Between June 2005 and his farewell appearance at the Roland Garros Stadium in May 2024, Rafael Nadal dispatched an array of adversaries to claim 14 French Open singles titles.
Diminished by foot and abdominal injuries, Nadal retired from the ATP circuit last November, boasting 22 trophies from the four Grand Slam tournament venues in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.
To honour his exploits, most notably in Paris, French Open organisers will allot him pride of place at the end of the first day of play on centre court on Sunday.
"Rafa made history at Roland Garros," said tournament director Amélie Mauresmo. "And his 14 titles will perhaps remain unequalled at any Grand Slam tournament."
"We want to have a vision for the future. But we want to celebrate those who have thrilled us in the past. For Rafa, we want the celebration to be exceptional and special."
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'A love story'
In May 2005, aged 18 and sporting pirate shorts, a gilet and a bandana, Nadal fought his way through a field that included the world number one Roger Federer.
Two days after turning 19, he came back from a set down in the final to overpower the Argentine Mariano Puerto and claim the crown.
His 2006 showdown against Federer followed the same pattern. Nadal beat the Swiss in four sets in 2007 and crushed him in the 2008 final 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 to notch up his fourth title.
Robin Soderling from Sweden ended his winning streak in the last-16 in 2009.
But Nadal came back in 2010 to rekindle his supremacy. And there were four more successes to take him to nine. A run of four from 2017 propelled him to 13.
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His 14th title in 2022 was the stuff of legend.
In the quarter-final, he saw off the top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic in an epic four-hour battle.
Clearly under the cosh against Alexander Zverev in the semi-final, he advanced to his 14th final when the German twisted his ankle chasing a shot and was forced to retire.
An expected storm which would have forced the closure of the centre court roof and given a slight advantage to Casper Ruud in the final failed to materialise. Nadal wrapped up proceedings an hour or so before the heavens opened.
"It's difficult to describe the feeling," Nadal said afterwards. "At 36, playing in the most important court of my career and still competitive. I just want to say thank you to everyone here in Paris."
Gratitude too perhaps to the weather gods who held off the conditions that neutralise Nadal's arsenal of wicked spins that force the ball to rear up high after bouncing on the clay.
"Rafael Nadal and Roland Garros is a love story," said Gilles Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation, which organises the only Grand Slam tournament on clay courts.
"I think it is important to put it in terms like that because he has a profound respect for the surface of clay and we have the same respect for the player."
Other tributes will follow during the French Open fortnight. Mary Pierce – the last French player to win a singles title at the tournament – will be hailed for her achievement in 2000.
There will also be an adieu to the French veteran Richard Gasquet, who will retire from the circuit after his last match at the tournament. The 38-year-old reached a career high of seventh in the world in July 2007 and claimed 16 titles during his 23 years on the ATP tour.
The closest he came to emulating Yannick Noah – the last Frenchman to lift the 1983 French Open – was a quarter-final appearance in 2016.
French hopes
None of his younger compatriots figure among the favourites to succeed the 2024 champion Carlos Alcaraz, who will launch the defence of his singles title against the Japanese veteran Kei Nishikori.
Top seed Jannik Sinner will start against the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech and third seed Zverev, who lost in the 2024 final, will play Lerner Tien from the United States.
Tien's fellow American, Taylor Fritz, seeded fourth, will play Daniel Altmaier from Germany.
Fourteenth seed Arthur Fils will experience the 2025 tournament for the first time as France's top player following a solid campaign in the warm-up tournaments.
He lost to Alcaraz in the last eight in Monte Carlo and the semis in Barcelona. Zverev saw him off in the last 16 at the Italian Open.
However, Ugo Humbert, the French number two, has fared less favourably. The 26-year-old injured his right hand in a freak accident in his hotel room during a tournament in Nimes, southern France, and has staggered through events.
After retiring from his second round match at the Italian Open, Umbert announced he would skip the Hamburg Open to rest his wrist before his home Grand Slam, where as 22nd seed he will face Chris O'Connell from Australia in the opening round.
The current crop of Frenchwomen appear light years away from eclipsing Pierce's feats.
At 65 in the WTA rankings, Varvara Gracheva leads the pack. The 24-year-old will play the 2020 runner-up Sofia Kenin in the first round.
Diane Parry, the French number two, will take on the unseeded American Robin Montgomery and Léolia Jeanjean, the French number three, will begin against the experienced Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu.
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Caroline Garcia, who won the WTA end-of-season championships in 2022 to rise to number four in the world, has slumped to 145 in the rankings.
A day after she was drawn to play Bernarda Pera in the first round, the 31-year-old Frenchwoman announced on social media that the 2025 French Open would be her last.
"That said, it's not quite over yet," Garcia added. "I still have a few tournaments to play. After 15 years competing at the highest level and more than 25 years devoting almost every second of my life to this sport, I feel ready to turn the page and open a new chapter."
Garcia will be remembered for a bold attacking game that brought her 11 singles titles and two French Open doubles crowns.
'Every year is different'
The Russian 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva is expected to eclipse such exploits.
Earlier in the season, she arrived at Indian Wells in the United States with the crown from the Dubai Open – one of the most prestigious on the tour.
In the Californian desert, she outwitted the world number two and number one – Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka respectively – to add that title to her burgeoning trophy cabinet.
"Winning Dubai and Indian Wells, that was progress," said Andreeva's coach Conchita Martinez. "She's getting stronger and now I feel like she can compete with the top girls."
Jasmine Paolini beat Andreeva in last year's semi-finals before going down to Swiatek in the final. A year on, Paolini, who claimed the 2025 Italian Open singles and doubles crown, appears far more likely than the Pole to feature in the women's singles final on the last Saturday of the tournament.
Since raising the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen on centre court last June, Swiatek has not brandished any trophies and fallen to number five in the rankings.
After her third round elimination at the Italian Open, the 23-year-old dismissed her chances of a fifth French Open title in six years.
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"It would be stupid to expect too much because right now, I’m not able to play my game," she said. "It doesn’t matter what I achieved in Paris before — every year is different," she added.
Coco Gauff, who lost to Swiatek in the 2022 French Open final, discounted Swiatek's pessimism as she surged to the runners-up spot at the Italian Open.
"I think for sure it changes some things when you see someone who won the French Open that many times not having the best results."
"But you also have to respect that she's a four-time champion. I always think if someone wins a tournament that many times, regardless of what shape they're in, they can definitely figure out a way to win again."
Swiatek's hero, Nadal, wrote the book on that.
