Rafa Nadal is a very loved person all over the world. But if there is a specific place where the Balearic receives a lot of love every time he visits, besides Spain, it is in France, more precisely in Paris. Unfortunately, the 14-time winner of Roland Garros will no longer set foot on Parisian clay and a debate has opened in France. Should we change the name of the central court at Roland-Garros to pay homage to Nadal?
It was the melon that opened in France and there is a difference of opinion. There are many who think that yes, that They should rename Philippe Chatrier in honor of Rafa Nadalthe tennis player who has managed to win the most times at Roland Garros, 14, far ahead of the second on this list, Björn Borg, with six. Even if the Spaniard still has one last dance, that of the Davis Cup final, from November 19 to 24 in Malaga, the debate has already started after the announcement of his withdrawal after the meeting with the ‘Spain.
The Philippe Chatrier was built in 1928 like the central court of the Stade Roland Garros, a magical place for the Spaniard, even if he initially adopted another name. After its inauguration, This track was known simply as Grandstand Centraluntil in 1998 he adopted the name of Philippe Chatrier, former French tennis player and former president of the French Tennis Federation for almost 20 years (1973-1993), a position he combines with that of president of the International Tennis Federation.
26 years later, in France, They are considering the possibility of changing the name of the Roland Garros headquarters again in honor of Rafa Nadal, tennis player who won the Coupe des Mousquetaires 14 times. In fact, no one in the history of men’s tennis has managed to win the same Grand Slam so many times, not even Federer or Djokovic. The journalists of RMC Sport They debated this question during their Super Moscato Show.
For Vincent Moscato, the answer is clearly yes: “Nadal did at Roland Garros what no one had done before It’s an incredible feat. So why not put his name? I have a lot of respect for Philippe Chatrier but… Nadal did something exceptional! We’re not going to put Nadal’s name on the urinals or on the soda bar… We don’t have champions like him!», Assured the host of the show.
Tribute to the French
However, Stephen Brun and Eric Di Meco do not share their opinion. These two advocate the honoring of French tennis players, like Yannick Noah, before Rafa Nadal, who already has a statue near Chatrier. “We need to celebrate our heroes and our athletes. The US Open does it very well, the same in Australia and Wimbledon. They respect institutions. The problem with Roland Garros is that the center is named after a leader. Why not call him Yannick Noah?“, began Stephen Brun.
“The name of Philippe Chatrier is not pronounced abroad. Let’s present our Frenchman, but not for Roland-Garros. Nadal did something exceptional, but let’s not transform the field, even for a Frenchman: Noah, Mauresmo, Pierce… Real Madrid did not change the name of its stadium in homage to Zidane,” added Brown.
For his part, Di Meco also shared this latest analysis of the tribute to Noah: “I never understood why we never paid tribute to Yannick Noah. I agree with Stéphane. We are not even able to pay tribute to a champion like Noah… In 2022, the debate had already arisen in the field of tennis, and a certain Ivan Ljubicic, then coach of Roger Federer, had recommended changing the name of Central. “Few players have managed to play Roland Garros 14 times. He has won it 14 times. There are no words to describe this series. “I don’t think it would bother good old Philippe (Chatrier) to change the name of the center court to ‘Rafael Nadal’: a statue is not enough.”
