Rafael Nadal was given a special tribute at Roland Garros on Sunday (May 25) as he returned to the arena he dominated in an unprecedented manner for the last two decades. This marked the first time Nadal returned to the French Open post his retirement.

For those unversed, Nadal retired from tennis last year. His final appearance came during the 2024 Davis Cup in November. He last played at Roland Garros during the 2024 Paris Olympics. He featured at last year's French Open but was knocked out of the tournament in the first round.

On the first day of action in the 2025 edition of the year's second Grand Slam, Nadal was honoured at the Court Phillipie Charter. The organisers revealed that the main court of the iconic arena will always a memorial to Nadal, which has his footprints.

Tennis legends Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray, who shared a rivalry with Nadal for almost his entire career also were present at the court to honour Nadal's legacy.

The Spaniard was left in tears as the crowd serenaded him.

Rafael Nadal hailed Federer, Murray, and Djokovic in a speech given at the arena. The Spaniard reflected on their rivalry and stated that he looks back at his battles with them very differently post-retirement. The 22-time Grand Slam winner expressed gratitude to the trio for being present for the ceremony.

“After all these years fighting for everything it’s unbelievable how the time changes perspective of everything. You don’t know yet Novak. Probably you know already Andy. With Roger we have talked about it a couple times. All of the nerves, pressure, strange feelings you feel when we see each other when we are rivals.. it’s completely different when you finish your career. At the end, now, it’s all about being happy about everything that we achieved. At the end, all of us achieved our dreams.

"We became tennis players. Played in the most important stages of our careers. I think we built amazing rivalries but at the same time in a good way. We showed the world that we can fight as hard as possible, but being good colleagues and respect each other very well. And for me, it means a lot that you are all here.. You gave me some hard times on court honestly but I really enjoyed pushing myself to the limit every single day to compete with all of you," said Nadal.

"At the end tennis is just a game. Sometimes we feel a bit more. But we understand at the end of the day, it’s really only a game. What it means for me that all of you are here is everything. It’s a great message to the world that we can be good friends even if we had the best rivalries. Thank you very very much for everything during all these years. I really hope and I’m sure we will continue doing positive things for our sport. Our legacy is there, but we need to keep building things that helps tennis keep growing. I’m sure we will make beautiful things together. Thank you very much for everything. And all the best," Nadal added.

For those unversed, Nadal won the men's singles event at the French Open 14 times, which is not just the most any one has lifted the crown at Rolland Garros but also the highest number of times any player has won a single grand slam, which is Djokovic second on the list having won the Australian Open 10 Times.

After Nadal, no player has won the French Open more than six times (Bjorn Borg) in the Open Era.