“The goal was for him not to kill me and I ended up beating God” | Relief

It was on a Sunday night. On the shores of the South Pacific in a Chilean spa city called Viña del Mar. More than ten years have passed, but Horacio Zeballosthe protagonist of this extraordinary story, has crystal clear memories. “I remember everything that happened that day. Before, during and after the game“, this Argentine tennis player tells Relevo. It’s hard to remember! That Sunday, February 10, 2013, achieved something unimaginable, something unattainable for other mortals: knocking down Rafael Nadal himself in a final on clay.

The Spaniard has only lost nine of the 72 finals who has played on the orange surface, where he is indisputably the best tennis player in history. The other three members of the Big Four, that unrepeatable generation, He has been scratched seven times: four Novak Djokovic (Madrid 2011, Rome 2011 and 2014 and Monte Carlo 2013)two Roger Federer (Hamburg 2007 and Madrid 2009) and one Andy Murray (Madrid 2015). Nadal’s other defeats in a final on land bear the signature of Nuno Borges (Bastad 2024) and Zeballos.

Born in Mar del Plata in 1985, Zeballos has never experienced a day like that again. He has played several Grand Slam finals in doubles with the Spanish Marcel Granollers, but his victory in Viña del Mar, his only title as from the singlehas no comparison. “The day I finish my career, it doesn’t matter what I achieve, it won’t matter, the greatest memory will be the victory against Rafa. Not just for me, but for everyone who knows me. It is a memory that I have very marked, it was a very special victory,” he indicates.

“The goal was not to kill me”

But what happened for Horacio Zeballos, then 73rd in the ATP ranking and who had never played in a final on land, to defeat Nadal himself? The first thing to say is that the Spaniard came from a very long period of inactivity: after being eliminated in the second round of Wimbledon 2012, he missed the second half of that season – including the London Games – due to his knee injury and He chose Viña del Mar for his comeback seven months later.

Even though he was not in the best condition, Nadal reached the final without giving up a set and with fast and comfortable matches. No one expected Zeballos in a decisive match, so the final started with a clear favorite.

“Before the game I remember what I posted on social media: preparing to face God. I was delighted to play in a final against him. To be honest, The main objective was to try to stop him from beating me up, from giving me a class, from killing me.. Being able to think about winning a brick final against him was too big a goal,” says Zeballos. “So the first goal I set for myself was to win a set and from there add little by little.”

But everything became complicated. Nadal scored the first set in the tie break. And there the crowd began to applaud and thank Zeballos. “I remember people telling me: ‘Thank you, Zeballos, thank you, because Rafa already played for an hour.‘. Of course, Rafa had won the first three games very easily and we had played a set and we had already been there for an hour. They were happy because they were watching a great game and people wanted to see Rafa on the field. “That encouraged me.”

Zeballos equalized the match by taking the second set and when he was 5-4 in the third he was preparing to return to win the title. “There I blocked my mind so that no future thoughts would enter my mind. He told me everything so that no nerve would cross my nerves.“. He went 0-40, he had three match points. “He takes me to the T, I return it deep, he opens up on the right, I hit the short angle…”, he says as if it had been yesterday. “And That’s when I said: ‘I beat him, I beat him, I beat him’. I see that he runs, that he runs and he didn’t arrive. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Nadal’s forehand stayed in the net and Zeballos collapsed to the ground. “The emotion was very strong. My whole family was in the stands and had come to see me, my dad, my mom, my sister… In that second, 10,000 images of a little boy going to the club with my old man crossed my mind. Training, playing, everything you went through“.

A lesson at Roland Garros and the comparison with Nole

Nadal and Zeballos faced each other a total of three times. The Spaniard won the other two easily: in the second round of Roland Garros 2010 (6-2, 6-2 and 6-3) and in the semifinals of Barcelona 2017 (6-3 and 6-4). “I should have retired after Viña del Mar so that the head-to-head match was 1-1”he says laughing before remembering the time he faced the Spaniard at Roland Garros.

“That match at the Chatrier I remember it perfectly. The court is huge, but I saw it as small as a ping pong table. I saw the field as small as small and Rafa as a giant. I couldn’t make a point, it was terrible,” he adds.

Zeballos is one of those players who has suffered Nadal at Roland Garros and Djokovic at Wimbledon. Where do you suffer the most? “Each one is impressive on his surface. Djokovic on grass made me feel very helpless because ando I always knew that one of my weapons was the serve and Djokovic on grass returned everything to me as if he were serving from below and it made me feel very helpless. “It would be the only two games I wouldn’t like to play.”