Even fewer see their achievements recognised while they are still playing. Yet at Roland Garros, a 10ft steel sculpture of Rafael Nadal has stood at its gates since 2021, the great Spaniard locked in a position of typical intensity as he launches himself into a ferocious forehand. Nadal’s statue stands alongside the “Four Musketeers” of French tennis, Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, Henri Cochet and Rene Lacoste, the men who, between them, swept Roland Garros between 1924 and 1932. As a result, the trophy awarded to the men’s singles champion at the French Open is called the Coupe des Mousquetaires.
It is the Spaniard, though, who will leave behind an even greater impact at Roland Garros, with Nadal lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires a record 14 times. Since first arriving in Paris, the kid from Mallorca in his baggy shorts and sleeveless Tees, Nadal has obliterated records and dominated the French Open in a manner that has transcended the sport. The “king of clay” won his first title as a 19-year-old in 2005 and won his 14th as a 36year-old in 2022, a lifetime of triumph. In total, Nadal has played 115 matches at Roland Garros, winning 112 and losing just three. A win percentage of 97 per cent is the highest of any player at a grand slam, unmatched in tennis history.
This story is from the May 22, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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 May 22, 2024 edition of The Independent.
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
Ambitious Everton look for upgrade on the Dyche grind
Sean Dyche was never the manager Everton really wanted.
Everton ease to FA Cup win as team reboot starts
They are not used to cheering the men in the technical area.
THE ART OF NOISE
Alt-popper Ethel Cain lashes listeners with sound on her experimental second LP, 'Perverts'. Helen Brown submits
Kidman is utterly fearless in unabashedly sexy 'Babygirl'
Dutch writer-director Halina Reijn has made a BDSM film rife with fumbling uncertainty, and comedy-drama 'A Real Pain' manages to stay honest,
The secret shame that saw Callas retreat into obscurity
She was the opera diva with a tumultuous and tragic private life but something else would derail her career as one of the greatest singers of all time, as Meghan Lloyd Davies explains
At home with Gen Zzzzz
Being boring has never been more in - but Kate Rossiensky wonders if the humblebore lifestyle is a deflection technique
PLAYING DUMB
As the thoroughly decent (and rather smart) Kasim is ejected from 'The Traitors', Helen Coffey asks whether intelligence has become a hindrance that should be concealed at all costs
The woman who cried wolf and fuelled a local race war
When Ellie Williams told of her experience at the hands of a grooming gang, it seemed clear what was right vs wrong. But the truth, writes Zoë Beaty, was much more complicated...
Biden hails 'strength of character' in Carter tribute
Every living American president filed into pews at the Washington National Cathedral yesterday to honour one of their own at the funeral for Jimmy Carter, who died late last month at 100 years old.
Wake up and smell the fires
We live in a 'magic bubble' of denial but the LA infernos and Covid before it demonstrate why we must be better prepared
