Tennis star Rafael Nadal suffers the title

After Rafael Nadal won his first title in Roland-Garros on June 5, 2005 at the age of 19, the NZZ headlined: “Rafael Nadal, a new dimension in tennis”. The Spanish king Juan Carlos sat in the audience, the trophy was presented by the French football legend Zinedine Zidane, who at the time was still on the pitch for Nadal’s favorite club Real Madrid.

In the appreciation, the NZZ wrote: “Most augurs predict Nadal a world career like Zidane has achieved. The Iberian in white Capri pants and with upper arms like a furniture mover won his sixth title at the French Open this season – the most important so far.”

It was a prediction of sorts, albeit one that the correspondent didn’t fling too far on. Nadal’s talent was already known. However, nothing was known about the high level of physical wear and tear that he paid and would pay for his physical style of play.

On June 5, 2022, exactly 17 years later to the day, Nadal sat in the large interview room of the Court Chatrier, the Coupe des Mousquetaires, which is awarded to the winner in Roland-Garros, on the table in front of him and said: «I never thought that at the age of 36 I would still be playing on this course, which is the most important in my career. It means a lot to me, no, it means everything to me. It gives me the energy to keep trying.”

Nadal celebrated his 36th birthday on Friday. With his title, he became the oldest Roland Garros winner, surpassing compatriot Andrés Gimeno, who won in Paris in 1972 at the age of 34. King Juan Carlos had to abdicate long ago. His son and heir to the throne, Felipe, sat in the audience and watched as tennis legend and suffragette Billie Jean King honored Nadal as the 14th French Open champion.

The shadow of Nadal’s resignation is in the room

There was still a shadow over the ceremony. Because before and during the final, the rumor circulated on the Paris facility that Nadal would announce his retirement from professional tennis after the match. He dispelled this fear in his speech on the square. With the trophy in his arms, Nadal said: «I don’t know what the future will bring. But I will fight and try to keep playing. »

Most of the 15,000 spectators on the court acknowledged the announcement with applause and cheers. It is difficult to imagine the tennis circus in general and Paris in particular without Rafael Nadal. The Mallorcan is one of the most popular and since the Australian Open also the most successful player on the tour, yes in history.

At the beginning of January, Nadal won the Australian Open on his comeback after a six-month injury break, making him the sole record Grand Slam tournament winner. At the time, he also benefited from the fact that Novak Djokovic, the great dominator in Melbourne in recent years, was refused participation as an unvaccinated person.

In Paris, everyone who belongs to the world elite on sand was there. Nadal successively beat top ten players Félix Auger-Aliassime, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Casper Ruud en route to the title. He was only lucky in the semifinals because Zverev tore several ligaments in his right ankle with a misstep at the end of the second set and had to give up. But no one knows whether the German could have maintained his high level to the end.

Nadal is an escape artist who has repeatedly found ways out of seemingly hopeless situations throughout his career. He turned games in which he actually seemed beaten – most recently in the quarter-finals last Tuesday against Djokovic.

Along with Roger Federer, the Serb is the big rival in Nadal’s career. When asked about Nadal’s return after his defeat on Tuesday, he said: “Nothing surprises me anymore with him. It’s not the first time he’s walked out on the pitch and been back to 100 per cent just days after barely walking. He’s done it again and again in his career.”

Nadal: “The foot is split in half”

Actually, Nadal should have resigned long ago. He has suffered from Müller-Weiss syndrome, a degenerative disease of the navicular bone in his left foot, since his youth. As a teenager, doctors therefore advised him to stop playing tennis.

Nadal once said: «The foot is practically split in half. It’s a problem with no solution.” But the Spaniard has learned to live with it, even if it’s not always easy for him. After losing the second-round match to Canada’s Denis Shapovalov a month ago in Rome – unable to walk properly – frustration erupted in him. You lose joy not only in sport, but in life as a whole if you are constantly in pain, Nadal said at the media conference at the time.

This is one of the reasons why Nadal was exceptionally not the top favorite this year in Paris. He refused to talk about his foot during the tournament. It wasn’t until Sunday, after winning the title, that he said he was only able to play because the nerve was numbed with an injection before each match. “I no longer felt my foot like that. At the same time, this also increases the risk of twisting your ankle or injuring yourself in some other way. But otherwise I wouldn’t have had a chance to compete here at all.”

Nadal is hoping for relief from radio frequency therapy

At the same time, he ruled out competing in Wimbledon in three weeks under similar conditions. That’s why Nadal will undergo radio frequency therapy this week. A probe is guided to the nerve under local anesthesia and this is destroyed with radio waves. He should then no longer transmit pain signals to the brain.

“If that works, I will continue. If not, a new story will begin.” Nadal said he will certainly not compete again with regular painkiller injections. He rules out an operation. It would limit the mobility of his foot so severely that it would probably be impossible to continue playing competitive tennis.

Nadal said he takes it step by step and then decides like he’s always done in his career. It is therefore possible that Sunday’s final against the Norwegian Casper Ruud was the last professional match.

Nadal has already come much further in his career than all his observers and he himself thought possible: 14 titles in Roland-Garros, plus 4 at the US Open and 2 each at the Australian Open and in Wimbledon. 70 more titles in smaller tournaments. Despite his repeated compulsory breaks, Nadal has been in the top ten without interruption for 17 years. He was world number 1 for 209 weeks.

One wonders why a player with his palmarès still exposes himself to the pain of the tour mill. 2022 is already Rafael Nadal’s year. He has won both Grand Slam tournaments and 30 matches out of 33 contested.

In the ranking he is again listed as number 4. His gap to world number one Novak Djokovic is almost 1400 points. Because he hardly has any points to defend in the second half of the season, Nadal could then return to the top of the rankings.

On Sunday, Nadal was asked what drives him further. He replied he wasn’t interested in breaking records or being the best in history. “I’ve said it several times before. Me, but also Roger or Novak – we have achieved things in our careers that we would not have even dared to dream of. It would be arrogant to say I’m not surprised to have won 22 Grand Slam titles and 14 times here in Paris.”

And what does Roger Federer do?

It is the passion for the game, experiencing moments and playing in front of people like this Sunday. “These are memories that will stay with you for a lifetime. If I’m suddenly no longer competitive, then I won’t enjoy what I’m doing any more.”

This is probably also the thought that drives Roger Federer and makes him postpone his comeback after his three knee operations. Federer’s last intervention was almost a year ago. And yet he doesn’t feel ready to face the competition, some of which is only half his age, but also the merciless judgment of his observers.

Nadal and Federer are legends of this sport. Their reputation will far outlast their careers. And yet it is not easy for either of them to withdraw. Because they will also let go of the last part of their youth with tennis. Rafael Nadal turned back time again on Sunday, to June 5, 2005, when this new dimension had arrived in tennis and his reign in Paris began. But running against time is a battle that you inevitably have to lose.