Nadal the Real Deal

Nine months ago, Rafael Nadal had just retired from his Australian Open Quarterfinal match. He had not won a major tournament since the previous Australian Open, and had dropped to number three in the world rankings. Followers of the Spaniard had big hopes for 2010 after a disastrous end to 2009: he lost for the first time at the French Open, couldn’t defend his title at Wimbledon due to his failing knees, and had to deal with the unexpected divorce of his parents.

After his prematurely ageing legs couldn’t take him through his much hyped match in Australia against Andy Murray, many thought this was the end. After all, he is the oldest 23 year old in Tennis having captured his first of six majors at 18 years old.

Come September and Rafael Nadal has just become the youngest of seven players to win all four major tournaments. He has a staggering nine grand slam singles titles, and looks indestructible.

The Us Open still gave critics enough ammunition to doubt Nadal’s status amongst the games elite. Many thought the balls were too soft and the courts were to fast for his heavy baseline game. However, any time a question is raised regarding Nadal’s ability to win a particular event,  he continues to prove everyone wrong.

It was only five years ago Nadal claimed he wanted to win Wimbledon. This remark was laughable to many tennis purists, who said this would be impossible. His grips were to extreme, the balls stay too low, and he isn’t comfortable moving forward. Five years later and he is already twice a Wimbledon champion, and also runner up.

Now, having captured all the Major tournaments,  the sky is the limit for the Spanish superstar. He has captured every tennis accolade at the extremely young age of 24, and doesn’t look like stopping.

He has a never-seen-before ability to adjust his game drastically to help him on different surfaces. Most noticeable was his serving at this year’s US Open. He only lost his serve once after six matches, leading into the final. His fastest serve was 135 mph compared to 123 mph in the events before the Open. His coach (Uncle Tony as he is referred too), claimed it was only a subtle grip adjustment, which is a huge understatement since it added an incredible 13 more miles to his once vulnerable serve.

Now one must wonder how to beat Rafael Nadal in a best of five set match. He lost one set for the tournament. This came in the final against the finally rejuvenated Novak Djokovic. Djokovic played his best tennis with some scintillating striking of the ball. However he had nothing left in the tank. He was simply mentally and physically worn out against an opponent who did not commit an unforced error for the last set and a half.

Nadal’s ranking as the number one player will only continue to grow as he has very little points to defend between now and next year's clay court season. One continues to be mystified by his extremely modest nature. He continues to laugh off comparisons to Roger Federer, as he claims he is nowhere near replicating Federer’s great achievements. It is a credit to Nadal’s mentors, family, and surroundings that a champion of his statue is this humble and gracious in a world of sporting ego maniacs.

However, comparing Nadal and Federer is an interesting question. Nadal has won more major tournaments at the same age, and all of the four majors well before Federer did. He also holds a 14 to 7 head to head lead over the Swiss star with the majority of those win’s coming in grand slam finals. Many give the prolonged career edge to Federer due to Nadal’s physically demanding game. But due to Nadal’s bigger serve and relatively easy victories this is know where near a foregone conclusion.

Nadal will continue to be modest about his achievements, but if he keeps the type of tennis up we are seeing from him he may well go down as the greatest. Whether he will ever admit it or not who knows, but one thing for sure is that facts don’t lie Rafa.