The noise was loud and relentless, a chorus of thousands of belting out “ Ra-fa! Ra-fa!” whenever their guy found the occasional moment of brilliance of the sort he has conjured up so often at Roland-Garros and elsewhere through the years. The 15,000 or so on hand roared their support when Rafael Nadal stepped out into Court Philippe Chatrier, voices echoing under the closed roof of a place he called “magical for me.” When the 14-time champion at Roland-Garros approached the net for the pre-match coin toss.
When he took his swings during the warm-up. And, especially, when he whipped his trademark topspin lefty forehand or chopped his two-fisted cross-court backhand or placed a volley perfectly to claim a point. Watch Roland-Garros 2024 live and exclusively free on Nine and 9Now .
Plus four courts in 4K UHD on Stan Sport , the home of grand slam tennis. The problem for Nadal, and for his fans, is that there were not nearly enough such points for him against Alexander Zverev. Not enough vintage play to allow his nearly 38-year-old, oft-injured body to claim one more victory, no matter how much the folks in the stands tried to will that to happen.
And so he lost 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the first round of the French Open to Zverev in what might turn out to be Nadal's last match at the clay-court tournament he dominated for so long. “If it’s the last time that I played here,” Nadal said, “I am at peace with myself.” It is the first time in his long and illustrious c.
