Rafael Nadal suffered a gut-wrenching first-round defeat at the 2024 French Open on Monday to controversial fourth-seed Alexander Zverev. It was widely expected that the 37-year-old was playing Roland-Garros for the final time before retirement – but he has since suggested that he may play again – with tournament organisers cancelling a farewell ceremony after his recent U-turn. Nadal is the most successful player in French Open history, registering 14 men’s singles titles, but headed to this year’s Grand Slam event unseeded for the first time and has now suffered just his fourth defeat on the Paris clay since 2005.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has massively struggled with injury in the last 18 months and hasn’t played much, seeing his ranking drop – and he was handed a nightmare opening match against Zverev – a controversial player who is set for a trial over domestic abuse allegations , which he strongly denies. There were audible gasps in the crowd when the draw was made as Nadal was picked to face one of the toughest possible opponents he could get – and those shocked fans had a right to be worried as Zverev beat him 6-3 7-6 6-3. The atmosphere on Philippe-Chatrier at the start of the match was electric with fans desperate to see Nadal in action for one of the last times in Paris – and the volume only went up when the roof was closed – but there was a spell of silence as Zverev set up a triple break-point opportunity in the first game of the first s.
