What about Rafa Nadal is inexplicable. But the boredom of his rivals has something to say

With eyes wide open, Nicolas Almagro He turned to the stands in Paris looking for empathy: “He is going to win Roland Garros 40 years in a row. He is going to be 60 and every year he is going to continue winning Roland Garros.” It was the year 2008 and a 24-year-old Rafa Nadal had just nailed a winning forehand down the lineone of those that you can only look at and sigh. That prophecy became a commonplace in Spanish tennis.

But nothing lasts forever, not even the blows of the best athlete in the history of our country, who says goodbye to the courts definitively at the age of 38 and with the ultimate goal of lifting the Davis Cup with the Spanish Navy. “I’m not coming here to retire, I come here to help the team win“. Pure Nadal.

That look from Almagro to the stands has been repeated for more than two decades on the circuit. From Roger Federer to Novak Djokovic, from Carlos Alcaraz to Alexander Zverev, several generations that, at some point, They asked for compassion from the stands after some memorable comeback from Nadal. Or, more than compassion, explanations. Because Nadal’s story consists of explaining the inexplicable.

Two parties, their biggest rivals

It is difficult, very difficult, to summarize Rafa Nadal’s career in one article. We have chosen two matches from among the more than 1,000 games that the Spaniard has played to take as a reference. Logically, both of Grand Slam, and against his two most significant rivals.

In the first we return to 2008. Roger Federerthe most elegant tennis player who has ever walked the earth. The man who challenged the modern schools of tennis (No! He was going to hit the backhand with one hand, no matter what.) and, ultimately, the example to follow for anyone who has ever picked up a racket. The Swiss was a dictator of tennis until a beardless kid from Manacor appeared on the scene to star in the rivalry of all rivalries.

It would be Wimbledon, the birthplace of grass, the place that would star in the definitive duel between Federer and Nadal in 2008. The Swiss was the absolute dominator of the terrain, while the Spanish had made Roland Garros his kingdom. The cards were dealt. As can be seen in the infographic, the meeting was an ode to tennis. There is a collective acceptance that this is the best game in history. Like that, without further ado.

Just a few months later, at the Australian Open that marked the start of the following season, both tennis players met again in the final. Again more than five hours competing, with their respective five sets. The result was once again favorable to Nadal. Federer took the microphone after the final, as per protocol, and, when the moment came, he burst into tears with his iconic “God, it’s killing me / Dios, it’s killing me”. Nerves took over the unbreakable man. A boredom that moved Rafa himself, who offered his consolation: “Remember that you are a great champion. You are one of the best in history and you are sure to beat Sampras’ 14 Grand Slams.” Both would end up exceeding that number for their record.

We change the calendar and move forward years to 2012, but we are still in Australia. Novak Djokovic had entered the scene. The rivalry of two became the Big Three. The confrontations between the Serbian and the Spanish were hectic and intense. Unlike the friendship that the passage of time formed between Federer and Nadal, with Absent It was never the same. There were not only tennis differences, but also as athletes and even as people. It was almost an ideological duel: Djokovic, the titan willing to push the limits, pure nerve and not afraid to express his frustration, against Nadal, who proudly carried the fact of not having broken a racket in his career.

The match, even though it was about to join the list of historic comebacks for Nadal, it ended up being for Djokovic after the Serbian neutralized the Spaniard when he was 4-2 down in the fifth set. Years later, Nole reached the top of tennis, being the most successful male tennis player in history. According to him, will be in Malaga to pay their respects at Nadal’s last tournament. He has always defended that his rivalry with the Spaniard is the most important of his career and that, without his competitive gene, he would not have achieved his record: “It pushed me to be better.”

A legendary career

The boy who had dreamed of being a soccer player took to the courts, hand in hand with his uncle, Toni Nadal, who would accompany him as head coach in the vast majority of his sporting life. It would be in 2017 when both family members broke off their professional relationship. There, Nadal turns to a close friend and former colleague, Carlos Moyaso that he can take charge of his team.

If we talk about honors, Nadal is one of the most successful tennis players in history thanks to his 92 titles achieved only individually. The 22 Grand Slams, including 14 Roland Garros; a gold medal in the Olympic Games, achieved in Beijing 2008; 36 Masters 1,000; 22 ATP Tour 500 and 10 ATP Tour 250. More scarce, logically, is his contribution in the doubles section, a modality that he barely practiced during his career, but which earned him a gold in Rio de Janeiro 2016, 3 ATP Masters 1,000, 1 ATP Tour 500 and 6 ATP Tour 250.

There is a common criticism of Rafa Nadal in his game system that cannot be ignored. Punishment. Offense? “In any case, I laugh. What does it mean to be a passerby? It’s a disqualification and a phrase made by 10-year-old children,” the tennis player reflected years ago in an interview with the diary As: ” If you pass one more ball, you winthat is the reality. If you are a badass, then you are a badass. This is sport, and the ultimate goal is to try, within ethics and respect, to reach your maximum goal, be it by playing aggressively, defensively, on the counterattack or taking a net throw-in.”

Nadal always liked to gain confidence in long points, taking advantage of his exceptional physical form that made him prevail over even the toughest rivals on the circuit. His service, perhaps the element that has penalized him the most, hardly gave him direct points. But behind his character and his mentality — Rafa Nadal’s competitiveness is at the top of the sport, only personalities like Michael Jordan can compare. Bigger words—a tennis talent is hidden, often involuntarily covered up.

Winning forehand and fist up: “Let’s go!” How many chronicles have repeated that sequence in these two decades. Special mention for the Banana Shotan exquisite movement that Rafa Nadal turned into the star of his repertoire. A curved right that, with enormous effect, exits laterally into the lane and then returns, drawing the shape of a banana. As aesthetic as it is lethal for the rival.

“There have been many years shared with many of them, but also It happens to me when I see an athlete that I have watched since I was little retire.. In the end it is a part of your life, many people have grown up watching me play and they are not going to see me play anymore. “At this moment it’s my turn, and I want to do it naturally, in the best possible way and with peace of mind.” All that remains is to say goodbye… but, first, to win the Davis Cup.