When he first discussed the likelihood that 2024 would be his final season as a professional tennis player, Rafael Nadal made sure to refer to the Paris Olympics as one of the important competitions I would like to be at.
If, indeed, this is his last hurrah, and if, indeed, he does make it to the Summer Games a little more than a year after hip surgery neither of which is an absolute certainty it would be fitting that the site of the French Open is also the site of this goodbye.
No event, at least in this sport, defines an athlete's legacy the way the clay-court Grand Slam tournament does for Nadal. And, the opposite is true, too, which is why there is a statue of the 38-year-old Spaniard at Roland Garros, the site of a record 14 of his 22 major trophies and where the Olympic tennis matches begin on July 27.
Rafael Nadal skipped Wimbledon before the Olympics
Nadal skipped Wimbledon to avoid going from clay to grass and back to clay at the Paris Games, where he has been planning t
