments under the roof of Philippe-Chatrier, while Nadal was on his way to what will surely be his last title in Paris, the German earned his stripes in the same setting and etched his name in the history books. For Novak Djokovic (2015, 2021) and Robin Soderling (2009), see Alexander Zverev (2024): men to beat Rafa at Chatrier.
When the final arrived, with modern greats Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek looking on like simple gamblers, Nadal took center stage and waved goodbye. For a moment, the sun shimmered through the open roof and glittered on the ubiquitous champion of this location. On a gloomy day in the west of Paris, this was a striking conclusion.
What now? We know that, fitness permitting, this will not be his last appearance on these courts. Nadal, winner of the gold medal in Beijing sixteen years ago, plans to play the Olympic Games this summer and after the match again refused to rule out returning to his favorite grand slam next year. But honestly, and in the same spirit as Andy Murray’s defeat last night, it felt like the fire – and the fumes – had finally gone out. He also later confirmed at his press conference that he does not think he will be playing at Wimbledon in a month’s time.
Nadal, seven days shy of the age of 38, entered his house to the most explosive collective cheers. If we didn’t know any better, with the beat of the drum, the tone of the horn and the unashamedly partisan Parisian crowd on this Monday afternoon in May, it could have been an old-fashioned Davis Cup match in Spain.
But of course we know better. This is Court Philippe-Chatrier: a broken-brick tennis colosseum dominated for twenty years by a left-handed man from Mallorca. Nadal had lost just three of his previous 115 matches in this tournament, but the fourteen-time champion entered this first round 272 places below fourth-seeded Zverev. At Nadal’s theater, where the audience paid to see one of the greats, the 27-year-old was the favorite.
And the first point of this more than three-hour match, under the roof where the pair had battled so bravely two years ago, summed up the first set. A routine rally: Nadal’s forehand cross-court to Zverev’s backhand cross-court. In years past, Nadal’s heavy shot would overwhelm anything that came before it, but here a weak shot into the net almost looked like an early wave of the white flag. In a flash, Zverev made Nadal fall in love.
The first set ended with a similar surrender. With Zverev two points behind, another drop shot from Nadal was brilliantly chased down by the younger, fresher player. Nadal applauded his opponent – sportsman first, athlete second – before clapping again ahead of a crucial first serve. Was it still on his mind? The Spaniard soon missed his forehand wing and the first set was gone.
What was clear here from the start, and has become clear since his return to Barcelona last month, is that Nadal’s powers of old are waning. He knows it, we all know it.
Shots from both the forehand and backhand sides regularly failed to cross the service line, prompting Zverev to happily gobble up fresh meat with a number of booming winners. It took until 68 minutes for Nadal to hit his first ace; an ace that seemed like a turning point as he held serve early in the second and then broke for the first time, celebrating with that iconic jump and pump in the air.
But when it mattered most, Nadal, serving for the set, fell in love again. It was time for a crisis and for a moment we were treated to Nadal’s most authoritative quality: his extraordinary level of fighting. Pure guts, scraping and screaming across the field, adrenaline pumping as the cacophony of noise reached deafening levels.
They went to a tiebreak. Nadal simply had to claim a tiebreak – in his first best-of-five-set match in sixteen months. And once again, it’s time to talk about the drop shot.
A tactic that was regularly, naively, maintained and that probably cost Nadal this breakthrough. A poorly executed attack on the backhand wing gave Zverev two set points. The frustration was palpable and at 6-5 a backhand return from Nadal into the net gave Zverev a lead that he did not want to relinquish.
Of course, Nadal kept fighting. He won a ridiculous, chaotic fifth game on serve. But then it was broken and despite the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd, the light quickly faded. With that famous inside-out forehand flying long, Zverev won in straight sets. He continues, looking for Major No. 1.
For Nadal, as requested, there was no heartbreaking video montage. Instead, just an interview full of paradoxes: it felt like the last time, even though he insisted it might not be the last time. Desperate to squeeze every last drop out of a career that has given him and his fans the trip of a lifetime, he wants to return in 2025. At his core, he loves the game, the competition and the battle.
The light bulb is not completely burned out yet, but is flickering sporadically and is on the verge of a blackout.