Time and the wear and tear of years on tour have finally caught up with Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray.
Both have made it clear that this season will be their last. When that point comes for each remains to be seen but Murray has hinted it will be on the clay of Roland Garros come the summer Olympics in the men’s doubles.
For him, this year’s French Open serves a dual purpose. He has played it just once in the past six editions and was duly knocked out in the opening round. This is his chance to say goodbye to an event where he was a former finalist on the clay in Paris and made the semi-finals on four other occasions.
He faces another with a creaking body in Stan Wawrinka, himself a former French Open winner, in the opening round, one of the few players on tour actually older than Murray.
But it is in the doubles where he believes he has genuine aspirations playing with fellow Briton Dan Evans in something of a rehearsal for Murray potentially playing at the Paris Olympics before hanging up his racket.
The fact he and Evans received the first non-French wildcard for the men’s doubles in more than two decades shows the draw the former world No1 still has in Paris and beyond.
Murray may have internal aspirations for a long run in both the singles and doubles but he is match shy having only just returned in the last fortnight from damaging his ankle ligaments at the Miami Open, with early losses in Bordeaux and Geneva.
Nadal has also said that 2024 will be his last season. At this stage of a season, he has usually dominated the clay, this time he has just five single wins on the surface and yet bookmakers still have him seventh favourite in their odds.
Such billing is more about history than current form. He has won an astonishing 14 titles at Roland Garros and 112 of all 115 matches played there since making his debut in 2005.
There are hopes in the Nadal camp that his body could hold up sufficiently for him to wrestle his way to another long run. His cause has not been helped by the draw – he faces No4 seed Alexander Zverev in the opening round. The German has reached the semi-finals at the last three editions but is a habitually slow starter in the grand slams.
Novak Djokovic is currently vying for the tag of favourite along with Carlos Alcaraz ahead of tomorrow’s tournament start despite not attaining his best form since losing to Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals of the Australian Open.
The Serbian suggested he and his rivals would be wrong to write off an aging Nadal, instead putting him in his bracket of favourites.
Speaking in Geneva, where he was today playing in the semi-finals, he said: “This year is more open. Casper Ruud is surely one of the five players who are candidates to win. You have Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitipas, all players who won a major tournament on this surface this year.
“But when you talk about Roland Garros and Nadal is there, he is always the big favourite for me. After everything he has done on the courts at Roland Garros, it’s normal, respectfully, to put him as the biggest favourite. Obviously, it is a little different with his level of play [currently] but it’s Roland Garros and it is Nadal.”
Murray is not the only British player with a tough start in Paris. British women’s No1 Katie Boulter has been drawn against former world No2 Paula Badosa in her first-round match and then potentially faces former French Open runner-up Sloane Stephens in the second round and world No2 Aryna Sabalenka in round three.
Murray’s doubles partner, Evans, has a tough draw against No13 seed Holger Rune while Jack Draper has an easier beginning against either a qualifier or lucky loser, and Cameron Norrie takes on Pavel Kotov.
