Roland Garros to give favourite son Rafael Nadal huge retirement send off

The 14-time champion will be honoured at a tournament which he dominated more than any other player in the sport - perhaps in any sport.

Nadal said his goodbye to professional tennis at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, after he fell to Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-4 - with Spain losing the overall tie to the Netherlands.

"There will, necessarily, be something for Rafael Nadal, a very big tribute," Gilles Moretton, the president of the French Tennis Federation, said to Europe 1 radio.

"A real tribute, very important. We are attached to it. The [Davis Cup] tribute was not really the one that we had to pay him We were ready last year and he wasn't ready, he was still a player.

"We went to see him at home, at the beginning of December, with Amelie Mauresmo to talk to him about this tribute that we will organize for him, and talked to him about the future."

Moretton also hinted at a future direct relationship between Nadal and the Parisian Grand Slam: "We will give the outlines in some time of this role of ambassador that he can hold with us. The two 'brands', Rafael Nadal and Roland-Garros, are one. So yes, we are considering things with him."

Long-time rival Novak Djokovic harshly criticised the tribute that the Davis Cup Finals gave the Spaniard, upon his retirement in Malaga.

"I saw the video [of the ceremony]. I don't know, I don't know if Rafa maybe didn't want to make too much of a fuss about it in order not to bother other teams, matches. I don't know, to be honest, but I feel bad that I wasn't there," said the Serb, who had planned to be at the tournament if Spain progressed past the Netherlands.

"We were together on the court in Riyadh, that was the moment, a nice moment. I saw him play at Roland Garros, we played each other at the Olympics. The ceremony, if you want my opinion, wasn't done properly.

"Maybe Rafa himself wasn't sure whether he'll play or not, if he can play some more, and then maybe it was too late to do something bigger. I don't know, really."

The 24-time Grand Slam champion wasn't the only one who was critical of the tribute.

Nadal's last coach, and Grand Slam champion, Carlos Moya stated: "The feeling we are all left with is a bit scruffy and shabby. It's true that it's a Tuesday night, but this is sport and we knew months in advance that if Spain lost, Rafa would retire. Nadal is far above all this."

However, Nadal was often understated, but, by the sounds of it, the tribute in Paris will be significantly more grandeur, at a tournament which he made his second home.

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