Emmanuel LANGELLIER, Media365: published on Monday October 14, 2024 at 10:26 p.m.
Rafael Nadal, 14-time winner of Roland-Garros, will soon hang up his rackets. Some would like to honor him by adding his name to that of the center court of the French Grand Slam.
There you go, it’s almost over… At 38, Rafael Nadal will officially retire from the courts. A few more matches and we will no longer see the Spanish tennis player competing in competition with the racket clutched in his left hand. He announced it last Thursday morning, “Rafa” will retire after the final phase of the Davis Cup, played in Malaga at the end of November. Nadal will already play, or at least be part of the team selected by David Ferrer, the quarter-finals against the Netherlands, between November 19 and 21. Then we might see him against Germany or Canada in the semi-finals. Before a possible final in apotheosis against Italy, Argentina, the United States or Australia. Then the legend of the little yellow ball will be over.
Ljubicic: “I don’t think it bothers good old Philippe (Chatrier) to rename the center court “Rafael Nadal””
The next Roland-Garros, where Nadal has had his statue since May 27, 2021, will be played without him. Him, the record holder for coronations in Paris with 14 trophies lifted in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022. A prodigious record which represents one of the greatest feats in sport. With Nadal retired, some have put forward the idea of celebrating the Spaniard by renaming the Philippe-Chatrier court in his honor. So, a “Rafael Nadal central court” at Porte d’Auteuil soon? In 2022, Ivan Ljubicic, then coach of Roger Federer (who later became high-level director at the FFT), was for it. “Few players have managed to play Roland‐Garros 14 times,” the Croatian pointed out. He has won it 14 times. There are no words to describe this series. I don’t think it bothers good old Philippe (Chatrier) to rename the center court “Rafael Nadal”. A statue is not enough,” said the Croatian.
“As if the US Open we’re going to call him Gaël Monfils? »
Former rugby player Vincent Moscato is also attracted by the idea. But Philippe Chatrier was not chosen by chance. Young people today don’t know him at all, but this former French number 6 made things happen in tennis. President of the French Federation for 20 long years between 1973 and 1993 and patron of the International Federation from 1977 to 1991, Chatrier notably worked for the reintegration of tennis into the Olympic Games. Former footballers Frédéric Piquionne and Eric Di Meco do not want to hear about a “central Nadal”. “I’m super chauvinistic. As if the US Open we are going to call him Gaël Monfils? I’m super chauvinistic about that, said the ex-striker on the L’Equipe channel. So it’s true, Rafael Nadal, well done, big champion, there’s no problem. On the other hand, yes, make him a statue, a Rafael Nadal box, but from there to calling the center court “Rafael Nadal” because he won Roland-Garros 14 times… We are in France, there is no has no subject. » Di Meco would like, why not, to rename the largest court at Roland-Garros with the name of a French sportsman. “I never understood why we never paid tribute to Yannick Noah,” said the former OM international defender on RMC. We can’t even pay tribute to a champion like Noah…”
