I’m Rafael Nadal’s first French Open victim, I thought I had a chance, now I made unexpected career change after retiring

Rafael Nadal is the undisputed King of Clay and his record at the French Open is mind-blowing.

He has won it a record 14 times and amassed 112 wins at Roland Garros, losing on just three occasions.

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That first victory was in 2005 when he was just 18 years old and heralded in two decades of dominance on the red clay in Paris.

Someone had to be the first victim of Nadal and it’s a good trivia question that not many people will know.

That man was Lars Burgsmuller – a German tennis player who achieved a career high ranking of 65.

Burgsmuller was ranked 96 in the world at the time and was a seasoned-tour pro, being 29, and thought he might have a chance.

Nadal, though, was a hot favourite for the title having won titles at Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Rome in the lead up to Roland Garros.

“I thought if I play my game, maybe I have a chance,” Burgsmuller told the New York Times in 2021. “Maybe I can pull off the win.”

He added: “Pretty early on, I could see he was better than I was.

“At the time, that was just another match for me. I was disappointed to lose. But now when I look back, I can see that I was part of an important moment. 

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“Nadal really started with that match, on that date, and I was the one he played. It’s a nice bit of history.”

Nadal went on to win the title that year, and win a further 13 more in the following years.

For Burgsmuller, he retired in 2008 and went on to have a completely different life trajectory.

Instead of going into coaching or broadcasting, as many ex-pros do, he decided to go to medical school and study radiology.

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Now, he is Dr Lars Burgsmuller and treats cancer patients at a hospital in Essen, Germany.

For Nadal, all focus is now on for the rest of the clay season and the Olympics, which is in Paris this summer.

He got to the last 16 in Madrid, but still looks nowhere near his best.

“I don’t know what can happen [about the French Open] but now I have four games in Madrid behind me,” Nadal said. “This is the reality.

“Today I was muscularly tired, yes, but it is nothing serious. I have endured several hours of competition at the highest possible level, and that’s the most important thing.

“About Paris, after Rome I will say. I understand your urgency and I would also like to have a clear vision of what is going to happen but, since I don’t have it today, I can’t tell you more.

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“I hope to be able to play in Rome if there are no setbacks and I’m going there with the hope of continuing to evolve.

“At the tennis level I also leave [Madrid] happier than I arrived although, if I don’t have the confidence that my body can handle tennis, it’s impossible for this to work.”

The French Open begins on Sunday, May 26 and runs until June 9.