Nadal ready for emotional French Open farewell

PARIS – Rafael Nadal will bring down the curtain on his 19-year French Open career with the likelihood of adding to his 14 titles greatly diminished before he leaves behind a record and reputation unlikely ever to be matched.

The great Spaniard, a 22-time Grand Slam champion, won his first title at Roland Garros as a teenager in 2005. A week on Monday, he will celebrate his 38th birthday.

A former World No. 1, who is now at 276 in the world, Nadal has only played 15 matches since January last year as a hip injury and then a muscle tear were added to a depressing history of physical ailments which have forced him to miss 12 Grand Slam tournaments in his career.

Whether or not the 2024 French Open becomes No. 13 will soon become apparent as the draw for the event takes place on Thursday afternoon.

"I'm going to play the tournament thinking that I can give my all, 100%," explained Nadal after a second round exit in Rome last week.

"And if 100% is not enough to win a match, I'll accept that. But I don't want to step onto court knowing that I have no chance. If there's a 0.01% chance, I want to explore that and give it a go."

As well as 14 titles in Paris, Nadal can boast a record of 112 wins and just three losses, two of which came against career-long rival Novak Djokovic.

He is also held in remarkably high esteem.

At his first training session on Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros on Monday an estimated 6,000 people turned up to watch, many chanting his name.

"We have to enjoy the time he has left on court, evaluate it, and be aware that it's very unlikely that something like that will happen again," said coach Carlos Moya during the recent Madrid Open.

"Personally, I'm never on court when he enters or leaves, but I am this year because I like seeing the love he gets from the people when he steps on court.

"He's one of the great stars of this sport, he's about to retire, and it's really amazing to see that."

Nadal isn't the only A-list talent under a Paris cloud ahead of the tournament start on Sunday.

Defending champion and record 24-time Grand Slam title winner Djokovic, whose three titles in Paris put him alongside Gustavo Kuerten, Mats Wilander and Ivan