‘Fab four’ reunited at Roland Garros as Rafael Nadal is honoured

Rafael Nadal was joined by old rivals Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray as he returned to the French Open for a ceremony in his honour.

The ‘fab four’ were reunited as Nadal, the 14 time-champion, was presented with a special ‘legend’ trophy, while a plaque bearing his footprint was unveiled on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the scene of all his triumphs.

Nadal, who retired last year, broke down in tears as he gave an emotional speech but then burst out laughing when he realised he had misplaced one of the pages, with a ball kid rushing on to hand him the missing sheet.

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It was one of the only times he forgot his lines at the Paris grand slam during almost two decades of dominance in which he won 112 of his 116 matches.

Nearly every member of the 15,000 crowd was given a clay-coloured T-shirt to wear, bearing the message “Merci Rafa”.

Those who were not instead wore white tops, creating a mosaic in the stands spelling out “RG 14 X”, and “RAFA” between two love hearts.

The 38-year-old, known as the ‘King of Clay’, walked out to stadium announcer Marc Maury’s famous introduction, listing every one of the 14 years he won the title.

Wearing a black suit and shirt, Nadal stood alone in the middle of the scene of his greatest triumphs as a video montage of those victories played out on the big screen.

Afterwards, he addressed the crowd in French, English and Spanish, saying: “This is tough. I’ve been playing on this court for last 20 years.

“Where I am standing I enjoyed, I suffered, I won and I lost, I lived many emotions on that court – without a doubt the most important tennis court of my career.

“In 2005 I played for