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French Open 2022: Rafael Nadal - The Normalo in the glittering operation of the tennis circuit

Rafael Nadal holds 22 Grand Slam titles after his renewed triumph in Roland Garros. Despite his chronic foot injury, the Spaniard does not see the end yet.

by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: Jun 06, 2022, 10:42 am

Rafael Nadal was once again able to celebrate in Paris
© Getty Images
Rafael Nadal was once again able to celebrate in Paris

When Pete Sampras went into well-deserved retirement in 2002 with an astounding 14 Grand Slam titles, the assembled armies of experts quickly came to the conclusion that the merciless American's major record - nickname: Pistol-Pete - would never be broken again, not in the modern tennis world with all its imponderables and the confusing balance of power. But then came the weightless aesthete Roger Federer, then came the merciless fighter Rafael Nadal . Then came the movement miracle Novak Djokovic. And when, on Pentecost Sunday in 2022, the second Grand Slam spectacle of this season was settled, in the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, these magical three had collected 62 of the big trophies together. Djokovic 20, Federer 20. Nadal, the current and seemingly eternal champion under the Eiffel Tower, even 22. He alone, the incredible Spaniard, had now completed 14 difficult and most difficult major missions in a single city, on a single center court . “I would have declared anyone crazy who had ever predicted this to me. It's insane," said Nadal, the Red Square's Sun King. The absolute ruler, Rafa XIV.

As a young sky-stormer with a pirate outfit, he conquered the crown of Roland Garros for the first time on June 5, 2005, as still the biggest fighter in the traveling circus, but with the marks of a grueling career on his body and face, he won on June 5 2022 the last of his 14 titles - without moments of tension with 6: 3, 6: 3, 6: 0 against the Norwegian Casper Ruud, a nice extra who has been a guest in Nadal's training academy in Mallorca for many years. Nadal has now defeated them all in Paris. The established final opponents like Federer or Djokovic. Surprise guests like the Swede Robin Söderling, an almost forgotten opponent like Mariano Puerta (Argentina) in the premiere success. And now, in the 20s, much younger opponents for whom he was once an idol and motivational figure. "I think it's impossible that someone will ever dominate a tournament like Rafa did the French Open," said Swede Mats Wilander, himself once number one in the world and number one on clay. After all, Nadal left four top ten opponents behind on the way to this 14th title, in the semifinals the injury drama of Alexander Zverev also favored him.

Success has its price

Nadal's exhausting game during hours of sliding on sand, but all the wear and tear of the tennis tour from January to the end of November, which was always too long, have come at a price: over the years, the 36-year-old Spaniard has suffered injuries and bruises almost everywhere, whether now on the hips, the knees, the hands or the ribs. He was also diagnosed with a chronic, degenerative foot injury, which he fights with a high pain tolerance, many painkillers and, as is now the case in Paris, with painkilling injections. His foot was "numb" and he "didn't feel it at all," Nadal said on Sunday evening. Nevertheless, he announced, to the relief of Center Court fans and his millions of followers around the world, that he would first "continue" and see "what's up." In the next few days, a new treatment method for the injured foot is planned Nadal, to simply continue everything as before, "but that's not possible." That's why he hasn't written off Wimbledon yet, the lawn classic that he last won in 2010. If he competes at Church Road, it will be for the first time in his career as the holder of the first two Grand Slam titles of the season.

Nadal, who is no longer excessively driven, will by no means take any risks in the future. After all, he has had to take a lot of forced breaks, missed nine Grand Slams injured and suffered a lot - the man who his long-time coach and uncle Toni once described as the "world champion of pain" and added: "I don't think anyone can take more than he can.” Nadal had said the remarkable, memorable sentence in Paris, even before the last title coup, that he would be happy to forego the trophy “if I could get a healthy foot for it.” Toil then still has its limits. Only he himself, the matador Nadal, knows when all this will and should be over.

In his own perception, he has long since exceeded the target. Already in his early thirties, physical problems plagued him so badly that he no longer believed in Grand Slam successes. Then he wrote one successful comeback story after another on the center courts of the major tournaments, again and again in Paris, but also in Melbourne or New York. Suddenly he moved into the pole position of the Grand Slam title winners, ahead of Federer, ahead of Djokovic. Nadal, somehow always an honest skin, was also clear to lose weight when he said: "Having won most of the Grand Slams interests me less than many people out there."

Nadal Day in Paris

In any case, on the last day of the anniversary celebrations for the Queen, who has been in power for 70 years, he, the tennis king of Paris, looked like eternity in person. For almost two decades, the first Sunday in June in Paris has been Nadal Day. The day on which he first wears down his opponent in the final in the west of the capital and then, drunk with joy, bites into the trophy – the typical motif of the “cannibal”, as the French gazettes luridly call him. Nadal has made 14 wins in 14 finals so routine that the unbelievable, the sensational, the breathtaking hardly appears behind these numbers. Nadal connoisseurs also know this: Each of his triumphs is born of fears, doubts and distrust. Nadal is someone who, again and again, only gets self-assurance through the passionate fight, the face-to-face duel, to be ready for great things. Good enough for triumphs and titles. Nadal says he is not one to march onto the pitch "with a big chest", "I always have a lot of concerns. But maybe that was exactly the right basis to be successful.”

Perhaps something else is much more important for and with Nadal: because throughout his professional life he has always remained himself. The glitz and glamor business didn't bend him, nor did he submit to it. Nadal, the 36-year-old old champion, has never lost sight of the big picture and priorities in life. The greatest happiness for him is being at home in Mallorca with his family, going out with old friends and spending time fishing as usual. "It doesn't take millions to be satisfied," says millionaire Nadal without hypocrisy. His legacy in tennis isn't just fame, fortune and trophies, it's his character, his straightforwardness and his sanity in an abnormal universe of sophisticated professional sport.

Here is the individual tableau for men

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by Jörg Allmeroth

Monday
Jun 06, 2022, 11:50 am
last edit: Jun 06, 2022, 10:42 am