Marc Maury, the French Open announcer, couldn’t help himself. And so the iconic voice behind Rafael Nadal’s entry and introduction on Court Philippe-Chatrier — the one infusing unparalleled vigour in the first two letters of the name and almost breathlessly rattling off his title-winning years there — recreated the entire sequence in Spanish.
Except this time, instead of the 14-time Roland Garros champion walking in and waving to spectators with the voice in the background, Maury did it standing by an empty showpiece court for a video on Saturday.
That happened to be Nadal’s 37th birthday. It is an occasion marked almost exclusively in the Parisian summer since 2005, with the Spaniard adding another year to his age and, in all but four tries, another title to his Grand Slam tally. The Roland Garros organisers join the party, rolling out a life-size cake on Chatrier for an almost-embarrassed Nadal post his birthday match days or, like last year when he isn't competing on the day, presenting a cake and gifting a scooter in a ceremony at the venue.
On Saturday, Roland Garros tweeted a video putting together pictures of all those moments over the years and signing off with, “We miss you!”. Nadal, minutes after posting an update about a surgery on his injured hip that kept him away from his year’s French Open, retweeted it. He wrote in French, “Vous me manquez trop”, translated to “I miss you very much”.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Palestinian PM Resigns Citing 'New Reality' Of War In Gaza
The United States and other powers have called for a reformed Palestinian Authority to take charge of all Palestinian territories after the end of war
Future Perfect: The Kids Are All Right
Gill and Jurel hold out promise by simplifying a challenging chase to help India seal series
Akshay feels 'blessed' to have worked with OG Ramayan cast
Director Akshay K Agarwal shot a music video, Humare Ram Aaye Hai, with the cast of the 1987 TV show, Ramayanactors Arun Govil, Dipika Chikhlia and Sunil Lahri - in Ayodhya recently.
Musk's firm gets nod for Sat Net; joins Jio, Bharti
Starlink, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, has been allowed to offer satellite broadband services in India, two officials aware of the development said.
A temple, 169 years in the making
Through decades of design and reworks, hurdles in engineering and construction, HT pieces together how the grandeur of the Ram Temple was reclaimed
'Political interference' forces Vihari to quit Andhra cricket
After Andhra bowed out of the Ranji Trophy at the quarter-final stage with a four-run defeat to Madhya Pradesh in Indore on Monday, senior batter Hanuma Vihari launched a scathing attack on the Andhra Cricket Association (ACA), saying he will never turn up for the state again.
Shafali, Kapp lead Capitals to a 9-wicket win over Warriorz
A blazing fifty by Shafali Verma (64₹, 43 balls) helped Delhi Capitals make a mockery of a target of 120 and open their account in the second edition of the Women's Premier League (WPL).
Making 'unbelievable things believable', the Ayhika way
The India No. 7 was an inspired pick for the world team event and she repaid the faith, beating the Chinese world No.1
'Connected TVs to reach 45 mn by 2024-end in India'
With improvement in broadband penetration, Indian households are increasingly opting for connected or addressable TVs.
India chip strategy makes progress as $21 billion in proposals received
The Indian government, after years of watching from the sidelines of the chips race, now has to evaluate $21 billion of semiconductor proposals and divvy up taxpayer support between foreign chipmakers, local champions or some combination of the two.