Rafa, showstoppers and bang!

With a second round defeat in Wimbledon and pull-outs from subsequent events, notably the Olympics and the US Open, it has been more than four months since we last saw Rafa playing on a tennis court. Do we miss Rafa? Of course we do. The fierce competition, the agility on the court and the never give up attitude together make him the player he is.

But along with these, injuries are also form a big part of Rafa. There hasn’t been a single year since 2003 in which Rafa hasn’t suffered an injury bad enough to make him skip tournaments. It is true that a tennis player never plays without injuries but in Rafa’s case it is different.

Rafa first suffered a career-threatening injury in 2004, delaying his debut at RG further. A stress fracture in his left foot made him pull out of French Open and Wimbledon. He missed two months of play. Special insoles in his shoes were required to mitigate further damage. If this inhibited one problem, it gave rise to the famous knee injuries that Rafa often had and still has. Subsequent years saw him pulling out of the Masters series’ and also the Wimbledon (2004, 2009) and Australian Open (2005) due to muscle tears, tendonitis etc.

Despite being plagued by injuries, he has 11 Grand slams to his name including the record breaking seven Rolland Garros titles. He is among the very few players to have won titles on all surfaces and hauled all the Grand Slam titles. He has managed to stay among the top two for more than seven years , dropping out of the top two only recently after his devastating Wimbledon 2012 second round loss.

Had he won that match, had Paul Rasol not played the match of his life, would he have marched on to another final? That, we would never know. Many accredit his injuries to his style of play. But, according to me, Rafa has a track record of bad decision-making in times of injury. He keeps pushing himself to the brink with the help of therapy, pain medications and injections. And once in deeper stages of the tournaments, the adrenaline pushes him through. Thus the cycle goes on until it hits a road block.

Does Rafa need giant-killers to take a break?

Rafa’s defeats have been as famous as his victories. The biggest giant-killer in Rafa’s career was Robin Soderling. Conquering the emperor of clay in his own den in the 4th round of French Open generated a wave of astonishment. What followed next was a withdrawal from the AEGON Championships and Wimbledon. The defending champion of Wimbledon, after the finals of 2008, which is considered as one of the best matches in the history of tennis, had to withdraw from the same tournament the subsequent year due to tendonitis of the quadriceps tendon in both knees. He recovered to play the ATP Master Cup at the end of the season, but was in poor form, almost losing the first match to compatriot, Nicolas Almagro.

He bounced back on his favourite surface, clay, in the Davis cup 2009 final, a tournament from which Rafa always draws energy and confidence. 2010 was one of his best years, where he came back to win French Open, ironically defeating Robin Soderling in the final, the Wimbledon and the elusive US Open, where he beat Novak Djokovic in the final.

In 2011, his only rival was Novak Djokovic, against whom he lost 6 consecutive finals. With Djokovic having his best year, Rafa chased Djokovic all through the year and only won the French Open against Roger Federer, who ousted Djokovic in the semis. This continued well into 2012. In the high octane final of the Australian Open, it seemed like Rafa would finally succeed in breaking the jinx, but that was reserved for the French Open. In another classic match that had its own theatrics, Rafa won the RG 2012. In all these battles, Rafa and Novak both tested each other and gave it their all on the court. That this would affect the players was only a matter of time. And it affected Rafa the most. It took Paul Rasol to stop Rafa from playing further.

He is still recuperating from the injury to his patellar tendon in the left knee. As confirmed a few days back, he is going to miss the Paris Masters and the Masters Cup as well.

Rafa has always found his way back from injuries. The fierce competitor in him saw him winning a number of Grand Slams and other record Masters titles. He is one tennis player at whom the tennis world looks for a bang, an explosion of energy, and steely will when he takes to the tennis court.

When is he going to return to practice? Will Rafa find himself playing in the Davis Cup? Is another Australian Open title around the corner for Rafa? We will find the answers to these questions soon.

Until then, get well soon Rafa.