20 years of Nadal’s debut in Roland Garros | ATP Tour

Roland Garros

20 years of Nadal’s debut in Roland Garros

On May 23, 2005, an incredible adventure began in Paris

May 23, 2025

May 23, 2005. Any date at that time, a historical date 20 years later.

Exactly two decades ago, Rafael Nadal played his first game in a final roland Garros. Away from the Court Philippe Chatrier, where he would write deeds of legend, the Spanish began to walk a path that is already indelible in the history of sport. Track 1, popularly known as Plaza de Toros, hosted his duel against Lars Burgsmuller.

Under the sun of the French capital appeared a player willing not to waste time. After a European stellar beaten land tour, where he had raised the titles of Montecarlo, Barcelona and Rome, the 19 -year -old freshness became evident in each blow of Spanish. A combined right, synonymous with the Parisian tournament in the later years, began to sow an authority rarely seen in the forest of Bologna. With white pirate pants, sleeveless green shirt and a bandana to contain an immense hair, Nadal began to leave an unique seal.

The marker prayed 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-1 in favor of then No. 5 of the PIF ATP Rankings, a position that would soon see him enter the circuit podium. An hour and 45 minutes that are already part of the history of Roland Garros. The first chapter of an adventure hardly imaginable and probably unrepeatable.

That game would be the departure gun for a sensational tournament, where Nadal demonstrated an infinite hunger to become an icon of sport. If an injury in the escain had prevented him from debuting in Paris in 2004, the Mallorcan unleashed an accumulated energy to cross the picture with an unusual force. Xavier Malisse, Richard Gasquet, Sebastian Grosjean and David Ferrer were obstacles saved with solidity, delivering just a manga on the way to the semifinals. There, the horizon already marked a special effort in the hands of Spanish.

The No. 1 World Cup Roger Federer, with gallons of multiple Grand Slam champion at the time, waited in a penultimate round that attracted the eyes of half the world. The first shock in Grand Slam between two figures that would raise the popularity of white sport to levels never seen before. The Spanish beat the Swiss in four sleeves to climb to his first Grand Slam final, where he would proclaim champion after beating the Argentine Mariano Puerta.

Then, with daily work as a recipe, figures from another planet would arrive. A total of 14 titles and a balance of 112 victories in 116 games flan the greatest domain ever seen in a Grand Slam tournament.

Two decades later, with an impeccable professional career already behind the back, Nadal will return to Roland Garros with an identity won by pulse. From that teenager full of illusion to a historical man in modern sport, with a statue in his honor in the Roland Garros enclosure and a tribute on the Philippe Chatrier track as a brooch to a special relationship like none.