It takes special players to keep coming back

ROLAND-GARROS
Nadal down but still not out: “Give me two months until the Olympics, and then let's see…”

“It’s always true that this court has been magical for me", said Rafael Nadal on Monday after the match. But despite the magic and despite the hype, there was no miracle: Rafael Nadal lost in the first round of Roland-Garros, a tournament he won 14 times. Despite his legendary history there, they still decided against giving him a seeding. In the same way, Dominic Thiem was denied a main draw wild card despite playing two semi-finals and two finals in Paris. We all know what Wimbledon would have done in the same circumstances…

They were all here to watch the King of Clay: Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek, Carlos Alcaraz, and so on. But even if Nadal did way better than in Rome and surely way better than many thought he could on that Monday, he still went down. And now we actually don’t know much more than before that match: it could have been his last at Roland-Garros, but maybe not. In the speech he gave on the court, he kept saying “if,” so even he doesn’t know.

“I showed myself that I was ready for more than what I did in the end, losing in the first round. I felt much better than before; I felt I was able to move much better than in the previous tournaments. I had my chances. I was not that far. I was ready to build my game and my confidence day by day. I’m happy I finish healthy. If it’s the last time I played here, I’m at peace with myself. I lost, but at least I came back here, and that was the dream the past two years. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few months.”

It’s even tougher for Nadal to decide that a few weeks ago only he was so sure his career was over. “It has been a tough process in all ways, and I arrived at a moment where I was mentally destroyed in terms of energy, in terms of personal happiness. That's why I said, okay, I need to stop this. I felt that there was a big chance that I would never be back on a tennis court a few weeks before Barcelona. But then I started to feel a little bit better. At least I was able to play four tournaments. That means a lot to me, and let's see.” 

So what’s next? Impossible to say. The feeling is that Nadal doesn’t want to stop but that his body is the one making the final decision. So he could be gone after the Olympics, or he could be back in Paris next year! At Roland-Garros, he was so much better than in Madrid and Rome that you could see in his eyes the return of the eye of the tiger. He had hopes and ambitions again because he was able to train normally: he had three hours on the court most days here. And he’s at two years of frustration, of not being able to compete: if he thinks there’s a chance for one final round with a much better body, he could very well take it.

“I cannot tell you if I will be or not in one month and a half because my body has been in a jungle for two years. You don't know what to expect. You know, I woke up one day and found a snake biting me. Another day, a tiger (smiling). There has been a lot of fighting with all the things that I went through, no? But the dynamic has been positive the last few weeks. So I felt ready. I think tomorrow I will be ready to play again if I have to. But I will not have to (smiling). I need to clear my ideas now and see what the new calendar is for me to try to be ready for the Olympics. I can't say anything today, but my main goal now is to play the Olympics. So I need to prepare myself the proper way to try to arrive here healthy and well-prepared, and then let's see.” 

People would wonder why but Nadal has an easy answer: he loves being out there competing. That’s it. “So if I keep enjoying doing what I am doing and I feel myself competitive and healthy enough to enjoy, I want to keep going for a while. I don't know for how long, but I want to keep going for a while because they are having fun, I am having fun, and I need to give myself a little bit longer chance to see if my level is growing and my body is holding, and then let's make a decision. But give me two months until the Olympics, and then let's see if I am able to keep going, or I say, okay, guys, it's more than enough.” We’ll wait Rafa, crossing fingers and toes for one more tango in Paris in 2025. For a better end, maybe.

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MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO 
It takes special players to keep coming back

Andy Murray and Bianca Andreescu are at very different stages of their careers and have had very different levels of success so far. But they’re both incredible players who have gone through an incredibly unfortunate streak of injuries. And who have come back, again and again. Rafael Nadal is obviously the best example of that resilience and determination to get back to where he always knew he belonged. Juan Martin Del Potro too.

Murray and Andreescu had all the reasons not to be in Paris for Roland-Garros this year. The British player severely injured an ankle in Miami, and the Canadian faced a race against the clock to heal from a stress fracture on her back. And yet, they made their way to that main draw. Some people would call it crazy, but when you know these two, it actually makes sense. It takes special people to keep coming back: people who love competing, people who won’t take no for a - tennis - answer, people who belonged to the top and are still up there in their minds. Murray and Andreescu never back down. Even from challenges that seem lost even before the start.

I asked Murray how he didn’t lose his mind and his motivation after that ankle injury. How did he go through the rehab process again? I loved his answer because it was so Andy. “I was surprised with that, to be honest. I was starting to play pretty well and was in a great position in the match… It was a really unfortunate injury, but then I was surprised with how I was during the rehab: I felt really motivated and worked extremely hard every day with my team and my physio. There were no holidays or breaks to feel sorry for myself. I just did the work and was surprised by that because I could have quite easily felt sorry for myself and could have taken a break and not done the rehab as well as I did. I was proud of that. I worked really hard to get back, and that’s one of the reasons why I was able to come back a bit sooner than I had anticipated.”

Andreescu, 23, also came back sooner than anticipated. She hasn’t played since last August, but being back in May is a performance in itself, as her doctors told her she could have been out of the game for up to a year. “French Open was cutting it close”, she said. “But a month ago, we said we were gonna play the French Open. No setback, just making sure I had enough time to build a good callus on my back. The goal was always French Open but in a way it was cutting it close. But training went well.”

She’s not shying away from how bad the situation was, but she’s still out there smiling and hitching to compete. “It sucked, obviously, having another injury. But I try to look at the positive in things: in a way, it was good because I’ve always identified myself too much with the sport, so it helps in that way not to get too attached to the game of tennis. I was able to do other stuff, and I’m very strong mentally and know how to deal with injuries. My doctor said I had a fast recovery. These things take time, and he said it could have taken up to a year. My rehab was very good, so I’m grateful it was not longer, and there was no need for surgery.”

Like Murray, she cannot imagine coming back just to be happy to play again. Andreescu can’t help it: she’s here to win. “Practicing is great, but what I love most is competing. The more I get injured, the more I learn about myself, and the more I find tools to help me get better quicker. At first, I was very frustrated, but I had to learn to accept it. I can’t change the past, I can just do what I can with what I have. (…) I want to win as much as I can. It didn’t work so well in the past for me to say, ‘I just want to have fun’ because the competitor in me comes out on the court. So yeah, I want to win.”

Murray, 37, also still wants to win. So bad that he even got through the process of switching racquets by opting for Yonex and no longer the Head racquet that’s been with him through his whole career. Yet, he’s not delusional. He’s not saying he’s off to win Grand Slam titles. He knows the limits of this stage of his career. But, still, like Nadal, he’s not going to go down without a fight. He’s not going to go before having tried everything to still be out there mattering while competing.

He tried against Wawrinka, even if it was not enough. "Obviously disappointed. I wish I could have done a little bit better. I didn't have extremely high expectations with the way the preparation had been coming in. But obviously would have liked to have done better tonight. Physically, tennis is not easy for me nowadays. It's hard, and clay has always been a surface that, since the very beginning of my career, I've had back issues on, and it's something I'm sort of used to, to be honest. Yeah, it had been a bit of a struggle in the training and in the buildup, but I felt pretty good going into the match tonight, considering.”

Yet Murray enjoyed his time in Chatrier’s “brilliant atmosphere,” and he’s quick to remind people that his career has nothing to prove to anyone anymore. “Most players would sign up for the results I've had here. I played in the final, I think, in four semis. I lost in the semis, I lost to Novak in five, Stan in five, and twice to Rafa. Obviously, no shame in that. At a different time, maybe the results would have been a bit different, but I'm proud of the results that I had here. I had great memories. It was not an easy surface for me. But I always showed up and put in some strong performances, considering. My body isn't what it was 10 years ago. I'm fully aware of that. It takes a lot of time and effort to get in a position to go out there and compete. It's not always perfect, but it is what it is, and I still enjoy giving it a go and trying to get myself out there and be as competitive as possible.”

QUESTION OF THE DAY 
Rafa for RG 2025?

You were 50% last week to say you’ve watched the Laver Cup but not all the editions.

BUSINESS / MEDIA 
The BBC takes the heat for hiring Nick Kyrgios

The BBC decided to sign Nick Kyrgios as a commentator for the upcoming Wimbledon, and this decision is now facing major backlash. Catherine Bennett for The Guardian calls it “an unforced error” due to the ties between Kyrgios and Andrew Tate, a self-proclaimed misogynist, who is currently facing rape and human trafficking charges. Bennett also states that the BBC hiring Kyrgios is the “rehabilitation of an abuser” as the Australian pleaded guilty last year to assaulting his ex-girlfriend, avoiding a criminal conviction. The Guardian also recalls Kyrgios’s long list of on-court issues and verbal abuse that has earned Kyrgios the title of most fined player in tennis history.

Katie Edwards for The Independent wonders if allegations of assaulting women are now a career boost for male celebrities. “What defies norms more than an aggressive rich bloke who throws a tantrum when he doesn’t get his own way? What says “beloved troublemaker” more than a celebrity athlete who admits to assaulting his partner but sees his charges dismissed? Oh, yes, that’s right, that’s not disrupting norms at all. It’s par for the course. (…) Am I shocked that the BBC has been so blasé about his appointment as a pundit? I guess not. But, like so many women, I am tired of being shown how little we matter.”

The Telegraph published quotes from Caroline Nokes, the women and equalities committee chair, saying that “the corporation should “hang its head in shame” for agreeing terms” with Kyrgios despite his admitting to assaulting his ex-girlfriend. “It’s a disgrace and shows the utter contempt our national broadcaster has towards women”, she also said. The Telegraph also quotes Teresa Parker, head of media at the charity Women’s Aid: “We are shocked to hear of the appointment of a Wimbledon pundit by the BBC who pleaded guilty to assaulting an ex-girlfriend last year. Nick Kyrgios has also been publicly called out for supporting the social media content of a well-known misogynist, who has himself been arrested on violence against women charges. We are concerned how this appointment sends out a worrying message about how seriously we as a society take violence against women.”

SOME BREAK POINTS 
Djokovic has a new coach… just for Paris

• Novak Djokovic will not be without a coach for Roland-Garros, but it’s still not a long-term situation. The World No.1 revealed to the Serbian press on Sunday that he had brought Boris Bošnjaković, the head coach of his tennis centre in Belgrade, into the team for Roland-Garros. “Boris is a part of my technical team, so to say, when it comes to the analysis of my rivals, matches, and my own game. We’ve been cooperating for several years in various roles, Boris had been the head coach at Novak Tennis Centre. He is going to be my tennis coach in Paris; he will work with me on analysis, preparations, and tactics. As for what comes after this tournament, I don’t have a long-term coaching solution at this moment”, Djokovic said, as reported by Tennis Majors.

• Iga Swiatek praised her entourage for how well she’s been coping with the pressure of leading that sport.
  
  “We had knowledge that it's not easy to be in that place with all the pressure around you. My team was pretty smart in terms of planning everything well, tennis-wise obviously, but I mean more like from the business side of tennis. I think Daria helped with that a lot. She's the person who is going to tell me that I need to stop doing too much stuff off the court and focus really on the work, and she usually sees these red flags earlier than I do. Dealing with success is not easy, and I think we did everything really smart, but I don't know how it would be without looking at the stories of other players. We were pretty careful in choosing the right one for me because it's not easy, honestly, to know that this might be my time, and I want to use it properly. Also, I want to earn money and, on the other hand, be really focused on tennis still because you have so many things suddenly going on that it might be hard. We were just smart doing that no matter what happened around us. I'm happy that I have good people around me who sometimes stop me and tell me honestly what I need to focus on.”

• Talking about coaches and surprises: it was interesting to see Thomas Johansson (former coach of David Goffin or Maria Sakkari, former Australian Open champion in 2002) with Kei Nishikori’s team in Paris.

• Jack Draper also tried to switch things up by bringing Wayne Ferreira, a former Top 10 from South Africa. But it hasn’t helped him for Roland-Garros as the British (#39) player lost in the first round (7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (7-3), 3-6, 6-3) against qualifier Jesper De Jong (#176). Draper is still determined to change things in order to battle at the top of the game. “I’ve got to 35 in the world playing the way I have but I don’t want to be stuck between 20 and 50 all my career. (…) I want to be a top player. Things have to change. (…) I really believe that I want to do things differently. I want to play more aggressively, and I want to take it to the opponent a bit more. Even in the match today, at certain times, it was there, but it’s not consistent, and it’s very up and down at the moment”, he said, as reported by The Times. A pity for Draper, who could have played against Carlos Alcaraz next.

• Barbora Krejcikova told me in Madrid that she’d do everything to be back at her best for Roland-Garros, but the Czech still came up short. The 2021 Roland-Garros champion lost in the first round against Viktorija Golubic (7-6(3), 6-4). The Czech, whose game is dearly missed in the battles at the top of the game, still lacks matches after the back injury following her quarter-final in Melbourne and an illness in Miami.

• Jannik Sinner inaugurated a gossip session during his press conference on Monday. An Italian journalist asked him to confirm that he was indeed dating player Anna Kalinskaya. Sinner started with a laugh before saying that, yes, they were together, but he wanted to keep his private life private. Kalinskaya attended Sinner’s first round, and he was in her box, under a black hoodie, for her match.

PLAY HARD, TRAIN HARD, DRESS THE PART 
Why are these RG outfits so boring?

There was a time when brands picked Grand Slams as the place to be edgy. It was the tennis version of fashion week. Sometimes, it was a miss (Adidas zebra era, anyone?), but at least brands were trying. You could even see designers partnering with them for a special collection. So far, at Roland-Garros, there’s been no trial, there’s been nothing daring, there’s been nothing that at least catches the eye.

Carlos Alcaraz landed on the Chatrier on Sunday dressed in what looked like his practice outfit. Nike, why did you get Alcaraz to dress him like that? Jannik Sinner? Same. Worst? Rafael Nadal’s outfit: meh as well: for the king of clay and for what could be his last Roland-Garros? Should be illegal.

Wilson and On getting points for trying

The only brands so far who have tried to make a bit of a statement are Wilson with Marta Kostyuk, On with Iga Swiatek, and Lulu Lemon with Leylah Fernandez, especially her off-court set. I’d also give major props to Jelena Ostapenko’s brand, DK One, for keeping the tennis fashion spirit alive week in and week out. All the rest makes me wish Serena and Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, and Andre Agassi could come to give brands and players a pep talk about how to leverage attention during a Grand Slam. Kids used to run to the shops to see if they could dress like their tennis icons: well, good luck with that in 2024 in Paris. It used to be part of the game and to be fun so what happened? At a time when luxury brands are all over tennis players, why are their clothing brands giving up?

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