A "Kingdom of Clay," Beneath the Surface

A guided tour around Roland Garros and its storied history, unearthing nearly a century of the best and the worst moments here.

PARIS, France — In his new book The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay, my longtime New York Times tennis beat teammate Christopher Clarey tells the story of the prolific 14-time French Open champion, as one would expect.

Also as you might have expected—and perhaps already heard—Clarey and I discussed the Nadal aspects of the book a few weeks…