When Roland Garros (also known as the French Open) begins next week in Paris, it will feel a little emptier. For the first time in more than two decades, Rafael Nadal is no longer an active professional tennis player. Which means the field will be deprived of the most successful clay court player in the sport’s history, a man who won the title an extraordinary 14 times.
To ease the absence—and take the measure of the man and his career—here comes Christopher Clarey, longtime tennis journalist, with a new book The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay. On the heels of his examination of Roger Federer, The Master, Clarey rolls up his sleeves, adjusts his water bottles and focusses on Federer’s rival.
