The site of countless high points for Rafael Nadal has now become the one for a pressing, unanswered question.
He didn’t label it a French Open farewell ahead of the tournament.
He didn’t call it one even after his first-round loss Monday.
But as he addressed the crowd in an on-court interview for more than five minutes after his straight-set loss to No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev, it certainly sounded as if it could’ve been a goodbye — or at the very least, one with those sentiments just in case.
Nadal, once the No. 1 tennis player in the world and now ranked No. 275 in the world tennis rankings, won 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles at the French Open.
This early exit was expected, given his injured-filled stretch across the past two years.
Retirement will inevitably follow for Nadal at some point, too.
But if this was the end of the 37-year-old at Roland Garros, if this was the final chapter for Nadal in a tournament where his name is the primary subject of its history book, then he received a fitting sendoff before he strolled off the clay courts for the final time.
“For me, it’s difficult to say what’s going on in the future,” Nadal said on the court. “It’s a big percentage that I will not be back playing here in Roland Garros, but I can’t say 100 percent. … The body’s feeling a little bit better now than two months ago. Maybe in two months, I say, ‘It’s enough. I can’t give anything else.’ But it’s something that I don’t feel yet.”
It was a similar sentiment that Nadal echoed ahead of the French Open.
While Nadal responded with “don’t assume that” when asked if this would be his final French Open, the 37-year-old acknowledged the reality of his tennis career that has come into focus amid injuries and underwhelming results the past two years.
But in his prime, when he climbed to No. 1 in the rankings, the French Open was a pivotal part of his rise.
He won the event for the first time in 2005, went on a run of securing nine titles across 10 years, won it for the 14th time in 2022 and missed his chance to add a 15th last year due to a hip injury.
This year, in his return to the tournament, Nadal dropped the first two sets, 6-3 7-6 (7-5), and Zverev broke Nadal with a sharp backhand to take a 4-3 lead in the third set.
Still, Nadal had a chance to recover the point, but couldn’t capitalize on his chance to break Zverev.
And five points later, Nadal waited for Zverev at the net — with a 6-3 third set now completed — and walked off the court for what could be the final time in the tournament that has become synonymous with his name.
On the court after the match, Zverev didn’t want to say much.
He knew the moment belonged to Nadal, even with the loss, and quickly finished his interview so Nadal could address the crowd — which included Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, and which cheered for him throughout and chanted his name well after the final point.
“It’s difficult for me to talk,” Nadal said on the court. “I don’t know if it’s gonna be the last time that I’m gonna be here in front of all of you honestly. I am not 100 percent sure, but if it’s the last time, I enjoyed. … The feelings that I have today are difficult to describe in words, but for me, it’s so special to feel the love of the people, the way that I felt in the place that I love the most.”
Even if Nadal didn’t say that it’d be his final time at Roland Garros, and even as he acknowledged that he still wants to play in the Olympics, there was a tone of nostalgia in his answers.
And when his interview ended, with his tennis bag sitting on his shoulder, Nadal waved to the crowd one final time — with the bright sun poetically forming a spotlight around him — and walked down the tunnel for what might have been the final time.
