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 enjoying. But at Roland Garros, a 10ft metal sculpture of Rafael Nadal has stood at its gates since 2021, the good Spaniard locked ready 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 boys who, between them, swept Roland Garros between 1924 and 1932. In consequence, the trophy awarded to the boys’s singles champion on the French Open known as the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
It’s the Spaniard, although, who will depart behind an excellent higher impression at Roland Garros, with Nadal lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires a file 14 instances. Since first arriving in Paris, the child from Mallorca in his saggy shorts and sleeveless tees, Nadal has obliterated data and dominated the French Open in a way 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 has performed 115 matches at Roland Garros, profitable 112 and dropping simply three. A win proportion of 97 per cent is the best of any participant at a grand slam, unmatched in tennis historical past.
As Nadal now returns to Roland Garros for what is predicted to be the ultimate time, his data 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 type 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 enviornment 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 file 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 accomplished 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, you must stretch the standards 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.
However, in all seriousness, maybe the one true comparisons might 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 totally 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 grime and terrorising numerous opponents till they had been gasping for air behind the baseline. The scale of his favorite court docket, 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.
Nadal got here onto the scene as a tennis prodigy, becoming a member of a choose group to win a grand slam as a teen. 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 normally 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 trying moderately incomplete with 5, even when Nadal nonetheless holds the file 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 vital of their respective careers. Federer received his French Open title in 2009, finishing the profession grand slam solely after Nadal was shockingly overwhelmed by Robin Soderling within the fourth spherical. Nadal got here again to win 5 in a row between 2010 and 2014. Other than Soderling, Djokovic is the one different participant to have overwhelmed Nadal on the French Open. He did it twice, in reality, 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 pinnacle-to-heads, although, are overwhelmingly within the Spaniard’s favour. Nadal performed Djokovic 10 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 overwhelmed from the second they walked out onto Philippe-Chatrier, overwhelmed by the sense of historical past in addition to the stature of an awesome champion. After a 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 victory for Nadal, the Norwegian regarded relieved when his ordeal was lastly over. “Right now 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.”
