Daily Maverick
Dailymaverick logo

Sport

Sport, World, DM168

Time was the only opponent Rafa Nadal could not beat indefinitely

Time was the only opponent Rafa Nadal could not beat indefinitely
Rafael Nadal of Spain after beating Roger Federer of Switzerland in the Wimbledon men’s singles final on 6 July 2008.Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Craig Ray
By Craig Ray
20 Oct 2024
Facebook
0
Tennis legend Rafa Nadal will retire at the end of the season after 20 years as a professional.

Like his consistent, rasping, heavy topspin forehand, the news that Rafa Nadal, the greatest left-hander to ever play tennis, is set to retire by the year’s end, was inevitable.

Nadal, at 38, just couldn’t fight against age and the toll it exacted on his body. For most marginally active people, there is a noticeable increase in effort to maintain the physical standards of your twenties as you approach your forties. For elite athletes, that effort is magnified.

In a sport where any weakness, technical, mental or physical, will be preyed upon by hungry opponents, Nadal was unable to mask his deficiencies much longer.

His mind remained strong, the will to win and the mentality to fight for every point still there. The technique to hit those bludgeoning shots is ingrained in muscle memory for life. But physically the ability to consistently be at optimum level to execute those strokes, waned.

To hit the perfect shot requires many moving body parts to be in sync. Arrive at the impact point a split second too late and the resultant shot lacks accuracy, power or spin. At the sharp end of tennis, the margins are minuscule.

Naturally, for someone as competitive and as successful as Nadal, it took some time to accept. Only he will know how long the doubts nagged at him before he gave in to the only opponent he could not beat indefinitely – time.

But he has reached that conclusion and from 2025, the Big Three – Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer – will be down to just one (Djokovic) on tour.

Stellar record


Nadal’s record has been extolled in various publications since the announcement of his retirement, but it’s always worth admiring again.

He won 22 singles Grand Slams, second only to Djokovic in the men’s game. Of those, 14 were won on the red clay of Roland-Garros. It’s unlikely anyone will win 14 singles titles at any Grand Slam again, let alone the French Open.

In all, Nadal won 92 tournaments as a professional, spent 209 weeks at world No 1 and was ranked inside the world’s top 10 for a record 912 consecutive weeks – or 17-and-a-half years.

He won an incredible 81 straight matches on clay between 2005 and 2007. At the French Open he won 112 times and only lost four times in 19 appearances.

Beyond the numbers, though, it was Nadal’s brooding strength and contribution to epic battles, primarily with his two archrivals, which underscore his career.

The way he was often able to emasculate Federer and Djokovic on clay was hard to fathom. The dust of Roland-Garros was like kryptonite to his rivals when mixed with a dash of Rafa. It was, however, whatever the opposite of kryptonite is when Nadal strode onto court. He grew stronger.

Although his reputation as the best clay court player was quickly established after he won his first French Open in 2005, it took another three years before the world acknowledged he was truly a great.

Nadal Rafael Nadal after beating Roger Federer in the Wimbledon men’s singles final on 6 July 2008. (Photo: Clive Brunskill / Getty Images)


Defining match


The Wimbledon final of 2008 against Federer is widely considered one of the greatest matches, if not the greatest match, of all time. For any event to hold that unofficial moniker it requires two protagonists, at the height of their powers, producing the best of their skills and mindset on the biggest stage. That’s what transpired that afternoon and evening in SW19.

Federer was unbeatable on grass, having won the previous five Wimbledon titles. He was at his peak and made tennis look ridiculously easy with his graceful court coverage.

Nadal had won four consecutive French Opens coming into Wimbledon 2008, but his credentials on other surfaces, mostly grass, were still under scrutiny.

Nadal and Federer had contested the Wimbledon finals of 2006 and 2007, with the Swiss winning comfortably.

By 2008, though, Nadal was ready. He showed he was a real danger, making the final while dropping just one set along the way, which included beating Andy Murray in straight sets in the quarterfinals.

Federer, as was his way at the time, marched supremely to the final, not losing a set while crushing the likes of Marat Safin and former Wimbledon winner Lleyton Hewitt.

Read more: The achievements of Nadal and the rest of the ‘Big Three’ make us all feel like winners

The final, though, was a different story, lasting four hours and 48 minutes of playing time, but more than seven hours of court time because of two lengthy rain delays.

Nadal, brimming with confidence from his strong run and buoyed by the experience of two previous finals on Centre Court, played immaculately from the outset.

He won the first two sets to stun Federer with his power and precision. It was the first time in years that Federer had been pushed on his favourite court and, like the champion he was, he replied.

Federer took the third and fourth sets in tie-breakers, saving two match points along the way.

It set up a gladiatorial fifth set, which was an epic battle within an epic war.

Nadal, who should have been deflated after throwing away a two-set lead and two match points, showed his fully developed mental toughness by resetting for a one-set showdown.

The Spaniard, who is naturally right-handed but played tennis left-handed because it allowed him to essentially have two forehands, led the two-fisted backhand and used an array of missile-like shots to wear Federer down.

He had worked hard on hitting those fizzing forehands into Federer’s elegant single-handed backhand all day, and eventually he won just a few crucial points that way.

Nadal took the fifth set 9-7 to capture a title many felt was beyond him, against the best player Wimbledon had ever seen at the peak of his powers.

It was Ali-Foreman-like in terms of sporting upsets and despite all his achievements on clay, perhaps defined his glorious career most.

Nadal’s career highlights



  • Grand Slam titles – 22: Australian Open (2009, 2022)

  • French Open (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022) 

  • Wimbledon (2008, 2010) 

  • US Open (2010, 2013, 2017, 2019)

  • Won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in singles; clinched doubles gold with Marc López at the 2016 Rio Games. DM

Categories:

Tags: