Never-ending magic from Nadal
Never,” a former NBA coach had said in the 1990s, “underestimate the heart of a champion”. After another phenomenal two weeks in one of tennis’ greatest theatres, it’s time to dedicate that quote to Rafael Nadal, the man from Spain who refuses to be beaten by adversities—his greatest opponents or career-threatening injuries.
Under the Arthur Ashe lights on Sunday night, the Majorcan, written off so many times previously, once again reminded the tennis world as to why they were wrong. Combining verve, tenacity and experience that just cannot be bought off a supermarket shelf, the 33-year-old conjured up Hogwarts-level magic to down Daniil Medvedev, a rival 10 years his junior. As one of the sport’s elite, the 19-time Slam winner has routinely been dishing Ls to opponents. But Sunday was different; the post-match tears confirmed that. Many pundits extrapolated his early-season form to suggest Nadal’s powers were on the vane. The one statistic that was doing the rounds in May—he was in the middle of his longest early-season trophy drought since 2004—was tempering the French Open previews.
Since then, the southpaw hasn’t just been the best men’s player on tour, he has actively spat at suggestions that the 33-year-old is closer to the end. In the last 122 days, he has won two Slams, as many Masters and lost one match. This turnaround is even more remarkable considering the way he has played on all hard-courts, a surface that punishes his all-action style the most. With a new and evolved style that places less of a burden on his knee—not an easy thing to do after a certain age—he has now won two hard court Majors in the last three years. The last time he had similar success on that surface was in 2009 and 2010.
In the post-match press conference, he explained why he broke down. “Well, we are getting old. See all the things I went through, to be able to still be here is so special for me ... when you have physical issues, then mentally things become much more difficult, no?” Not for Nadal, though. For he is one of the sport’s greatest Pied Pipers.