The French Open is entering a new era this year now that Rafael Nadal has retired. Players tend to agree that it is a shame fans no longer will get to see him play at a tournament he won a record 14 times.

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,

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.