Roland Garros and that bad feeling of being orphaned by the absence of Rafael Nadal

There are phrases that, over the years, cease to be obvious and take on a real dimension of the profound truth they contain. The Cuban Pablo Milanés sang it: “Time passes and we grow old”. It seemed simple, it seemed trivial, but those eight words, in reality, are not so obvious and apply perfectly to the feeling that passes through everyone, or almost everyone, in these hours. Roland Garrosa few hours before the start of a new edition of the second Grand Slam of this 2023.

It’s that tennis, with the Swiss Roger Federer and with Spanish Rafael Nadal, they didn’t make us believe that time not only didn’t pass, but that these two phenomena made them better. And we, happily, have appreciated the way in which the passage of time has transformed them into immortal geniuses.

Today, however, Paris, tennis and we see how that magical illusion of immortality is fading in this sad reality. We hardly accept that Federer is no longer on the track. And now, after 18 years, We have to accept that Nadal, its biggest winner, its owner, won’t be in Paris either. and he is missing.

And if it shakes us that nasty orphan feelingIt is worth putting yourself in Rafa’s shoes for a moment, who was always present at the Bois de Boulogne from 2005 to 2022. What will go through his head? What will you feel when you watch it on TV? It’s something he’s never done in the last 18 years. It was 18 years in which he won 112 games and suffered three losses -Swede Robin Soderling, in 2009, and Serbian Novak Djokovic, in 2015 and 2021, his only executioners -. In that period, we already know, he was crowned 14 times. A fabulous record that only Rafael Nadal could take away from the previous year’s Rafael Nadal.

Of course, this does not surprise the Spaniard, who no longer even appears in the top ten of the world rankings and will fall apart in a couple of weeks. There are already many years of injuries and hardshipswho checked him out and who questioned not only the possibility that he could win again, but that he could simply compete.

For this reason, it will be quite a challenge and an effort not to experience this edition with a melancholic tinge, because its absence is nothing more and nothing less than the passage of time. It is the absence before the farewell. And it hurts.

Times of change

It is enough to review the draw to take a greater dimension that we are experiencing a moment of transition in this Roland Garros 2023. As usual, and there are never any surprises, the main draw has 128 players. But There are only two who could repeat as champions: Djokovic, without the ideal shot on slow courts but looking for his second Grand Slam title of the year, and an aging Stan Wawrinka. These are times of change.

While Nadal is expected, the others, among other things, renew their expectations. There are several who dream of lifting the Musketeer Cup. Is that, without Rafa, the challenge seems a little less extreme for those who intend to become the new heroes on the holy brick dust of Paris. Who prevents Carlos Alcaraz, for example, already precocious number one in the world, from dreaming of the madness of proclaiming himself “heir to the throne”? which is vacant

Of course, it will help Alcaraz and everyone who comes from behind to study the recent past. Federer and Nadal have shown us that in the future there is improvement, hope and illusion. It’s a message that the new generation should embrace. Not everything is immediate. Even if there is something that will be eternal. And, perhaps, immutable. Nadal will forever be the supreme king and the Roland Garros region will forever be his sacred ground.

Paris, France. Special for Clarion.