TPO – Rafael Nadal has officially retired from tennis, but he will always be remembered as a great player with a strong will, an endless desire to win, and a constant effort to improve himself.
Rafael Nadal must have been devastated to stop playing the sport he loved, to stop performing on the stage that once belonged to him. “Obviously this was a difficult decision, one that took me a long time to make,” the 38-year-old said in a video announcing his retirement.
The drama began in early 2023 at the Australian Open, when Nadal, attempting a forehand, stopped, clutched his side, and collapsed. That June, despite surgery for two torn muscles, he still refused to believe his career was coming to an end.
But every time Nadal thought that competing with the world’s best was within reach, the constant pain brought him back to harsh reality. Finally, the Spanish legend was forced to accept that he could no longer deceive himself. The proof was his 6-4, 6-4 loss to Botic van de Zandschulp, and this defeat became the final match, closing out his illustrious career.
Rafael Nadal was heartbroken at the end of his career.
“The titles, the numbers are there,” Nadal said in tears before 11,500 fans at the Palacio de Deportes, Malaga after Spain were eliminated from the Davids Cup, which was also his final tournament, “But I want to be remembered more, that I was a good boy from a small village in Mallorca, who always pursued his dreams, worked as hard as possible to get to where I am today, with what I achieved more than I ever dreamed of.”
In his speech, Nadal mentioned his uncle, who is a coach. That is Toni Nadal. And from the early days of coaching, Toni knew that his nephew was really special. “For Nadal, the most important goal has always been to constantly improve himself, because this is what makes the difference between tennis players,” Toni said. “So, even though Nadal is right-handed, he started playing with his left hand.”
It was part of his plan to become the best player in the world, because most players are right-handed and using the left hand has many advantages. Roger Federer himself admitted, “no one wants to play against a left-handed player, and Nadal uses his left hand with high spin shots.”
At his peak, Nadal’s forehand was unstoppable.
Nadal’s forehand (backhand) has become his main weapon in his conquests, especially on clay. Not only has he won 63 titles on the court, but he also has an absurd 112-4 win-loss record at Roland Garros. As Simon Briggs writes in the Telegraph, Nadal is like a discus thrower, and when the tennis ball flies, it is like a weather vane in a storm, with unpredictable power and spin.
In their first meeting at the 2004 US Open, Federer was shocked to be defeated by the 17-year-old boy from Spain. “I thought I was on top of the world,” Federer recalled 20 years ago, “I always had that mindset and then I lost to the guy showing off his muscles in a red tank top.”
But Nadal also had a weakness, his serve. And he knew it and fixed it, by loosening his wrists. In one year, from 2007-2008, the number of second-serve points won increased from 56% to 60%, and the percentage of serving wins increased from 85.9% to 88.1%.
Nadal’s career is a journey of continuous improvement and upgrading without stopping.
Nadal’s improvement continued. He did not want to limit himself to clay. Instead, he sought victory on all surfaces. In 2008 at Wimbledon, Nadal ended Federer’s five-match winning streak in what is considered one of the greatest matches of all time. His dramatic 9-7 victory in the fifth set after being down two sets, not only emphasized his character and will, but also showed Nadal’s maturity with a backhand slice that defeated Federer’s net.
Many consider 2008 to be Nadal’s peak, but not Federer. In January 2009, Nadal continued to overcome his Swiss opponent in a five-set Australian Open final to complete the “Grand Slam on grass, hard and clay”.
At the end, Federer said he was confident of winning, until he saw Nadal play and thought to himself that the idea seemed unrealistic, because “this guy is too good.” On that day, Nadal’s cross-court forehands that bounced at shoulder level with a lot of spin were poison to Federer’s one-handed backhand.
Nadal and Federer form a competitive relationship, as well as a beautiful friendship in the tennis world.
During those years, after improving his serve and volley, exploding with his forehand and developing his backhand, Nadal became an unbeatable player.
Nadal just never stopped. Other opponents emerged to challenge him, and he continued to improve. His refined backhand surprised Novak Djokovic, who later lost in the 2013 US Open final. And Nadal won the 2016 Olympic gold medal in men’s doubles with volleys of unprecedented power.
Then the problems set in, with his wrists and his physical decline. Nadal was battling the biggest enemy of his life: injury. He responded with a new diet, increased the speed of his second serve, made it unpredictable, and played deep returns.
Injury became Nadal’s biggest rival in the second half of his career.
However, that is also the motivation for him to change and become stronger.
In 2018, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas were two of the promising players predicted to dethrone the “Big Three”. After defeating David Ferrer in the first match of the Davis Cup, Zverev felt he had the ability to overcome Nadal. When the match ended, Nadal easily won 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
“It was like a joke. I thought he was just coming back from injury. But the reality was different. I had no chance at all,” Zverev said. Tsitsipas had a similar sentiment after losing to Nadal in the Barcelona Open final a few months later. “It doesn’t matter how well I played. Against Nadal, I was completely defeated,” Tsitsipas admitted.
Nadal has always come back better after every injury. Also in 2018, plagued by knee, stomach and ankle problems, Nadal returned to the Australian Open and defeated Tomas Berdych with straight serves. “I worked a lot on improving my serve and the quality of my first shot. This has helped me win more free points, which is very important at this stage of my career,” Nadal said.
Dominic Thiem was the one who felt the changes most clearly in his two final defeats at the 2018 and 2019 French Opens. Daniil Medvedev at the 2019 US Open was another victim. Or as Gael Monfils, who lost 14 of his 16 matches against Nadal between 2005 and 2019, shared: “When you play against Rafa, there is not much difference between one year and another or the top Rafa and the old Rafa. He is the same, always ready to beat you.”
Nadal and 14 Roland Garros titles in his career
Even in his darkest moments, with retirement looming, Nadal has the ability to surprise opponents. As in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros 2022, Nadal defeated Djokovic in a classic four-set match. “Rafa is the greatest opponent I have ever faced,” the Serb said. “Playing against him on clay always disappoints me, but at the same time it motivates me.”
As Nadal expressed his wish for how he would be remembered, no one will ever forget the great tennis player with his fierce will, endless desire to win and constant effort to improve himself.
In a world of tennis brimming with talent, it is not impossible that someone will one day replicate Nadal’s achievements, with 1080 match wins, 92 ATP titles, including 22 Grand Slams, 36 Masters 1000s and a record 14 Roland Garros titles. However, no one can possess the temperament of the nice guy from a small village in Mallorca, the same way he unleashes his infamous forehand that sets tennis courts on fire.
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