Roland Garros opened with tears, chants and a sea of brick-red T-shirts reading 'Merci Rafa' as the French Open paid an emotional tribute on Sunday to Rafael Nadal, the man who conquered its courts like no other.

Is Rafael Nadal the greatest tennis champion of all time? Impossible to say. But a tear-jerking farewell ceremony, staged at Roland Garros on Sunday night, proved beyond doubt that he is the most humble.

Rafael Nadal believes his legacy at Roland-Garros is more broad than the record-setting 14 titles he won in Paris.

While his Roland Garros farewell ceremony was mostly a surprise, Nadal could always count on Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray being there.

Day one of the 2025 French Open featured Aryna Sabalenka, Frances Tiafoe, and Lorenzo Musetti all dominant in their first-round matches—but it was the tournament’s tribute to its greatest champion, 14-time men’s single winner Rafael Nadal, that was the true crowd-pleaser.

In the tournament's main stadium came on May 25, 2005 — Nadal clinched a straight-set victory in the second round against Xavier Malisse. That made Nadal's career record in the tournament 2-0, and he was just getting started on the way to what would end up as a 112-4 mark and 14 championships at Paris.

Roland Garros opened with tears, chants and a sea of brick-red T-shirts reading 'Merci Rafa' as the French Open paid an emotional tribute on Sunday to Rafael Nadal, the man who conquered its courts like no other.