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Rafael Nadal was brought to tears by an emotional video played for him at the French Open, which included a message from tennis greats Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
All of it was part of a farewell ceremony for Nadal at the French Open on Sunday, a Grand Slam tournament that the tennis legend has won 14 times over the course of his career.
The ceremony for Nadal included the surprise of having Federer and Murray on hand, who joined him along with Djokovic on the court.
It was a reunion of tennis’ Big Four.
“After all these years fighting for everything it’s unbelievable how the time changes perspective of everything. You don’t know yet, Novak. Probably you know already, Andy. With Roger, we have talked about it a couple times,” Nadal said in speech on the court. “All of the nerves, pressure, strange feelings you feel when we see each other when we are rivals. It’s completely different when you finish your career. At the end, now, it’s all about being happy about everything that we achieved. At the end, all of us achieved our dreams. We became tennis players. Played in the most important stages of our careers.
“I think we built amazing rivalries but at the same time in a good way. We showed the world that we can fight as hard as possible, but being good colleagues and respect each other very well.”
Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray surprised Rafael Nadal at his Roland-Garros farewell ceremony 🥹👏
4 TENNIS LEGENDS. 🎾💯 pic.twitter.com/yjSCzGFuJv
Sunday’s ceremony included the unveiling of a plaque with his footprint on the court, which Nadal called “a great honor.”
“I was thrilled to know it would be present on the most important court of my career,” he said.
Nadal played his final competitive match last November before retiring and had dominated the French Open, going 112-4 during his career.
He won 22 Grand Slam tournaments, second all-time behind Djokovic.
English (US)