When was the last time Rafael Nadal entered the French Open with an air of uncertainty around his first-round victory, no matter the form and ranking of his opponent (which, in this case, is world No. 4 Italian Open champion Alexander Zverev)?
When was the last time Novak Djokovic entered any Grand Slam with his aura of indomitability breached to the extent that it has brought him down to among the pack of contenders rather than a potentially title-winning ace?
Not in the last few years at the Slams he was allowed to set foot in.
The two ageing giants, with 46 Grand Slam triumphs between them yet zero titles this season, find themselves with an unfamiliar tag in this Parisian summer — far from the favourites for the French Open.
Which, for a 14-time Roland Garros champion who has held an unshakable grip on the clay-court Slam he first won in 2005 and lost just three matches in, is unheard-of. Which, for the record 24-time Slam champion who has won three of the previous five majors besides reaching a final and a semi-final, is unwonted.
We’ll get to Nadal first, because this may well be his last sighting at the French Open. The 37-year-old hasn’t explicitly conveyed it yet, but everything he has done this season, which he’d said could be his last on the tour, has a farewell ring to it. Swansong or not, things haven’t gone per script for the Spaniard. Out injured for most of 2023 and the first three months of 2024 due to a muscle injury post his return, Nadal threw all his eggs in the clay basket.
