Rafael Nadal - A real god, not made of clay

Rafael Nadal – King of Clay

The phrase “never say never” goes well with Rafael Nadal’s career graph. This God (of tennis), Rafael, whose name in Spanish refers to God who heals, is himself fully healed and has been performing with full zeal ever since his comeback from his knee injury. Amidst injuries, he has still proved to his fans and his critics how good a player he is and how passionate and hungry he is for the game.

At the start of the year, he had been written off by most of the experts due to constant problem in the knee and he wasn’t being seen as a threat by any player. However, he appeared in his first event of the year on 5th February,2013 at the Chile Open. He appeared in both the singles and doubles event and was good enough to beat his contemporaries and enter the finals in both the tournaments.

His success continued when he played his second event of the year, the ‘Brasil Open’ in Sao Paulo as he went on to defeat David Nalbandian and lift his first title of the year and was also the runner up in the doubles category. After a break of two weeks, he bounced back into news by defeating David Ferrer in the final of Mexican Open in Acapulco, thereby, winning his second title of the year.

His next participation was in Indian Wells, where he emerged victorious by defeating Del Potro 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the finals, winning his record breaking 22nd ATP Masters 1000 event and his third Indian Wells title in the process. He continued his winning streak by extending his masters title to 24 just before the French Open.

Rafael Nadal certainly looked all fit and raring to go at Roland Garros this year. He was in prime form and nothing seemed like going against him during the French Open as he defeated Novak Djokovic in an epic match and further consolidated his performance by defeating David Ferrer in straight sets in the final to win the title for the eighth time.

The match against Novak Djokovic in the French Open was a real test of his character as the match lasted for 4 hours and 37 minutes and both the champions were in no mood to show any signs of mercy towards each other. Nadal had won the first set and had taken a lead in the second after which he lost momentum and gifted the set to Djokovic to make it one set each.

He dominated the third set as he won 6-1 and led twice by a break in the fourth set but Djokovic was smart enough to break back on both occasions and win the set in the tie-breaker. The momentum and luck seemed to be with Djokovic as he was leading 4-2 in the last set after which Nadal made an impressive comeback to win the set and enter the final and subsequently win the French Open for the eighth time. But his happiness and prime form was short lived as he was eliminated in the first round of Wimbledon 2013 against a low ranked Steve Darcis of Belgium.

For the first time, losing a first round match in a Grand Slam, he was dejected and preferred not to blame the defeat to his knee problem and gave full credit to his opponent and accepted that he was outplayed by him in every department of the game. Being typecast as a clay court player, he chose to take a seven week break after the debacle in Wimbledon and swore to come back in style.

He did not disappoint as he reached the final in Montreal (Rogers Cup) played on hard court, defeating the Jerzy Janowicz and putting up a strong performance against his arch rival Djokovic to defeat him for the second time in the year. He won the title for the third time in Montreal by defeating Milos Raonic in straight sets by taking the first two sets 6-2, 6-2 without much fuss and competition and thereby winning his 25th Masters title.

He continued his astonishing run with the racket in the recently concluded Southern & Western Open by winning the title and displaying an outstanding performance by defeating Roger Federer, Tomas Berdych and John Isner to remain undefeated this year on hard court. It has been a proud moment for the Spaniard to not only win the French Open for the eighth time and continue to dominate the clay courts but also remaining unbeaten in hard courts, something which has not happened in his career before.

But this article is not about the achievements and purple patch of this legendary player. It is about his love for the game, the desire and enthusiasm to perform and keep performing till the very end of his career. His zeal to perform and continue to prove his mettle as a great player is beyond comparision. It has been worth praising and inspiring too.

He was nowhere in picture last year after his continuous injuries and mishaps. Every expert and analyst had written him off as a tennis player. There was not much hope from him that he would ever be able to come back and perform as he is doing right now, but he chose to fight.

Rafael Nadal – From the lows to the highs

Nadal wanted his racket to do all the ‘talking’ though he himself preferred to keep shut and concentrate on his game. There is no doubt about his credentials as a player but his ‘will’ to keep on winning and competing with the best players is worth mentioning. Nadal as a person has always been calm and composed. He has taken criticism in the right way. This Spaniard has never spoken a word against any of his competitors ever in his sporting career.

Nadal always believed in his game and never led himself into any controversy despite being the superstar that he is today. His biggest revelation has been that his personal life has never been highlighted in public forum.The media has never used his love life, and family problems has a tool to publish their articles on Nadal.

Rafael Nadal has been one unique player who has strictly been in news for his game, not anything more than that. This only goes to show how much focused he is towards his profession. A no-nonsense guy that he is,he has always maintained that all he knows to do is play the game, play it better each and everyday and never stop improving.

Sports fans consider the 2008 Wimbledon final as an epic encounter between him and Roger Federer. This game was just another final for Federer, but Nadal had plenty at stake. He had tasted success in tennis by that time but his cabinet was ‘empty’ without any Wimbledon trophy.

All tennis greats must test their skills and mettle as a great player by winning at England Club’s court and so, Nadal was more than prepared for this opportunity to prove his ability and class as a player by winning this title as well. In the previous year’s final, he had been defeated by the same opponent, a defeat which had left him weeping, and he was determined to change his fortunes by winning the most coveted trophy of tennis.

He had a tough task ahead as he was challenging the best player of grass court in his own den. But Nadal was in no mood to throw his ‘second opportunity’ of defeating Federer and winning the final. He finally emerged victorious after a grueling encounter of five sets. This was the ultimate rise of a player. The biggest achievement in his career and his time had begun. This was a test of his character and he didn’t disappoint a bit.

In his book, “Rafa”, Nadal has clearly mentioned that his fighting ability on the court and never-say-never attitude has been something he acquired from his uncle, Toni Nadal. He once said that “if I hadn’t loved the game, I would have never put up with my uncle”. This clearly speaks volume about the love and devotion he has for the game.

His uncle always used to refer him as a “mummy’s boy” and showed no tenderness towards him during their tough training and practice sessions. He was made to learn that a sportsperson should always try effortlessly to improve as much as he/she can,he must solely concentrate on his game and not bother about his opponents and above all, he should always accept defeat and should be happy to accept that his rival is a better player than him.

His honesty can be noticed from the fact that he had himself accepted that Roger Federer is a far better player than him with a serve that outstrips his own. But Nadal’s biggest asset has been his mental strength, a weapon forged by his uncle and mentor, Toni Nadal, from his childhood days.The zeal to perform and keep performing, to prove his quality as a player has always been Nadal’s aim. He has never given up.

The word “Rafael” means “gust of wind; a series of burst of gunfire”. He has lived up to the meaning of this word. He has performed and outplayed others like a “gust of wind”. His racket is capable of “bursting a gunfire” and he has not let his injuries, few dismal performances and critics be an obstacle but rather he has made them his strength.

With the US Open final week round the corner, one can expect this guy to be at his best again and his competitors must be weary of the standards Nadal has set for others and as well as for himself. So all the Tennis Lovers, get ready for the God of Tennis to perform.