Go back, for a moment, to May 8, 2005, when Rafael Nadal was still just 18 and yet to appear in a French Open, let alone win one.
After collecting his first trophy on the red clay of Rome — which had been preceded by his first trophy on the red clay of Barcelona, which in turn had been preceded by his first trophy on the red clay of Monte Carlo — Nadal was asked that day whether he agreed with the notion that all of this success would make him a popular pick for his first trophy on the red clay of Paris soon thereafter.
In an answer brimming with a mix of humility and common sense, Nadal noted that, yes, it did seem he was deemed the favorite for Roland Garros every time he won a match on the surface, but "after two weeks, I don't know if I (will) play the same like now, no?" and, so, really, the favorite for the French Open should be whoever was playing the best during the French Open itself.
We all know how that turned out back then and, more often than not, ever since.
When his favorite tournament starts Sunday — in May, not September, as it did last year because of the pandemic, and with crowds numbering more than 5,000 on-site daily at the start and 10,000 or more by the end, not merely 1,000, like last year — Nadal will be pursuing a 14th championship in at Roland Garros.