Rafael Nadal demosntrated excellence for a very long time but three of the most important points in his career showcase it better than anything.
Rafael Nadal’s career deserves 15 books, 3 biopics and whatever media they will have in 2150. However, his career could be broken down in 3 points seen in Paris not that long ago. They were the three most important points in his carer. That’s how he approached them. The first came in the match against Felix Auger-Aliassime on the serve of Felix. Nadal was up 4-3 and 30-15 in the game.
Felix has been playing by Nadal's philosophy for a while now and considering he’s been working with Toni Nadal for quite some time it’s not a surprise. It was a similar situation to the match against Daniil Medvedev in Australia. Both Daniil and Felix believed themselves capable of beating Nadal and truly they could. They had no intention of losing the match and that kind of mentality was the reason that Felix was even playing the 5th set against Nadal at Roland Garros. It was the 3rd time in 115 matches that that happened.
It was not a bad point by Auger-Aliassime. Like many players on the tour, he opted to go for the T line with the serve, 195 km/h onto Rafa’s backhand. It was not perfect but it was not bad by any means. Nadal was traditionally several meters behind the baseline hitting a loopy backhand return that fell in the middle of the court. From there it was a rather smartly played rally from Auger-Aliassime.
He attacked with the forehand onto Nadal’s backhand and eventually he got a good ball to attack deeply and he did with another strong forehand. The point was over. Right? Not really. When you face a maniac on the other side you are never sure. And boom. There it was 15-40. A break followed a minute later and Nadal finished off the match 6-3 in the final set.
I wish Rafa the very best, I admire him greatly in everything that he’s done. So as I said, I really wish him the very best, but it will be a monumental effort for him, I think, to win.
It was, truly it was. So let’s continue. The 2nd most important point of his career came in the quarterfinal against Novak Djokovic. Novak served at 5-3 in the 4th set with an advantage for him. A 2nd set point. As you can imagine it was not a bad point by Djokovic, not at all. Just like Felix, he opted for the T-line serve 189 km/h onto Rafa’s backhand. Not an ideal serve, you know the drill. Nadal camped 800 meters behind the baseline hitting a short return with Djokovic hitting a very precise and strong backhand. The point was over. Right? Nah.
Despite having a clear disadvantage in the point Nadal was able to get early on the ball and hit an incredible backhand passing shot. Last year’s Rafa would not be able to do it but this year’s... It was an introduction to the point that would follow about four minutes later when the break happened. It broke Djokovic mentally as he realized he might actually lose this match. That fear never existed last year.
Nadal's the best player in history on clay, and he is one of the best-ever players that played this game.
The 3rd one came in the semifinal against Alexander Zverev on the serve of Zverev with a 6-4 lead in the tiebreak of the first set. Let’s also mention that he had a 6-2 lead in the tiebreak as well. It was not a point Zverev intended to lose and he did not play it badly, not at all. You know, the drill, serve onto Nadal’s backhand. A slice serve 179 km/h, not ideal but pretty solid overall. Somewhere from the Great Wall of China, Nadal played a backhand with a lot of spin baiting Zverev into a forehand error but Sascha actually played one of the best forehands he played in a very long time.
Even if he dispatched Casper Ruud easily in the final as expected, these three points illustrate just how hard it was to win this Roland Garros. Quite possibly the hardest. The road was incredibly hard. He faced one of the worst possible opponents in the 4th round - Auger-Aliassime. A player who can play as good as Nadal when he plays his best. He didn’t lose that match, Nadal had to wrestle it away from him and it took an incredible level to do so.
Then he had to face Novak Djokovic. He turned back the clock in that one becoming a young version of himself and playing one of his best matches in the last couple of years. And there was Sacha. A very strong and decisive Zverev who was incredibly confident after his win over Alcaraz in the quarterfinal. We won’t mention what happened in that one.
If I can play without taking numbing injections I will play. If I have to do the injections, then I won’t. I won’t put myself in that situation again. That’s not a philosophy I want to follow.
A lot has been talked about Nadal’s chronic foot injury in the past couple of weeks. Too much in my opinion. Nadal is at fault himself because he could have stopped talking about it but somehow he might have even encouraged more talk about it. I don’t know why but I do know he’s not hiding anything. It would not be the first time that a great player would have to finish it due to an injury.
In that light, this might have been the final Roland Garros Nadal played. Maybe it was the final one he will win, we don’t know. Nobody knows. That’s the mentality with which Rafa came to Paris. He didn’t know and he went all out. It’s the same mentality that won him the Australian Open, he went all out because for all he knew that might have been the final match of his career.
Nadal played the most aggressive tennis he has ever played and that’s a sentence you should re-read twice. He was particularly aggressive on the backhand where his contact point was much closer than ever before. He played closer to the baseline, attacking more but also leaving himself vulnerable on the court. He moved spectacularly all event long covering it like in his best days. At an age with a foot he did not feel. HOW?
Because of the aforementioned mentality. Nadal knows this might be it. He knows that any match he further plays might be it. Australia was it for him. That’s the mentality and that’s why he’s going all out in these matches. He doesn’t care what others think about it. If they believe him when he makes another melodramatic claim. His matches are life and death for him. Those three points truly were the three most important points his career. Three points that he would never allow himself to lose in any sort of scenario.
And he didnt.
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