At this point in Rafael Nadal’s career, he is most eager for one particular spectator to get to watch him play: His 1-year-old son.

As the start of the French Open approaches on Sunday, no one knows with any certainty how much longer the clay-court tournament’s 14-time champion will try to compete after a series of injuries that limited his ability to play for most of 2023 and 2024.

“Well, I would love to play a little bit longer and give him a memory of myself playing tennis. That’s what will be the ideal thing for me and for my wife and family,” Nadal, who turns 38 on June 3, said about Rafael Jr. “But probably, I will not be able to make that happen.”

Plenty of other folks have vivid recollections of seeing Nadal display his relentless excellence on a tennis court. That includes the many players who have been on the other side of the net for at least one of his 1,299 professional matches.