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By Giri Nathan
[vc_empty_space height="15px"]Rafael Nadal announced on Thursday that he will miss the most meaningful tournament in his career. (He also announced that he intends to retire at the end of the 2024 season, but I don’t have the space or the nerve to tackle that in this humble email.) For the past 18 years, there has been no Roland-Garros without Rafa. Fourteen times he has been there on Sunday to hoist the Coupe de Mousquetaires. Not this year. It’s a disappointment for anyone who likes to watch the rugged artistry of an evolving clay-court genius, or just the meticulous picking of wedgies and alignment of water bottles along a precise diagonal. It is also, however, an enormous opportunity for the other 127 players who will appear in the men’s singles draw. When the guy with a 97 percent win rate at the tournament will instead be chilling out on a boat in Mallorca, you have to seize the opportunity.