Rafael Nadal just won his 6th French Open trophy, tieing with Björn Borg's record, his 10th Grand Slam, and his 6th win over Roger Federer in a final in a row. No disrespect to Roger, but he pulled out of Halle stating his 'groins need rest'- now thats some stuff for bad jokes. It must hurt after having been kicked into a sensible spot....
When i started watching Rafa in earnest back in 2007, which was already quite late in his career, my first impression was: this guy is not human. He's a machine.
A young lad with an incredible defense and shooting spinning forehands like a machine gun. At that time, tennis for me was what Roger did; or Björn Borg in my youth. I didn't quite know what it was that Rafa did- tennis it was not. It was a combination between a machine gun and a brick wall. Whatever his opponents where throwing at him, he just brought it back. I saw even Roger Federer getting inevitably frustrated with that at times. Serve and volley? Well, you could try- if you got that far. Most of the time, his opponents did not.
In 2008, Rafa won Wimbledon for the first time in another final against Roger. It was some 5 hour match that lasted into the dark, and Roger fought like his life depended on it, but so did Rafa. I watched it live and its one of the matches you never completely forget. Rafa turned me around that day; i decided to ignore my impressions that this was not really tennis and became a dedicated follower.
Around that time, going into 2009, i realized Rafa's game was starting to change. It became more varied, more complex. He won his first Australian Open in the beginning of 2009, and my impression was he had been trying to adept his technique more to the hardcourts; at the same time, he became more vulnerable on his favourite surface, clay. And that wasn't all. I think the changes in his overall technique also caught up with his knees, and was partly responsible for the long injury break later in the year.
In 2010, he came back like a sandstorm- or a claystorm rather- winning everything on clay and collecting trophies like a crazy magpie, culminating in his first win of the US Open trophy. To achieve that, he also had to change his serve, and it took another toll on him: developing shoulder problems. He had to give that up rather quickly, resulting in upcoming losses and a dark figure emerging from the background nobody really expected: Novak Djokovic.
Rafa lost 4 finals against him- still fighting fatigue for several reasons, an injury from the Australian Open, and a fever he caught in Doha. And with that, he went into this year's French Open.
Would you have counted on him? Maybe, but i did not. Rafa needed 5 sets against John Isner in the first match, and i was beginning to fear this time it would be all too much for him.
In the top 10 of tennis, its a war out there. A psychological war. Andy Murray is a good example of what will happen to you when you're not up to the challenge. In one of his interviews during the tournament, Rafa suddenly had a rare outburst (rare by his standards); he complained about the ATP, the schedules, the ranking system. Saying he was getting tired of talking against walls in the councils. Tired of getting told 'this will all need time' after he was getting this answer for years now. Tired of the thought he might be doing this all for future players, but that he himself would never benefit from necessary changes.
He came into 2011 with quite a lead in points that should have secured his No.1, the number he fought so hard for, for a longer time. But the ATP rules how they are now, allowed Djokovic to catch up with him rather quickly. He was facing the fact that almost no matter how far he would go in this tournament, even with winning it, his No.1 could be gone. And a resigned sounding Rafa said: "i know its already gone, so there's nothing i can do". And it showed in his game, when he allowed opponents to push him back behind the baseline, opening the court for any kind of attack.
One person can only do so much. Suddenly i understood this was part of the problem. In this moment, i realized that Rafa was wasting precious energy on things he couldn't change. Roger has done that for years now, but he's a different kind of personality. For Rafa, this was sucking his energy out of him like a vampire delighting in his blood.
And i thought: Rafa has to give that up. He can't change the world, or the 1000 years of dust in the ATP that is reigned by old men. What he can do is go back to concentrating on his game, and he has to make a decision: either waste more energy on things he can't change, or forget about that and do what he does best: make other players think they're in the game until they realize its already over.
And for some reason i don't know, in the end Rafa decided exactly for that. When facing Soderling, i caught the first glimpses of the Rafa i know. Against Murray, he got into trouble here and there, but when he fell to his knees at the end of the match, with a look like he couldn't quite believe himself he had come that far with the way he started, i knew that with an extraordinary effort i can't quite explain he had pulled himself out of a deep hole by his own hair.
Lots of articles have been written about this final against Roger Federer, and i'm not delusional enough to believe i could do a better analysis. So i just want to describe the moment that for me was the deciding moment.
At 2:1 in the 4th set, Roger was to serve for 2:2, the cameras caught a close shot from Rafa's face. And he was looking at his opponent with what i call 'the look'. Roger, hesitating for a moment, looked back, and then averted his eyes. For me, the fascinated armchair expert, this was the moment when Roger finally understood he was not going to win this. Again. He had fought like a lion, there has been no shame in that loss, he actually won some of my respect back he lost over the years in this tournament.
His first service of the 4th set was the last game Roger won this time. Rafa went for the kill. And when he served for the match and the trophy at 5:1, all of a sudden the sun broke through the clouds as if the Gods were smiling at him, bathing the court in golden evening sunlight. It was so pathetic. Had i seen this in a movie, i would have called it an overdone script. And when he had 3 matchpoints at 40:0, Rafa's eyes filled with tears. Probably causing him to need three attempts (one let) to bring the ball into play.
And then it was over in a rush. One strange return from Rafa, almost on his knees already catching a flat ball on the line with a doubledhanded backhand, and a mishit from Roger sending the ball over the baseline directly beside Rafa's still bowed knees.
He didn't have to fall deep for kissing the clay of Roland Garros because he was already very close. And while Rafa bowed to the court that has made him the old and new King of Clay, the crowd stood up and gave not only Roger, but also him standing ovations. The french crowd. The parisian crowd. Miracles do happen sometimes.
I have seen Rafa making history several times in those 4 years. But this years French Open is another one that will stay in my memory. To have the privilege to see him fighting the world including himself, going through ups and downs on a rollercoaster of emotions and still coming out like a blazing fire of sheer will, is something i will cherish forever.
I would like to close this blog with the final words of John McEnroe who interviewed Rafa after this win and who had tears in his eyes when he said it:
"Keep it up and just keep playing, Rafa. Thanks a lot."
