Rafael Nadal knocked out of the French Open in the first round as legendary Spaniard loses in straight sets to Alexander Zverev in likely Roland Garros farewell

There is a statue of Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros, forged not from stone but shards of metal. While most sculptures appear static this is a kaleidoscope of movement. Nadal is depicted with left leg in the air, left arm wrapped around his body in a forehand, and mouth open in that primal snarl of effort.

That is how he will be remembered, not as the man who was beaten in straight sets by 27-year-old Alexander Zverev on Philippe Chatrier; not as this shadow of the titan he once was.

But this defeat – only his fourth here in 19 years and his first in the opening round - will form part of his legacy nonetheless. It is one thing to fight towards victory, quite another to scrap in the face of almost certain defeat.

He saved 12 break points and a run of shotmaking brought him close to snatching the second set. It was comfortably his best performance of this, almost certainly the final season of his career.

But Zverev is younger, fitter and more powerful and sometime sport is as simple as that. The German No 4 seed joins Robin Soderling and Novak Djokovic as the only men to have beaten Nadal at the French Open. He should absolutely be counted among the favourites for this title.

'I don't know if it's the last time I will be here,' said Nadal, 37. 'It's so special for me to feel the love of the people in the place that I love the most.

'I was competitive I had my chances but it was not enough against a great champion like Sacha.

'To the people here, the feelings you have made me feel are unforgettable. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.'

This was an emotionally significant match for Zverev, too. It was here against Nadal in the 2022 semi-finals when a knife edge match was ended by a horrific ankle injury. He has just this year begun to fully rebuild from that and Zverev will feel like this win finally laid those ghosts to rest.

That this was the most anticipated men's first-round match in history was demonstrated by those in the crowd. Nadal was watched on court by his greatest rival Novak Djokovic and the heir to his Spanish throne Carlos Alcaraz and his successor as the most dominant player at Roland Garros, Iga Swiatek.

Alcaraz stayed the longest. He was asked in a video this week to name his favourite tennis player. 'Rafa is my favourite everything,' he replied. 

Zverev looked a little cowed at times by the febrile atmosphere. He was clumsy around the net and wasteful of opportunities but he landed 77 per cent of his first serves and struck 44 winners. He punctured Nadal's defences with his majestic backhand and broke him six times.

In the end, the layers of Nadal's genius had been stripped away until that famous aura was all that remained.

And that aura matters. It has won him sets, matches and perhaps even titles here and it probably saved him from a more embarrassing scoreline against Zverev. But an aura cannot hit forehands and it cannot make returns - and it is in those fundamental currencies of the sport that Nadal is now lacking.

Especially in the first half of the match, there was spin on the forehand but no depth, no venom. The backhand did not have its usual penetration.

The Spaniard said before this match that he was feeling fully fit for the first time since his comeback at the start of the year, and this was a much improved performance compared to his struggles on the clay so far this season. He will curse the fact that he was not able to rebuild physically sooner, and come into Roland Garros with more matches in his legs.

But what a legacy he leaves here. He has dominated this corner of Paris's 16th arrondisement in a manner that is without parallel – not just in tennis but surely in any sport.

He will finish – if this is indeed to be the end – with a 112-4 record at this tournament. I would argue he has never lost here when fully fit.

He arrived here as a 19-year-old in 2005 and won the title on debut. The hair was longer, the shorts baggier and the sleeves non-existent.

He has the kid who could get any ball back and never made a mistake. But what has given Nadal the record he has is his indefatigable greed for improvement.

When he first began playing here his serve was little more than a way to get the point started but he reforged it into a powerful weapon. He became more aggressive, and turned himself into, for my money, the best volleyer in the world (sorry, Roger).

With those improvements he became the complete package. Not just the best clay court player there has ever been but the best that could possibly be imagined.

All being well, Nadal will be back on this court for the Olympics, playing the singles and the doubles with Alcaraz. But at the French Open, this was surely the end.