Rafael Nadal: a French Open farewell?

Could this really be it for the King of Clay at Roland Garros? Rafa faces Alexander Zverev in the first round.

Transcript

00:00It's a big, big chance that it's going to be my last Roland-Garros.

00:03But if I have to tell you it's 100% my last Roland-Garros,

00:08sorry, but I will not.

00:10I cannot predict what's going on.

00:20He's just a lot stronger.

00:21Which means that even on bad days,

00:25even on days when he was physically not as good,

00:27even on days when he was tennis-wise not as good,

00:29even on all the days we want,

00:30he was so strong that even on those days he won.

00:33So yeah, he was just a lot stronger.

00:53I think that in a few years I won't be able to believe

00:55everything I experienced with him,

00:57both on and off the court.

00:59And for me, he will always be a great example of this sport.

01:04I'm part of a generation where he won the tournament 14 times.

01:09So it's the end of an era.

01:14But honestly, I was lucky to see these players

01:22for so long, so strong, for so long,

01:25that it had to stop at some point.

01:27Will it be here or will it be the next one?

01:29We don't know.

01:31But we know for a while that we're getting close to the end.

01:52Yeah, I'm happy it's not me playing against him first round.

01:55In my mind, I'm going to play peak Rafael Nadal.

02:01And that's what I expect him to be.

02:04I expect him to be at his absolute best.

02:07I expect him to play the best tennis

02:10that he's played in a long time on this court.

02:12In some way, this place is magical for me.

02:16If in the bottom of my heart,

02:19I don't have any hope to have success here

02:25and to create a beautiful thing this year,

02:28I will not be here in front of you guys.