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Few athletes obtain the honour of getting a statue constructed for them on the finish of their careers. Even fewer see their achievements recognised whereas they’re nonetheless taking part in. But at Roland Garros, a 10ft metal sculpture of Rafael Nadal has stood at its gates since 2021, the good Spaniard locked able of typical depth as he launches himself right into a ferocious forehand. Nadal’s statue stands alongside the “4 Musketeers” of French tennis, Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet and Rene Lacoste, the lads who, between them, swept Roland Garros between 1924 and 1932. Consequently, the trophy awarded to the lads’s singles champion on the French Open is known as the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
It’s the Spaniard, although, who will go away behind an excellent higher impression at Roland Garros, with Nadal lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires a report 14 instances. Since first arriving in Paris, the child from Mallorca in his dishevelled shorts and sleeveless tees, Nadal has obliterated information and dominated the French Open in a fashion that has transcended the game. The “King of Clay” received his first title as a 19-year-old in 2005 and received his 14th as a 36-year-old in 2022, a lifetime of triumph. In complete, Nadal performed 116 matches within the French Open at Roland Garros, profitable 112 and dropping simply 4. A win share of 97 per cent is the best of any participant at a grand slam, unmatched in tennis historical past.
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With Nadal now having bade farewell to Roland Garros for the ultimate time, his information could also be unsurpassed in the remainder of sport, too, There are contenders: on the Olympics, Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps are the undisputed titans of sprinting and swimming respectively, and went unbeaten of their signature occasions at three consecutive Video games. Simone Biles dominated the fiercely aggressive world of gymnastics and is essentially the most adorned athlete within the sport’s historical past, managing to additionally match model with longevity. Tiger Woods is the one participant within the historical past {of professional} golf to win all 4 majors consecutively, within the “Tiger Slam” of 2000-2001. In Sunday crimson, Woods additionally possessed an indomitable aura.
Within the brutal area of fight sports activities, Floyd Mayweather and Khabib Nurmagomedov retired undefeated, seeing off all challengers. Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher have overseen durations of dominance in F1 and maintain the report for essentially the most world championships, with seven, although the inevitable Max Verstappen might problem that. Browsing legend Kelly Slater is each the youngest and oldest individual to have received the World Surf League, which he has finished 11 time, whereas snooker’s Ronnie O’Sullivan holds the identical distinction for the UK Championship and the Masters, in addition to a record-equalling seven World Championships on the Crucible. However to rival Nadal’s sheer numbers at one occasion, it’s a must to stretch the factors of competitors. There, in Coney Island, you could discover Joey Chestnut, who has received the Fourth of July Sizzling Canine Consuming Contest in 15 of the previous 16 years, guzzling a career-high 76 in 2021.
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However, in all seriousness, maybe the one true comparisons could be present in tennis within the Open period. Nadal’s relentless pursuit of the French Open, yr after yr, is analogous with Martina Navratilova’s success at Wimbledon, which she received 9 instances between 1978 and 1990, solely dropping 4 matches. Roger Federer’s eight Wimbledons, together with 5 in a row from 2003 to 2007, and Novak Djokovic’s 10 Australian Opens, together with a 33-match profitable run from 2019 to 2024, stand as their very own respective highs, although neither will surpass Nadal’s 14 in Paris. He’s the King of Clay for a purpose.
Nadal received his first on his debut yr in 2005, aged 19, with the shoulder-length hair tucked behind that trademark bandana. Nadal might have been baby-faced, however he was constructed like a person, already possessing a weapon that made him so completely dominant: that forehand, whipped across the high of his head. It generated a unprecedented quantity of heavy topspin, kicking the ball up off the crimson filth and terrorising numerous opponents till they have been gasping for air behind the baseline. The scale of his favorite courtroom, Philippe-Chatrier, mixed with the reverse angles of his lefty-spin, solely added to his supremacy. “You’re feeling like he’s impenetrable, he’s like a wall,” mentioned Djokovic, maybe his biggest rival of all.
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Nadal got here onto the scene as a tennis prodigy, becoming a member of a choose group to win a grand slam as an adolescent. He grew to become hooked on profitable after his first style of it. Nadal received 81 consecutive matches on clay between 2005 and 2007, the longest profitable streak in males’s tennis by floor within the Open period. The European clay-court season often all the time completed with Nadal holding the trophy in Paris, however elsewhere he was simply as dominant: profitable 11 titles in Monte Carlo, 10 in Rome, 12 in Barcelona. It leaves the Madrid Open wanting somewhat incomplete with 5, even when Nadal nonetheless holds the report for essentially the most titles within the Spanish capital.
It’s a testomony to Nadal’s dominance that Federer and Djokovic’s uncommon successes at Roland Garros rank as among the most important of their respective careers. Federer received his French Open title in 2009, finishing the profession grand slam solely after Nadal was shockingly crushed by Robin Soderling within the fourth spherical. Nadal got here again to win 5 in a row between 2010 and 2014. Aside from Soderling, Djokovic is the one different participant to have crushed Nadal on the French Open. He did it twice, in truth, within the 2015 quarter-finals and once more within the 2021 semi-finals, the one time Nadal has misplaced on the French Open from a set forward. For Djokovic, a 3rd title got here in 2023, within the first match Nadal had missed at Roland Garros since his 2005 debut.
The one slight disgrace was that there was no golden summer time farewell. After the entire accidents and upheaval, Nadal was a dimmed pressure in Paris this yr, and attracts in opposition to Alexander Zverev, on the French Open, and Djokovic on the Olympics have been significantly unkind — however there have been nonetheless glimpses of the previous Rafa within the flash of that forehand.
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The top-to-heads stay overwhelmingly within the Spaniard’s favour. Nadal performed Djokovic 11 instances at Roland Garros and received eight. He confronted Federer six instances, profitable all six, together with in three straight finals between 2006 and 2008. Dominic Thiem and fellow Spaniard David Ferrer are among the many many contenders who might have received a number of grand slam titles if not for Nadal, every dropping all 4 matches they performed in opposition to Nadal in Paris. Andy Murray, too, was denied twice by Nadal in French Open semi-finals.
Not that there was any disgrace in that. When Nadal received his 14th French Open and twenty second grand slam title, his opponent Casper Ruud regarded crushed from the second they walked out onto Philippe-Chatrier, overwhelmed by the sense of historical past in addition to the stature of a terrific champion. After a 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 victory for Nadal, the Norwegian regarded relieved when his ordeal was lastly over. “Immediately I bought to really feel what it’s prefer to play you and I do know I’m not the primary sufferer,” Ruud mentioned. “There have been many extra.”
