The view outside Roland Garros is that Rafael Nadal is the King of the French Open. But inside, he just might be public enemy No. 1.
Tennis Magazine's Tennis Tuesday paints a surprising picture of Nadal's popularity, or rather notoriety, at the tournament he's won nine times.
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"Rafa may be a nine-time champion at Roland Garros, but his earliest nickname in Paris was 'the Ogre,' and the image among tennis fans in France has stuck," the affiliate reported. "Even more amazing than Nadal's 66-1 record in Paris is the fact that virtually every match he has played there has been the equivalent of an away game in team sports."
According to the article, Nadal's coach and uncle, Toni, accused the French of being biased against Spanish players, which he says surfaced in Nadal's one loss in 67 matches at Roland Garros - in 2009 against Robin Soderling in the fourth round.
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"They say it themselves and it's true; the Parisian crowd is pretty stupid," Toni said after the audience in Chatrier cheered vociferously for Soderling in his 2009 match against Nadal. "I think the French don't like it when a Spaniard wins. Wanting someone to lose is a slightly conceited way of amusing yourself. They show the stupidity of people who think themselves superior."
Ironically, Soderling says he wouldn't be upset if someone else defeated Nadal, who enters this year's French Open as an underdog to No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic.
"It's good to be the only one, but everybody is asking me only about this match," Soderling said, according to The Telegraph. "I am really proud of many other things in my career: being in the top five, reaching the final of a grand slam twice. I'm actually even more proud of making it to the French Open final in 2010 than the previous year, because defending those points was a big challenge.
"So maybe it's better that Rafa loses again, then everybody will stop asking me about it. It's become a sort of legend, and people often get it wrong: some think that I am the only person ever to beat him in any tennis match, others think it was in the final of the French Open, some even think it was at Wimbledon."
If Tennis Tuesday is correct, then Soderling isn't the only pulling for one of Rafa's foes.
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