"Finally, we're going to have suspense," Mouratoglou talks about Roland-Garros without Nadal
This Sunday, May 25, marks the start of the 2025 French Open. For two weeks, the best players in the world will compete to try to win Roland-Garros and thus succeed Carlos Alcaraz, who was crowned after a five-set final against Alexander Zverev last year.
In any case, this is the first edition of the Parisian Grand Slam since the announcement of Rafael Nadal's retirement. The Spaniard, who won the tournament 14 times in his career, will be honored on the first day of the main draw but will no longer participate in the tournament.
In a recent appearance on the VIP Lounge show on beIN Sports, Patrick Mouratoglou was asked about Nadal's absence, and Naomi Osaka's current coach suggested that the fact that the Mallorcan will no longer compete in the tournament is a good thing for a specific reason.
"I think it's great news. I'm not saying this at all against Rafael Nadal, but for 15 years, we knew who was going to win Roland-Garros. It took away a lot of the excitement of watching the tournament.
Every year, I was asked who was going to win at Roland, and what I always said was that the only thing we didn't know was who he was going to beat in the final.
Finally, we're going to have some suspense. In absolute terms, many players can win, even though Alcaraz is slightly ahead. But it's far from decided. There's going to be suspense. It's true that we had gotten used to him being there, but overall, when the years go by, and you know who's going to win, it's still less fun," the French coach elaborated.
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