Rafael Nadal is at the top of world tennis. The Spaniard won his 21st Australian Open“>Grand Slam title at the Australian Open on Sunday, in five sets against Daniil Medvedev, and thus one unit ahead of his rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. For columnist Virginie Phulpin, this historic title does not (yet) make the Majorcan the greatest player of all time, but his success in the final after months of doubt will leave an indelible mark on the history of tennis.
One could look coldly at the numbers and simply say that Rafael Nadal is the greatest player in history. He’s the first to reach 21 major titles, so he’s the biggest. But Novak Djokovic can very well come back in front by the end of the year. We will therefore do the accounts at the end of the career of the three giants, not before.
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An unaltered love of his sport
The accounting approach is the opposite of what Rafael Nadal represents. The mark he is leaving in tennis has little to do with numbers, and everything with the human and the superhuman. Before summoning History with a capital H, let’s already appreciate his own story. This fall, the 35-year-old Spaniard was in plaster, on crutches, not sure he could ever play tennis again. He hunkered down, worked hard, as always, and he tried his luck, with his incomparable mental resources.
And he comes out victorious…
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