Ruthless Rafa - a savage serial winner

A ruthless champ: Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning the final of the 2013 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell against Nicolas Almagro on April 28, 2013 in Barcelona. Nadal won 6-3, 6-4. (Getty Images)

Rafael Nadal must be one of those esoteric beings that lumbered into the path of our planet by accident. Maybe it was the smell of the red soil or its soft embracing nature. Either way, the southpaw took a special liking to it, so much so that he slides and rides on it as if he were born only to inhabit the red dirt he surveys with such majestic authority. The glorious sight of Nadal lifting the bulky Trofeo Conde de Godó was a timely reminder of the heavyweight credentials of the Spaniard while the tennis season winds its way through the dirty part of the woods. The 12 kilo trophy, made from Silver and American Oak, bore him down under its weight even as the fact that Nadal won eight of those elevated him into a rarefied league of serial winners whose consistency defies human logic.

In a sport where defending a title is considered a mighty honour, the act of doing it for multiple years defeats the prose of even the most celebrated writers. But then, who could keep up with the persistent and relentless ways of men such as Nadal who can never tire of repetition whether it is lining up his bottles, hopping over lines or biting at trophies. The Mallorcan has dominated the red dirt with an iron fist for nearly a decade and his spoils from the efforts on the grime can fill rooms with barely enough space left to even walk around them without tumbling into a heap of metal.

Nadal’s effort this year is worth a special mention, considering that he was returning from a seven month lay-off due to the knee injury that is just as persistent as its incurable master. Andre Agassi, who is celebrating his 43^rd birthday on Monday, knows a thing or two about comebacks. The iconic American had worked his way back from a lowly 141^st before recovering enough to win grand slam titles and become the oldest world No.1 in the history of the ATP World Tour rankings.

Speaking to The Age after Nadal had withdrawn from the Australian Open this January, Agassi urged patience from Nadal and his fans.“I found whatever time you take away from the game you need that time to double to be fully where you were when you left, that’s my experience,” vouched Agassi at that time. ”If he comes back in the first half of the year, you won’t see him at his best, historically speaking with my experience, until this tournament next year.” Nadal has essentially thrust a dozen eggs into his face, enough to bake his birthday cake, with a stellar effort since his comeback.

Of course, an equally merciless Novak Djokovic denied a ninth title at Monte Carlo with a consummate performance. But Nadal already had eight of those elegant trophies stashed away in his bulging trophy cabinet. Guillermo Vilas, for so long the benchmark in clay court tennis before the arrival of Nadal, is the only other male player to own so many titles at a single tournament during the Open Era.

But one has to remember that Vilas only won his titles at an ATP World Tour 250 event, the ATP Buenos Aires, which typically attracts a collection of players with relatively lower pedigree. Eight consecutive titles at an ATP World Tour 1000 Masters event is probably one of those monster records that might retain a ghostly existence even after the mortal departure of its creator. No other human being, male or female, has ever won eight consecutive times at a single tournament.

Nadal (L) and compatriot Almagro pose with their trophies after the final of the Barcelona Open tennis tournament Conde de Godo in Barcelona on April 28, 2013. (Getty Images)

The beastly man could have made that number nine, but for a precautionary withdrawal due to fatigue from Barcelona in 2010. Nadal’s victory on Sunday over Nicolas Almagro earned the world No. 5 his eighth title at the Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, where the Spaniard has only lost 2 of 82 sets in the ATP World Tour 500 event. It is a colossal effort that has brought Nadal 39 straight victories at the Catalonian capital since 2005. Rafa also has a collection of six trophies from the ATP World Tour 1000 Rome Masters, where he is the defending champion.

The most impressive number for Nadal has to be the seven titles at the French Open that have so defined his greatness and secured his place in the pantheon of tennis legends. Only time will tell how far Nadal will further these numbers, blazing a trail that will only seem like a surreal plume of smoke on the horizon for most professional tennis players. Searching for anything better would mean a quick trip to the world war period when Jean Borotra won an impressive eleven titles (1926-1949) at the British Covered Court Championships, an indoor event that was discontinued in 1971. By a strange coincidence, even the next best effort is at a tournament that has been discontinued. William Johnston won SAP Open ten times between 1913 and 1927.

No conversation over Nadal can be complete without the mention of Roger Federer, just as it is the other way round. The presence of one has enhanced the other, magnifying the brilliance of their unsurpassed achievements. So too it is with the discussion on serial winners – Federer emulated Pete Sampras last year when he won his seventh Wimbledon title with a victory over Andy Murray. The aesthetic genius of Federer has also accounted for five straight titles at both Wimbledon and the US Open, a staggering feat during this era of brutally powerful tennis. The Swiss also has six titles at the intensely competitive ATP World Tour Finals, a feat that has only been bettered by John McEnroe (8) and Ivan Lendl (7) in the era of World Championship Tennis.

In fact, the most decorated man in tennis has five trophies from five different events including the US Open, the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Swiss Indoors in Basel, Dubai Tennis Championships and the ATP World Tour 1000 Cincinnati Masters. But unlike Federer, who has collected his trophies at different times of the season, Nadal’s success is magnified by the fact that he has dominated the European summer for almost a decade with a determined stranglehold that will be difficult to surpass. Nadal has a record 22 ATP World Tour 1000 Masters Series titles – interestingly 17 of these have come on the red shale of Monte Carlo, Hamburg, Madrid and Rome. In 2010, Nadal swept the clay season taking titles in Monte Carlo, Madrid, Rome before crowning himself in glory with his fifth French Open title.

Tradition: Nadal bites the trophy after winning the final against Almagro. (Getty Images)

All said and done, the 26-year-old is clearly far from finished even as the tennis community looks on in amazement at the Manacor man’s run on clay. There is no real challenger in sight, with the exception of Djokovic, and it is this aspect that fills one with trepidation at how much farther Nadal could drive his success on the European clay. If success affords players the luxury of making a tennis court their home, Nadal is like a spoilt millionaire with castles built on every meaningful clay court on the European circuit.

As serial winners go, Nadal’s accomplishments have to count amongst the most formidable records not just in tennis, but in sport overall. If you are still in doubt, ask those beleaguered compatriots of Nadal who are often the victims of his savage brilliance. Not convinced? Well, remember then that Nadal disrobed the true blue emperor of tennis – Roger Federer – on four miserable occasions inside Court Philippe Chatrier with primeval ruthlessness. What is even scarier is that there could be so much left in the implacable guts of Nadal before he hangs his dirty socks to dry by some Mediterranean beach.