Roland Garros Plans Tribute for Nadal

Gilles Moretton, President of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), revealed plans to honour Rafael Nadal in 2025 and appoint him as the tournament's ambassador.

Nadal, a fourteen-time champion of the tournament, played his last match at the French tournament last year, losing in the first round to Alexander Zverev, and bid farewell to the Philippe Chatrier weeks later after losing to Serbian Novak Djokovic at the Olympic Games.

The Spaniard is undoubtedly the most successful player in the history of the French Grand Slam, with those fourteen titles and an impressive record of 112 wins and only four losses since his debut in 2005.

"We will have a tribute this year," Moretton admitted in an interview with French radio Europe 1. "I am not revealing any secrets. There will definitely be something for Nadal, a truly significant tribute."

The FFT President acknowledged that something similar had been prepared last year, but it was not the right time as Nadal was still competing professionally.

"He was still a player, and then there was the Davis Cup, where he wanted to end his career, so the tribute was not what we should have done," he added.

After bidding farewell to Roland Garros and the Olympic Games, where he also reached the quarter-finals in doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz, Nadal played only one more tournament, the Davis Cup Finals, where Spain was defeated in the quarter-finals by the Netherlands. The last match of the Manacor native's career was a loss to Dutchman Botic Van de Zandschulp.

Moretton also confirmed that the tournament plans to offer Nadal a position within the tournament and that they visited him in December, along with Amelie Mauresmo, the tournament director, to discuss this.

"He is ready to talk about his future. We will provide more details about this ambassador role. The Rafael Nadal and Roland Garros brands are one, so yes, we are considering this with him," Moretton concluded.

The first major tribute to Nadal occurred after his elimination in the Davis Cup, but it was overshadowed by the absence of many of his great rivals and colleagues on the circuit, such as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, who were not present in Malaga to bid farewell to the Spaniard.