Rafa Nadal, farewell to tennis: a legendary career always on the limit

Federer e Nadal nel 2005, agli inizi della carriera (Photo by Thomas COEX / AFP)

Nadal's career can truly be defined as legendary: 22 Grand Slam titles (second only to Djokovic), including two Australian Open, two Wimbledon, four Us Open and no less than 14 Roland Garros, where he made his debut in 2005 and has an incredible record of 112 wins and four losses, to which 36 Masters 1000 titles should be added, including ten at the Internazionali d'Italia, and an Olympic gold medal in 2008 in Beijing. The only trophy he lacks is the Atp Finals, which are played in November, when the Spaniard is almost always exhausted and ailing.

His career has in fact been punctuated by numerous injuries that have forced him to forfeit on several occasions. After all, the hallmark of his tennis has always been physicality taken to the extreme, as well as a pure fighting spirit.

One of his most sensational feats was his performance at the Australian Open in 2022. Coming back from a foot injury that had kept him away from tournaments for six months and just recovered from Covid, he started the tournament quietly to grow from match to match and reach the final against Daniil Medvedev. There he performed a masterpiece: down two sets and with three break points for the Russian in the third, nobody would have bet a euro on his comeback. Instead, exchange after exchange, Nadal took away his opponent's confidence, literally exhausted him with endless exchanges from the back of the court and finally prevailed in five sets, leaving Medvedev with nothing but anger and frustration.

In the same year, his comeback victory at Wimbledon against Taylor Fritz will also remain in the annals despite an abdominal injury that had prompted his entire staff - including his father - to ask him to retire. No dice, the warrior Nadal took a painkiller and stayed on court to fight to victory. Except he had to forfeit in the semi-final against Nick Kyrgios. It was his last high point before the inevitable decline.

Another feat that will go down in history was the 2008 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer, won in the fifth set after almost five hours of play and several rain interruptions. A rivalry, the one with Federer, that marked his entire career together with a mutual respect crowned by a true friendship: 24 to 16 for the Spaniard the balance of direct confrontations, thanks to his dominance on clay.

That 'clay' where Nadal has always felt the strongest, able to wear down his opponents with his exasperated rotations, impossible recoveries, marathons on court. An absolute domination on clay that has overshadowed specialists such as Dominic Thiem, David Ferrer or, more recently, Casper Ruud, who have been forced to surrender to the undisputed superiority of the Major and are discouraged at the thought that had they been of a different generation they would surely have lifted the prestigious Parisian trophy.

Outside of clay, observe those who have always preferred the Swiss or Serbian phenomenon to him, Nadal was yes a great champion but not at the levels of Federer and Djokovic, who were also capable of excelling on cement and grass. A difficult thesis to disprove. Yet the Spaniard managed to win twice on grass at Wimbledon, showing versatility and an ability to adapt even to surfaces less congenial to him. Like all great champions, Nadal has never stopped working to improve and strive for perfection: impressive the progress he has made in his 20-year career in his serve and volley, the two shots that were less natural to him at the beginning, unlike his forehand, hit with that slap that makes his arm twirl around his head, like a cowboy, and makes the ball bounce with a deleterious spin on the opponent.

Spanish fans can certainly console themselves because they have already found the heir: Carlos Alcaraz, who at 21 years of age has already won four Slam titles and who, injury permitting, could win many more. Alcaraz shares Nadal's 'gymnastic' physique, explosive groundstrokes and extraordinary stamina, but in addition he has a sensitivity in his hand that allows him to vary his game with short balls and net runs ending with often lethal volleys. It is too early to make predictions, but in terms of talent and versatility, the young champion from Murcia has nothing to envy Nadal, quite the contrary.