French Open Director Aims to ‘Surprise’ Rafael Nadal During Tribute Ceremony in Paris
Rafael Nadal hung up his racket after Spain's defeat to the Netherlands in the Davis Cup quarterfinal tie last year.
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Rafael Nadal (Image via X/Rafael Nadal)
On Sunday next week, the French Open will honor Rafael Nadal with a special tribute. The second clay-court Major kicks off on May 25 and this year, Nadal won’t be playing because he called time on his illustrious career last year at the Davis Cup.
The retirement ceremony in Malaga was criticized, including by Davis Cup captain David Ferrer and Nadal’s uncle and former coach Toni Nadal. They argued that the ceremony lacked grandeur. French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said that the tribute ceremony next week at Roland Garros will be a complete surprise for the 22-time Grand Slam champion.
Most of what happens on court will be a surprise to him. However, he has guided us on the general atmosphere and what he wants. It's something that should reflect his style in terms of simplicity, authenticity, and class. There are still small things to adjust, trade-offs to make.Amelie Mauresmo told RTL
Last year, no ceremony was held at Roland Garros, the tournament Nadal lifted a record 14 times. The reason was he still was not certain about his retirement as he wanted to give himself a chance to prolong his career. But as his body was no longer helping him to grind on tennis courts, in October, he dropped the retirement video to send shockwaves across the tennis world.
Nadal last won a title at the 2022 French Open by breezing past Casper Ruud. Then during the 2023 Australian Open, he suffered from a hip injury and ended up missing the rest of the season. He made his comeback at the Brisbane International but an abdominal injury forced him to stay on the sidelines for a couple of more months.
He participated in six clay-court tournaments, including at the Paris Olympics where he played his career’s final match against 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the second round. He lost it and Djokovic later reached the final to clinch the gold medal for the first time in his career.
At the French Open, Nadal unsurprisingly lost in the first round. His opponent was Alexander Zverev who later reached the final and lost a five-set thriller to Carlos Alcaraz.
Nick Kyrgios admits he doesn’t like Rafael Nadal
Why Nick Kyrgios cannot stand Rafael Nadal? During the Changeover Podcast, Kyrgios recalled the time when coaches in his academy always insisted that he needed to work like Nadal, “To have the heart, it was always Rafa, Rafa, Rafa“.
Kyrgios joked that he didn’t mind losing to 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, but a defeat to Nadal would “burn” him so much. The 30-year-old feels the reason why he and Nadal don’t like each other is perhaps because they don’t have similar personalities. He said:
We respect each other’s games but I just think two different personalities and two completely different stories. We just don’t like each other. Every time we played each other I wanted to f*****g throw my racket at him. I just can’t stand him. He does my head in. But he is a good player. I just wanted to beat him so bad every time.
Kyrgios has so far played four tournaments this season. The Brisbane International was his first tournament in 18 months as Kyrgios had to stay on the sidelines during those years due to multiple surgeries.
After making his comeback, he did not register a win before the Miami Open, where he beat Mackenzie McDonald before losing to Karen Khachanov. He will next be playing in the French Open for the first time since 2017. But he has signed up for only doubles matches.
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