Does Court Schedule Snub Show Rafael Nadal Has Worn out Welcome at French Open?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: May 27, 2014

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Rarely does the release of a tournament schedule elicit the type of response aimed at French Open officials after they assigned eight-time champion Rafael Nadal to the Suzanne Lenglen court.

Lenglen is the second show court and plays second fiddle to Philippe Chatrier, center stage at Roland Garros.

The apparent slight raised eyebrows. It also raised questions. Just what is the relationship between Nadal and French fans? Do the French appreciate and embrace his dominance? Or has the Spanish conqueror worn out his welcome? 

Nadal clearly enjoys playing in the French Open. He is 59-1 at Roland Garros. But perhaps the French would rather see someone else hoist La Coupe des Mousquetaires.

During the televised opening-round match between Novak Djokovic and Joao Sousa on Chatrier, ESPN commentator Brad Gilbert suggested that if Djokovic and Nadal met in the final, the French crowd would likely side with the Serbian. 



Gilbert is probably right. In 2009, Sweden's Robin Soderling handed Nadal his only defeat at the French Open. The fans appeared solidly behind Soderling, who wasn't exactly a popular player.

After the Soderling match, Nadal's uncle and coach Toni Nadal lashed out at the partisan Parisian crowd. In an interview with a Spanish radio station, Uncle Toni declared: “There is only one set of supporters that is worse than the French and that is the Parisians...The Parisian crowd is pretty stupid. I think the French don’t like it when a Spaniard wins."

While Nadal prefers to dismiss that type of talk, some players were baffled by the opening-round court assignment. John Isner told USA Today's Douglas Robson, "That's really bizarre...I mean, how many times does the guy have to win the tournament to be able to have his first match on Chatrier?"

Twitter was abuzz as sports journalists and tennis fans tweeted the...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

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