France TV (DR) / ATP Tour (DR)
By Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Sports journalist
A key figure at Roland-Garros since the late 1980s, Nelson Monfort has seen many champions pass through the venue, including a certain Rafael Nadal. He also took the liberty of revealing the behind-the-scenes of his relationship with the clay court giant.
This 2024 edition could go down in history in many ways. In addition to Carlos Alcaraz’s victory, Roland-Garros potentially said goodbye to two of its monuments a few weeks ago. Starting with Rafael Nadal, defeated in the second round by Alexander Zverev and whose repeated physical problems risk leading to his retirement soon.
A retirement that Nelson Monfort, who has covered the tournament for France Télévisions since 1988, also seems destined to take. At 71, the famous French journalist seems to have conducted his last interviews on the edge of the clay courts, as evidenced by the tribute paid to him at the end of the fortnight. Enough to forever link him to Rafa, with whom he has inevitably forged ties over the years.
Nelson Monfort shares his thoughts on Rafael Nadal
Asked last May by Real MediaNelson Monfort was then invited to reveal the nature of his relationship with Nadal. And it goes without saying that he did not mince his words:
Nelson Monfort: My relationship with Rafael Nadal? I would say it’s a brotherly relationship, I don’t hesitate to use that word.
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I would say that among all the athletes I have met – and you know that I work on other sports – he is certainly one of the most endearing, if not the most endearing.
Winner of the Parisian Grand Slam fourteen times, the Spaniard has regularly come across the legendary consultant and made a very good impression on him. So much so that the latter had a lot of trouble digesting his elimination against Zverev:
Nelson Monfort: He left the tournament early because of a draw that, I want to make it clear, should never have happened. I digress, but he should have been protected. He should have been seeded. No one would have objected. Wimbledon did it for (Roger) Federer a few years ago, I don’t see why Roland-Garros didn’t do it this year.
There was a 1 in 128 chance that he would come across a player of that caliber and unfortunately, he drew the wrong number. That draw may have — I mean may have — prevented him from winning this tournament.
It remains to be seen whether the Bull of Manacor will give itself a final chance to lift its fifteenth Musketeers Cup next year. An exploit after which Monfort will in any case not be able to collect his emotions on his microphone.
Nelson Monfort may have interacted with the greatest tennis stars of the last few decades at Roland Garros, but few of them left as much of a mark on him as Rafael Nadal. Proof that the Spaniard was not only admirable on the court.
