As the French Open enters a new, post-Rafa era this year, there are a couple of prevailing sentiments among tennis players.

That's the win-loss record for Nadal at the French Open, giving him a career winning percentage of .966. The only four losses came in 2009 against Robin Soderling in the fourth round, against Novak Djokovic in the 2015 quarterfinals and the 2021 semifinals, and against Alexander Zverev in last year's first round.

For quite some time, there's usually been a sense of certainty at the French Open. That was particularly so on the men's side, with Rafael Nadal ruling over the red clay of Roland-Garros the way no one dominated any tournament in tennis history.