"Tennis is in very good hands," said Rafa Nadal this week. Naturally, he was talking about Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, the two players who seem destined to fight for dominance in the sport over the next decade. After the beautiful five and a half hour final at Roland Garros, in which the Murcian emerged victorious with a comeback very reminiscent of those performed by the player from Manacor, both are now looking ahead to Wimbledon. To be in shape for the grass-court Grand Slam, they have chosen different paths: the Italian will participate in the Halle tournament, where he won in 2024, while Alcaraz is betting on Queen's, although he has not yet confirmed 100% whether he will be there. "The plan is to play, but in a few days we'll make a final decision. Halfway through the tournament we talked about it and Alcaraz told us he wanted to go. After these days of rest we'll do a test to see how he's physically and mentally. He'll resume his specific training for grass. We'll go to Wimbledon with great enthusiasm; he loves to play;

Roland Garros now has a new champion. Everything seemed set for a natural change of pace among Spaniards on Centre Court Philippe-Chatrier, with Carlos Alcaraz taking the Manacor native's place. And so it turned out, although at times it seemed Jannik Sinner would kick the ball out of the way. Alcaraz defended the title he won a year ago against Zverev in a beautiful final in which he even saved three match points. Just when everything seemed decided in Sinner's favor, the Murcian dressed up for Christmas with one of those comebacks that seems illogical. The trophy was already ready to be presented to the world number 1, who was hoping to become the first Italian to win in Paris since Adriano Panatta in 1976. He'll have to wait. Alcaraz rose from the ashes and, in a show of pride, won his fifth Grand Slam tournament at the same age Nadal had achieved it (4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 7-6). He has yet to lose a Grand Slam final. He's won them all.

At 21 years old, Coco Gauff (Cori Gauff) was crowned in Paris, winning her first Roland Garros title after defeating world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, in 2 hours and 38 minutes. This was the second Grand Slam for the player, a young player who has been carrying the pressure of being the great American hope for years, the player who could revolutionize the women's tour. In 2023, Gauff won her first major title at Flushing Meadows at the age of 19. Her rival? Also Sabalenka.

After reaching the pinnacle of tennis and winning the Roland Garros junior tournament, Carlos Cuadrado suffered a series of serious injuries that forced him into a premature and traumatic retirement. "I was frustrated and had to go through a period of grief to stop being constantly angry. I didn't expect to have to stop playing tennis so young. I had never even considered it. The process of accepting it was very difficult. Stopping competing left a huge void in me; it was the hardest moment of my life," he explains to 'A'.

When you enter the Roland Garros grounds in western Paris, you're greeted by a giant, three-meter-high sculpture made of 800 kg of steel depicting Rafa Nadal returning a ball. The legend of the player from Manacor, a 14-stroke winner of the legendary Grand Slam on clay, seems to go on forever. If in the early years the Parisians, always proud, looked askance at the young Mallorcan who played sleeveless, over time they surrendered to his game and decided to take care of it. They dedicated this statue to him, the work of the Valladolid-based sculptor Jordi Díez, son of a Catalan father, and made him the main attraction of their tournament.