As far as fans were concerned, there was only one match which mattered on the second day of the French Open and that was the one everyone had been talking about ever since the draw was made last week.
There can be no denying that whoever had a ticket for Court Philippe Chatrier on Monday, was the envy of all those who didn’t as history was very much in the air.
Unfortunately, despite all his best efforts, Nadal, the ‘King of Clay’, crashed out to the in-form fourth seeded German who had always felt he had the measure of the Spaniard two years ago before suffering that horrendous injury.
Zveev was in fact in inspired form and played with a lot of control, patience and power as he outmanoeuvred Nadal in front of the packed stands which continually showed their support of their former champion throughout the match, in a very boisterous fashion.
The former champion pressed on looking to level the scores at one set each, but Zverev’s superb serving kept him in the hunt and at 5-3 he forced Nadal to serve out.
There was some hope for Nadal when he took an early lead in the third, but it was short-lived as Zverev immediately struck back.
“It’s difficult for me to talk,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be the last time that I’m going to be here in front of all of you honestly. I’m not 100% sure.
“But if it’s the last time, I enjoyed it. The crowd have been amazing during the whole week of preparation and today.
In a press conference later, he expanded his thoughts.
“If it’s the last time that I played here, I am in peace with myself,” Nadal told the attending media. “I tried everything to be ready for this tournament for almost 20 years. And today and the last two years I have been working and going through probably the toughest process in my tennis career with the dream to come back here.
“As I said before, have been a positive week for me of practice in all ways. In terms of physical performance, too. Without a doubt I felt much better than before. I didn’t feel that limitations. Today in the match the same.
“I felt I was able to move myself much better than in the previous tournaments. But I had a very tough opponent in front. And he played well, I think. Even like this, I had my chances, you know, with serving for the set in the second, then against another 15-40. In the third again a break up and then another 15-40 and 5-3 in the second to 15-30.
“I need to clear my ideas now and see what’s the new calendar for me to try to be ready for Olympics,” Nadal said. “I can’t say anything today, but my main goal now is to play Olympics. That’s going to be here. So, I need to prepare myself the proper way to try to arrive here healthy and well-prepared, and then let’s see.”It also means he is unlikely to play Wimbledon!