Actually, it should start. But nobody is ready for that yet. Not the spectators who have risen almost without exception. And Rafael Nadal, who stands on the sand at the bottom, doesn’t look as if he wanted to get started right away. He would not arrive against the applause anyway. It just helps. It is Sunday evening when the farewell ceremony for the only tennis player begins on the Court Philippe Chatrier who has won the French Open more than six times. There have been 14 titles for Nadal as a whole on the Ashes of Paris. A number that could remain unmatched forever. Nadal wipes the tears from the eye to honor Nadal at the start of the tournament, even though he had already ended his career last November. That is why the Spaniard is now on the Center Court in the French capital. Activate external content before he can actually speak, a film is running in the tennis arena full of more than 15,000 spectators. Most familiar pictures are: This young Spaniard can be seen with the headband and the long brown hair, who is entitlement for the first time the large tennis stage in France. This forehand, curved like a whip, along the line. The audience that applauds. The trophy, which he keeps getting up. And the spin -off door in the catacombs of the facility, which closes one last time. The big four: Roger Federer (front left), Novak Djokovic (back left), Andy Murray (back right) honor Rafael Nadal.reutersnadal wipes the tears out of sight and can finally speak after minutes. “It will be difficult,” says the 38-year-old to the audience, to the red-brown T-shirts with “Merci Rafa” imprint. Nadal begins in French, then switches to English and finally to Spanish. He thanks everyone who accompanied him in his career. From the tournament organizer to the two grandmothers, nobody will forget. “We have reached all of our dreams” and of course they all appear, the big adversaries, who mostly failed on this square: Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, who is only a year younger than Nadal, but still hopes for the title this year. It was no longer a surprise at that time. Djokovic had already slipped out the fact that all of the so -called “big four” would be there in his 100th tournament victory in Geneva. 15,000 spectators in the stadium show the greatest clay court player. He addresses the word. After all the years in which they would have fought for titles, it is interesting how the perspective changes as soon as you have ended your career. “It is a great message for the world that the best rivals that had the toughest rivalries in the history of our sport are able to be good colleagues and respect each other,” says Nadal: “We have all achieved our dreams.” “I have to give myself time” but at some point the time of farewell has come for everyone. Since his career ends six months ago, he has not touched a tennis racket, says Nadal. “I have to give myself time. My daily routine is not to have a routine.” He is currently exploring what motivates him and wants to come back for a show match or the like at some point. To the ceremony, he says: “I couldn’t have imagined a more emotional day.” From now on there is a plaque on the Court Philippe Chatrier with the footprint of Rafael Nadal.afpamélie Mauresmo, the tournament director, and Gilles Moretton, the president of the French tennis association FFT, presented Nadal next to a trophy in Roland Garros also a special surprise: In addition to one of the network posts, a plaque with its footprint is anchored in the court that gets its fixed place there. A statue of him that is three meters tall has been on the facility since 2021. However, more than a great competitor should be remembered: “My legacy consists of passion, love, determination, hard work and the attempt to be as successful as possible, but always with positive values,” Nadal said before the start of the tournament: “To win is important, but it’s not everything.”
