Rafael Nadal’s final professional appearance will be at the Davis Cup Finals next month, but the Paris Masters tournament director has answered whether the Spaniard wanted to play at the ATP Masters-1000 tournament.
Nadal has a special relationship with the French capital because of his incredible record at the French Open, winning an unprecedented 14 titles at the only Grand Slam held on clay.
The last of these successes was in 2022. Nadal’s run to his final French Open title included a four-set victory in the quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic, the last time he defeated his old rival.
Despite the 38-year-old’s repeated injury problems in the last two years, he and Djokovic have met twice this year. The first was also at Roland-Garros at the Olympics, and the Serbian beat Nadal on his way to winning the men’s singles gold medal.
Their second match of 2024 came at last week’s Six Kings Slam exhibition in Saudi Arabia. Djokovic beat Nadal again and paid an emotional tribute to him after their final battle before the 22-time Grand Slam champion retires.
Nadal’s appearance at an exhibition event after not playing for over two months made some wonder if he would compete at the final Masters-1000 event of the year in Paris, which starts next week.
Admittedly, the Paris Masters has been one of the least successful tournaments of Nadal’s career. His only final in 2007 ended in a heavy loss, and it was one of three Masters-1000 events he never managed to win. The others are the Miami Open and the Shanghai Masters.
Nadal did not get to say a proper farewell at the French Open, which made saying goodbye to the city of Paris at the Masters-1000 tournament an option. It could have also given him some practice on an indoor hardcourt before the Davis Cup Finals.
However, the Paris Masters tournament director, Cedric Pioline, revealed that Nadal had not requested to appear, even though his coming to the event to play matches was a possibility.
“It’s true that it was a real option for him to come to Paris to play matches, a form of logic given that the Davis Cup will be his final curtain, but no, he has not made a request.”
“Choosing this moment, a Davis Cup in Spain with the possibility of experiencing this with all his teammates, his family, his friends, it makes sense and it suits him well, I think.”
Understandably, Nadal does not want to risk injury before his final appearance at the Davis Cup, although he took that chance to play at the Six Kings Slam. His controversial role as an ambassador for the Saudi Tennis Federation might explain that.
The four wild cards for the Paris Masters have been confirmed since Nadal did not want to appear. One of the men to receive one was Richard Gasquet, who will make his final appearance at the tournament before ending his terrific career next year.
Gael Monfils, Adrian Mannarino, and Giovanni Mpetshi were the other Frenchmen to be given wild cards for their home tournament.