Nadal's glare brightens an autumnal final in Paris

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From spring 2019 to fall 2020. From a sunny Sunday to an unpleasant one.

From the crowd stalking the passage of a famous person to a pedestrian void, from the queues at the souvenir shops to the clerks chatting and yawning, from fighting for the last ice cream to no one needing to take anything cold ...

From an unfinished stadium to another impeccable but empty.

Or almost.

From 15,000 passionate, vibrating at every point, in every fight to ... a thousand, possessed by the same faith in tennis, sure, but self-conscious by the autumn cool to the point that the chair umpire did not have to impose silence or once

From

to

in the box ... With that you have a complete idea of ​​the melancholy that invades me writing this chronicle from the press box of the Philippe Chatrier, the center court of Roland Garros.

From the final of 2019, with

as an opponent, to this one against

, the world has suffered a cataclysm.

Only the power and organization, oiled as precision mechanics, of the French Open and

courage and hunger to win

remain intact in this cold and gray new normal.

Up here you can hear the rain beating gently against the new roof of the Parisian stadium.

Below, on the red of the crushed brick, it is something else.

There the fire burns and the brilliance of Nadal shines as he walks towards his golden destiny.

Blow by blow.

Racket by racket until finishing a Djokovic who was not up to the rivalry except when he managed to equal 3 in the third set, consumed and 2 hours and 10 minutes of the game.

Enthusiasm spread to the stands and for a few minutes we forgot about the cold and the masks.

The Serbian seemed to regain his temper, as the sun crept through the vomitories.

The two phenomena were short-lived.

Nadal gave a twist to his tennis and finished off a Djokovic who had done just enough to make up the result, he did.

The champion knelt, with the humility of great idols.

And the clouds put the gray beret back on this masked Paris.

Then, as the national anthem played, his eyes became wet.

The King of the earth, excited

In addition to the victorious Nadal, the mayor of Paris,

, re-elected in the spring and who is loved by those who push her to a presidential destiny and the president of the Paris region,

, who plays it in the next regionals.

The official Spanish delegation was headed by the ambassador in Paris,

, the general director of Sports,

, and the president of the Spanish Tennis Federation,

.

The Covid has upset everything, tennis calendar included, but has not been able to alter Nadal's Spartan march towards his 100th victory at the Musketeers stadium.

Until reaching the top of the Gradn Slam winners where

awaited him

.

I know the next appointment is in Australia.

But I would like the tiebreaker to be settled here in Paris.

In spring.

With sun and the crowds.

And you'll see what a great setting.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

• tennis

• Roland Garros

• Rafael Nadal

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