Almost 200 days after he last stepped foot on the court, Rafael Nadal will be the centre of a retirement ceremony in Paris.
The French Tennis Federation’s president confirmed that Nadal, a 14-time winner at Roland Garros, will be given a “necessary” retirement tribute at the French Open this year.
The decision comes after Nadal’s own retirement was slated by a host of tennis names, having bowed out with little fanfare at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
French tennis chief Gilles Moretton confirmed to Europe 1 radio: “There will, necessarily, be something for Rafael Nadal, a very big tribute.
“A real tribute, very important. We are attached to it. The [Davis Cup] tribute was not really the one that we had to pay him We were ready last year and he wasn’t ready, he was still a player.
“We went to see him at home, at the beginning of December, with Amelie Mauresmo to talk to him about this tribute that we will organize for him, and talked to him about the future.
“We will give the outlines in some time of this role of ambassador that he can hold with us. The two ‘brands’, Rafael Nadal and Roland-Garros, are one. So yes, we are considering things with him.”
Having hung up his racket following defeat to Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp, in a 6-4, 6-4 loss at the Davis Cup without the theatrics that was Roger Federer’s goodbye to tennis, Novak Djokovic slammed the event.
The Serb, who was not in attendance in Spain, said: “I saw the video [of the ceremony]. I don’t know, I don’t know if Rafa maybe didn’t want to make too much of a fuss about it in order not to bother other teams, matches. I don’t know, to be honest, but I feel bad that I wasn’t there,” said the Serb, who had planned to be at the tournament if Spain progressed past the Netherlands.
“We were together on the court in Riyadh, that was the moment, a nice moment. I saw him play at Roland Garros, we played each other at the Olympics. The ceremony, if you want my opinion, wasn’t done properly.
“Maybe Rafa himself wasn’t sure whether he’ll play or not, if he can play some more, and then maybe it was too late to do something bigger. I don’t know, really.”
While Carlos Moya, Nadal’s coach, added: “The feeling we are all left with is a bit scruffy and shabby. It’s true that it’s a Tuesday night, but this is sport and we knew months in advance that if Spain lost, Rafa would retire. Nadal is far above all this.”
