Without its king, clay lacks lustre

For two decades, the clay court season was dominated by Nadal. Now there's a gaping hole

- Arun Janardhan

On 25 May, the opening day of the 2025 French Open, the year's second Grand Slam tournament will pay tribute to Rafael Nadal on the Philippe-Chatrier court, its organisers announced last week.

Nadal, who won 14 singles titles at the Roland Garros, had an astonishing win-loss record of 112-4 over two decades. He extended his career towards the end, suffering through a series of injuries and long recovery periods, just so he could win one more title in Paris. Perhaps he felt that 15 would have been a good number to end at.

He didn't, losing in the first-round last year, which brought an end to his long, unique connection with the tournament. So strong is that connection that the Paris Olympics last year made him a torch-bearer for the event even though he is a Spaniard.

The same, perhaps, goes for Roland Garros, which is finding it difficult to let go of a man who dominated its red clay courts for a decade. Not just those two weeks, but the preceding several weeks when tennis moves into its clay court phase, as tournament after tournament across Europe is played on the surface. Over these weeks, for about 20 years, Nadal was the defining figure in tennis, even if his career coincided with two other great players, who were cast into the shadows for just that period.

In the absence of Nadal in 2025, clay-court tennis is missing its most pivotal name.

After last year's loss to Alexander Zverev, a player Nadal had beaten in the 2022 French Open semi-finals (Zverev retired hurt) en route to his last title at the venue, Nadal said that he might yet come back to play at the venue. But by November of last year, he announced that he was retiring from the sport.