Rafael Nadal Saluted by Fans After Loss to Zverev In Possible French Open Farewell

If this is indeed Rafael Nadal's last French Open, he wasn't going down without a fight.

The 14-time champion lost 3-6, 6-7(5), 3-6 to fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev on Monday.

The 37-year-old has played down the idea of bidding adieu to Roland-Garros this summer, but that didn't fully remove the sense a historic chapter for men's tennis is drawing to a close.

Tournament organizers didn't do Nadal any favors, making him an unseeded player and pairing him with Zverev straight out of the gate.

Things didn't look good for the southpaw early on. He dropped serve in the opening game of the match and had nine unforced errors to just five winners in the first set.

Nadal bounced back in the second and took a 5-3 lead thanks to a service break in the fifth game. Fans were seeing shades of his old self and gaining some hope an instant classic was in store.

That belief steadily waned as Zverev won the next four games and eventually took the set in the tiebreaker.

With Nadal down two sets to none, the question became less about whether he could pull off the upset and instead about if his last French Open ever would end in a first-round, straight-set loss.

For most fans, the occasion was an opportunity to enjoy a legendary star one more time.

It's anybody's guess as to what the future holds for Nadal, either for the rest of this season or the 2025 Grand Slam calendar. He has logged a relatively light schedule so far in 2024, so his availability for Wimbledon and the U.S. Open isn't assured.

Great athletes rarely get to exit on their own terms, and that's especially true in such an unforgiving sport such as tennis. The last few years of Roger Federer's career were pretty unremarkable before he walked away altogether.

Losing to Zverev wasn't the way you would've scripted Nadal's farewell, but at least the general certainty over his likely departure allowed everyone to appreciate his legacy at Roland-Garros.