That's the win-loss record for Nadal at the French Open, giving him a career winning percentage of .966. The only four losses came in 2009 against Robin Soderling in the fourth round, against Novak Djokovic in the 2015 quarterfinals and the 2021 semifinals, and against Alexander Zverev in last year's first round.

As a sports writer, Christopher Clarey covered more than a hundred Grand Slam tennis tournaments (and 15 Olympics) for the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune, besides authoring the acclaimed 2021 book The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer.

For the first time since Rafael Nadal called time on his extraordinary career, the French Open begins without the looming prospect of its most dominant champion, and while Roland-Garros turns the page on a golden era,