Rafael Nadal’s ‘eternal’ French Open mark hailed as ‘unique’ by fellow clay icon
Rafael Nadal’s legacy at the French Open will remain “eternal”, according to former WTA world No 1 and seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin.
Nadal’s career came to an end at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga this week, with the Spaniard playing the final match of his career in a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Botic van de Zandschulp.
The 38-year-old spent 209 weeks as the ATP world No 1 and won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, though will always be most associated with Roland Garros.
Nadal holds a staggering 112-4 record at the tournament and won the title 14 times, an all-time record for triumphs at an individual Grand Slam event across both the men’s and women’s games.
Speaking to Eurosport, Henin claimed the Spaniard’s feat in Paris would “remain unique”.
She said: “Roland-Garros will survive Rafael Nadal, fortunately, but the mark will be eternal.
“What he did, we can say that it will remain unique, even if some will have seen in his domination something that took away from the interest of the tournament, for the public.
“But when someone takes control like he did, when someone seizes the keys, he does not want to share them.”
Henin herself found huge success at Roland Garros, winning four of her seven major titles in Paris.
The Belgian’s last three titles were all won alongside Nadal, with the trio winning the men’s and women’s titles simultaneously in 2005, 2006, and 2007 – before her sudden retirement.
And Henin admitted that she felt she had a “bond” with the ‘King of Clay’ due to their shared history at the famed event.
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“It may seem strange, but I find a lot of myself in Rafael Nadal,” added the Belgian.
“We only have a very small piece of shared history at Roland-Garros. He continued his journey in a completely different way, but we still have this little piece of history in common.
“There was a bond because we had this love of Roland-Garros, this love of clay. That, for sure, is what we have in common.
“We never discussed it, but his gaze towards the members of his clan, his habits, his routine, his superstition, all that, it spoke to me a lot and I found a lot of myself in him, at that level.
“I felt that it was something we shared.”
Nadal’s fourth and final loss at Roland Garros came in his final appearance at the tournament earlier this season, beaten by Alexander Zverev in the opening round.
He previously fell to Novak Djokovic in 2015 and 2021, with his first loss coming to Robin Soderling in 2009.
After four straight titles from 2005-2008, Nadal then won five straight French Open titles from 2010 to 2014.
The Spaniard then won a further four titles from 2017 to 2020, before his 14th and final success in 2022 – which also happened to be the last of his 22 majors.
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