#365DaysOfWriting — Day 121
Another Grand Slam, another early Nadal exit…
It’s almost painful to see my favourite tennis player suffer like this.
But, as this Firstpost article by Anand Datla says, probably the very body that took Nadal to the summit is now letting him down.
Let’s do the math.
This is a man who made his professional tennis debut at the age of 15 in 2002. He won his first Grand Slam title at the age of 19 in 2005 (the French Open, of course) and during his career-defining run, beat Roger Federer on his 19th birthday.
So he’s been playing for, about 14 years? That may seem ‘normal’ (as per the definition of normal in tennis terms these days), but not for someone who has a game like him. Nadal has always played a very physical game to adjust to the demands of a clay court — he grinds out opponents, and even when his body has shown signs of failing (early on in his career) his indomitable spirit saw him through. It was this spirit that earned him the sobriquet, Spain’s Raging Bull. Rafa, the nickname us fans know him by, had a baseline game based on heavy forehand topspin and mind-boggling court coverage. I’ve not seen ONE tennis player cover the court with as much speed and consistency as Nadal has in his prime.
He was the first to burst Roger Federer’s bubble of invincibility.
Before Federer fans start sending me death threats, let me clarify — I love Roger Federer myself, and I believe he’s one of the most graceful players and A-grade human beings to grace the game of tennis (I believe he’s a much better player than Pete Sampras). But there was a period between 2003 and 2008, when Federer almost seemed unbeatable — except on clay. Nadal always had his number on clay, and it seemed destined that Federer, like Sampras before him, would end up without a French Open title. But, as fate would have it, Nadal lost to Robin Soderling in 2009, and that tiny window of opportunity was enough for a class act like Federer to clinch his French Open.
Here’s where Nadal scores though — he beat Federer at Wimbledon when Federer was at the top of his game.
Nobody will forget the Wimbledon 2008 final.
Nadal shocked Federer by taking the first two sets with ease. The whole world was in awe of his ability. Then Federer showed everyone why he was the true World №1, taking the next two sets in gruelling tiebreakers (the scores were 7–5 and 10–8 for the tiebreaks). And the final set was a matter of endurance and spirit, and that’s where Nadal showed his Raging Bull spirit — he won the final set 9–7. He won another Wimbledon in 2010, but in that tournament Berdych shocked Federer by knocking him out in the quarter-finals. Nadal breezed passed Berdych in the final in straight sets. It just wasn’t the same.
After winning 14 Grand Slam titles, his body seems to be giving up.
His knees and wrists aren’t what they used to be. Surgeries have slowed him down, and even the most indomitable spirit cannot uplift a worn out, battered body. Bravely, he says he has two good years of tennis left in him. But does he, really?
There’s one bit of news that excites me, though.
I read a few days earlier that Federer and Nadal might be forming a dream doubles team for Europe against Rest of the World in the Laver Cup — a Ryder Cup-styled tennis tournament. For once, it’ll be great to root for both of them at the same time. And who knows, if they give up singles and concentrate on doubles… they might even form the greatest doubles team of all time.
