Fending their career at the Olympics – in a place where they moved on and built a statue for you before you even retire – it’s what kids these days call the “player movement.” Of course, Michael Jordan won his last three championships at the United Center in Chicago, while your likeness sat in front of the arena. But even that structure opened in 1994, when Jordan was still retired and playing baseball and not suggesting any kind of return. Roland-Garros, host of the French Open and the Olympic tennis tournament in Paris, simply went ahead and tanned Rafael Nadal – in fact, he’s made of steel – in 2021, while still racking up French Open championships. In fact, in 2022 Nadal took the lead and won his 14th title at Roland-Garros.
Nadal will not increase his trajectory this year. In Monday’s most anticipated event at the Olympics, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, winner of a men’s record 24 major championships, defeated Nadal – who holds 22 Grand Slam titles – in straight sets, 6-1, 6- 4, in what is most likely the last game of their two-decade rivalry. (Djokovic now leads the head-to-head, 31-29.) While Nadal has not committed to retiring, he has made no secret of the fact that several injuries have hindered his desire to continue, and this could be his last year in the sport. . So everyone at the Philippe-Chatrier Court – and all the fans on the Roland-Garros grounds who queued up to take thumbs-up photos and selfies at the statue of Nadal, which depicts the Spaniard mid-swing – were well aware that they could be witnessing Nadal’s last singles match in Paris, on the clay that defined his career.
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“You want me to retire every day, guys,” Nadal told reporters afterward. He didn’t finish at these Olympics, or at Roland-Garros – Nadal and 2024 French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz They are playing doubles and will face each other in the second round on Tuesday. (This is Nadal’s fourth Olympics — he has a singles gold in Beijing and a doubles gold in Rio.) “I can’t live every day with the feeling that it will or won’t be my last match,” Nadal said. “I come here, I do my best, I play and when I decide to stop playing or when I decide to continue, I will let you know.”
Although his best was not enough against his nemesis Djokovic, this being Nadal, he refused to go down without a fight. Djokovic took a 5-0 lead in the first set, and no one – perhaps not even Djokovic – wanted to see Nadal suffer the indignity of being hit with a bagel. Nadal finally managed to make it 5-1, but Djokovic closed the set soon after. In the second set, Djokovic made it 4-0 and the match seemed about to explode. Nadal losing 6-1, 6-0 at Roland-Garros, even for a player as talented as Djokovic, would be the equivalent of Willie Mays stumbling in the outfield during the final years of his career, or Jordan wearing that Washington Wizards uniform . Difficult to witness.
Nadal, however, held serve and, on his first break point of the match, Djokovic committed a double fault. Nadal held again and tied the set at 4-4 with a beautiful forehand pass. Roland-Garros exploded, in vintage style. Nadal was running, sliding, hitting like before.
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But Djokovic didn’t give in either. A beautiful backhand shot won him the next game. Djokovic’s serve was cooking in the final game; he ended the match with little drama.
“I wasn’t able to put him in difficult positions, I wasn’t able to have enough quality shots, enough quality of movement,” Nadal said. “I must accept that I am not ready to play at this high level.”
After the match ended, Nadal left little time to fuss. Djokovic blew kisses to the crowd and imitated playing the violin on his racket, a gesture for his 6-year-old daughter Tara, who is learning to play the instrument. It would have been good, perhaps, for Djokovic to encourage the crowd to recognize his opponent, given the potential story, Nadal’s potential goodbye in France. In turn, Nadal just packed his bags and left with a wave. There was no comeback on the court or anything close to great.
“Everything has a beginning, everything has an end,” Nadal said on Monday. “I will miss the adrenaline of playing. But you know, guys, I can’t complain. I’ve been practicing this sport for 20 years, fighting for the most important things. I achieved much more than I dreamed of. If this is the last game here, or when it’s my last game here, I’ll accept [it] in peace. I did my best. I can’t complain anymore.”
About two hours after Djokovic’s victory, dozens of people from around the world continued to line up at Nadal’s statue to pay their respects. “It will always be sad,” says Alex Alonso, a medical student from Madrid, here at Roland-Garros for the first time, with his father, about the imminent end of Nadal’s career. “But we have to remember the good moments that Rafa gave us here. We like Rafa and now we have to enjoy Carlos for the next 20 years.”
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
