MADRID, 20 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish tennis player Rafa Nadal completed his first training this Monday on the Philippe-Chatrier center court at Roland Garros, where 6,000 people cheered the winner of 14 Parisian titles on his return to the tournament.
The Spaniard, who traveled to Paris this Monday, was cheered by the fans present at the venue on his way out to the main court of the French competition, which he set foot on for the first time since June 5, 2022, when he lifted his last ‘Cup’. of the Musketeers’ by beating the Norwegian Casper Ruud in the final.
Together with Marc López and Vivien Cabos, Nadal, who will turn 38 in a few weeks, completed an hour and a half training session in which he did not push too hard, while Carlos Moyá and Gustavo Marcaccio watched the session. The roof of the Philippe-Chatrier sheltered the roof of Manacor from the rain that surprised Paris.
Rafa is back on Court Philippe-Chatrier, with a huge crowd to welcome him ??#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/JBj5FMrsrN
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 20, 2024
An injury denied the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles the possibility of fighting for the title in 2023, and this year he hopes to end his absence in the last two years, although he has not yet confirmed his presence. In 2024, he has already announced that this could be his last active season.
“I’m going to play the tournament thinking that I can be at my best, at 100%. If 100% is not enough to even win a match, I’m going to accept it. But I don’t want to enter the court knowing that I have no options. If there is a 0.01% chance, I want to try,” he explained a few days ago in Rome after his defeat at the Foro Italico.
In total, Nadal, who could debut this Sunday, has played eight matches on clay, with five wins and three losses, this year: two in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell-Trofeo Conde de Godó, four in the Mutua Madrid Open and two at the Masters 1,000 in Rome.