Rafael Nadal has never appeared at Roland-Garros without a single match on clay in his legs. The Spaniard has been out for almost four months with a muscle injury in the left hip.
Nadal, 37, has never won the French Open without a warm-up match. The Mallorcan, in the twilight of his career, necessarily dreams of a fifteenth title that would allow him to bring to 23 the record of Grand Slam titles, which he currently shares with Novak Djokovic.