PARIS: Rafael Nadal on Thursday withdrew from the French Open and announced that 2024 will likely be his last season in tennis after a career which has brought him 22 Grand Slam titles.
AFP Sport recalls six of the Spaniard’s greatest Slam finals:
2005 French Open
Nadal bt Mariano Puerta 6-7 (7/6), 6-3, 6-1, 7-5
— The one that started it all.
Nadal came in as an 18-year-old left-hander on the rise, with a huge top-spin forehand and expectations to match.
He won all three clay-court lead-up tournaments, in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome and there was a buzz growing around Nadal as he took to court in a sleeveless shirt, prowling like a young…
