{"id":48316,"date":"2025-05-15T02:35:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T02:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48316"},"modified":"2025-05-15T02:35:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T02:35:22","slug":"clay-king-rafael-nadal-makes-a-french-open-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48316","title":{"rendered":"Clay king Rafael Nadal makes a French Open comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"d-C--\">The 38-year-old Nadal retired in 2024 after playing for Spain in the Davis Cup<\/p>\n<div class=\"t557e\">\n<div class=\"jT9Gr\">\n<figure class=\"_0rL02 fG2dB\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"qt-image\" src=\"https:\/\/media.assettype.com\/gulfnews%2Fimport%2F2022%2F05%2F29%2FCopy-of-France_Tennis_French_Open_81965.jpg-8557e-1653852768095_181114e877b_large.jpg?w=480&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;fit=max\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 90vw, 75vw\" srcset=\"\/\/media.assettype.com\/gulfnews%2Fimport%2F2022%2F05%2F29%2FCopy-of-France_Tennis_French_Open_81965.jpg-8557e-1653852768095_181114e877b_large.jpg?w=250&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;fit=max 250w,\/\/media.assettype.com\/gulfnews%2Fimport%2F2022%2F05%2F29%2FCopy-of-France_Tennis_French_Open_81965.jpg-8557e-1653852768095_181114e877b_large.jpg?w=480&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;fit=max 480w,\/\/media.assettype.com\/gulfnews%2Fimport%2F2022%2F05%2F29%2FCopy-of-France_Tennis_French_Open_81965.jpg-8557e-1653852768095_181114e877b_large.jpg?w=640&amp;auto=format%2Ccompress&amp;fit=max 640w\" alt=\"Spain's Rafael Nadal has won 22 Grand Slams including 14 French Open.\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"_4wuYh\">Spain&#8217;s Rafael Nadal has won 22 Grand Slams including 14 French Open.AP<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"rlKNF\">\n<div class=\"story-element story-element-text\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"Iqx1L\">\n<p>Dubai: Clay king Rafael Nadal is returning to Roland Garros. But the Spaniard who is a winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, including 14 at the French Open, will make a comeback not as a player but as a voice-over artist in the tournament\u2019s official teaser trailer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Iqx1L\">\n<p>The 38-year-old Nadal retired in 2024 after playing for Spain in the Davis Cup after being plagued by injuries for a long time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"\">\n<div class=\"story-element story-element-jsembed story-element-jsembed-tweet\">\n<div class=\"jsembed-wrapper \">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=Jai%20Rai%2C%20Assistant%20Editor&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1921853292620955782&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fgulfnews.com%2Fsport%2Ftennis%2Fclay-king-rafael-nadal-makes-a-french-open-comeback-1.500126872&amp;sessionId=44146b3fda980ba9dfad52639fb4896bf74a7c96&amp;siteScreenName=gulf_news&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1921853292620955782\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"story-element story-element-text\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"Iqx1L\">\n<p>\u201cOnly where love is written in capital letters, only the clay where champions fight, only the glide, the power, only the endurance until the night, only where tennis and everyone rhyme, only where hats fit all heads, only where the clay marks passion in red, only where rituals leave a trace, only a stage for courage and fire, only here where all dreams transpire, only at Roland-Garros,\u201d Nadal says in his narration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"-U-T1\">\n<div class=\"DX9hA\">\n<div class=\"L1aHm\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"Iqx1L\">\n<p>Talking about honoring Nadal at the French Open, French Open director Am\u00e9lie Mauresmo said: \u201cRafa has left his mark on the history of the French Open in so many ways, that\u2019s why a tribute ceremony will be held in his honor. We want the tribute to be special, exceptional. We want it to be a surprise for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"story-element story-element-text\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"Iqx1L\">\n<p>\u201cWe wanted to do the tribute last year, to be transparent, but he refused at the time,\u201d Mauresmo added. \u201cHe wasn\u2019t sure that it was his last Roland Garros. Now that he is retired, he is happy to receive it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"_4EXSh\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 38-year-old Nadal retired in 2024 after playing for Spain in the Davis Cup Spain&#8217;s Rafael Nadal has won 22 Grand Slams including 14 French Open.AP Dubai:&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Clay king Rafael Nadal makes a French Open comeback - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=48316\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Clay king Rafael Nadal makes a French Open comeback - 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