July 30, 2024
PARIS — Wearing red in the land of blue, speaking Español instead of Le Francais, the matador strode into the bullring of France called the Court Philippe-Chatrier last Sunday.
RAFA! RAFA! RAFA! The City of Light has produced innumerable French sporting greats like Zinedine Zidane, Michel Platini, Yannick Noah and Tony Parker. But is there a non-French that’s more loved by the French?
We saw it last Friday during the spectacular Opening Ceremony. In a four-hour-long marathon that included Celine Dion and Lady Gaga, instead of Kylian Mbappe — the French football star — we saw Rafael Nadal lifting the torch on centerstage.
Two afternoons ago, we saw it again on the same venue where the French Open is being played. In the final Olympics of his career, the Mallorca native entered the stadium to a standing ovation.
RAFA! RAFA! RAFA! Earlier that morning, there was a threat that the two-time Olympic gold medalist wouldn’t play. Nadal suffered another injury a couple of days ago. And on Saturday night, he played a spirited doubles match with Carlos Alcaraz.
NADALCARAZ. This is the craze among tennis fanatics here. But playing singles and doubles on the same day is wearisome when you’re 38 years old. Nadal hinted of abandoning the singles match to focus on “NadAlcaraz.”
But, no, at 3 p.m. on a sunny Sunday (when it had been raining days before), the King of Clay played against Marton Fucsovics.
The first set was over in 30 minutes. The Spaniard uncorked his inside-out topspin forehand to dismantle the Hungarian. He sliced his first serve out wide. He rushed to the net to feather a soft volley. The score, 6-1, mirrored his increbible career: Rafa had triumphed in 112 of 116 matches in Roland Garros for a 96.5% winning rate.
Was there any doubt that he would lose this match?
VAMOS, RAFA! The 15,000-capacity went crazy after that vintage first set performance. Wearing a red Nike shirt with yellow trims and the Spanish flag on his chest, together with a white bandana and wristbands, his red attired mirrored his red-hot start. But then Fucsovics played with “nothing to lose.” He blasted winners as Nadal struggled. At the 1:32 hour mark, the crowd was stunned as Nadal lost the second set, 4-6. In the third set, Nadal had four chances to break serve but wasted them all. He faced a Love-40 deficit midway that would have cost him the match. He recovered and screamed with that trademark pump-fist. Nadal won, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4.
As my daughter Jana, wife Jasmin and I savored the triumph of our all-time favorite sportsman, I couldn’t help but stare at the words plastered at the center of the stadium: “Victory Belongs To The Most Tenacious – Roland Garros.”
Here in France, thanks to his 14 Roland Garros trophies, nobody is more tenacious — and loved — than Rafael Nadal.
(Photo with our good friends Malone and Marco Aradillos)
