Rafael Nadal amazes even die-hard fans in the epic French Open quarter-final victory against Novak Djokovic – and reminds of Real Madrid. Will the clay court giant crown himself as the best tennis player of all time? But there is fear that this could be Nadal’s last resurrection.
The giant wobbles. He’s tired, he’s pumping and his punches leave the otherwise tremendous strength. In the quarter-finals of the French Open, in his Parisian living room, it doesn’t look like Rafael Nadal can defeat world number one Novak Djokovic. It’s the end of the second set and the Serb has turned a 0:3 in his favor, while the Spaniard no longer moves smoothly, but looks at his coaches in the stands with a pained look. His fans are reviving bitter memories of the tournament in Rome three weeks ago, when Nadal could barely walk due to a foot injury.
The fact that Nadal, who is just 35 (he celebrates his birthday on Friday), is still celebrating the semi-finals in Paris and Djokovic in epic 4:12 hours 6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 2, 7: 6 (7 :4) is, on the one hand, a small miracle. On the other hand, that’s exactly what Rafael Nadal is. A mentality monster. A fighter. A colossus on the sand. He triumphed 13 times in Paris alone. In all those years he only suffered three (!) bankruptcies at Roland Garros. An unbelievable record, which the Spaniard could now once again set the last crown.
Against Djokovic, who had not had to give up a set in the entire tournament and played extremely consistently, Nadal started like the ten-year-old version of himself. With his whipping forehand, which nobody in tennis can play like that, and sharp and precise backhand cross shots he keeps baffling his opponent back. Almost nobody can still compete with the pure power of Nadal on sand, not even the world number one. The Spaniard grabs the first set.
Incredible and extremely long rallies thrilled the Roland Garros crowd from the start. The games last an average of seven minutes. One even finds a winner after more than 20 minutes. The second movement alone lasts almost an hour and a half. For comparison: In her French Open victory in 1988, Steffi Graf only needed 32 minutes for her two complete sets. This time everyone on the Philippe-Chatrier court knows: the longer the duel between Nadal and Djokovic lasts, the greater the advantage for the Serb, who is not exactly plagued by an injury.
Actually. Because after his setback in the second set, after the momentum and dominance changed to the side of the world number one, Nadal got up from a low for the first time that evening. Right at the beginning of the third set, he hits Djokovic’s balls again like a berserker. What happens in this early finale is historic. The fans completely freak out after, during and before rallies. “Raaafaaa! Raaafaaa!” resounds across the court. The Spaniard still doesn’t run like a pain-free Nadal here and there, but he doesn’t give his living room away that easily. After all, this year could be the Spaniard’s last in Paris. This is indicated by interviews in the past few days. Even after the fight against Djokovic he says: “I’m playing this tournament because we get things right, that I’m ready to play the tournament. But I don’t know what happens after that.”
For 17 years, since 2005, Nadal has been fighting his strongest opponent. Its name: Müller-Weiss syndrome. A chronic foot injury and rare, degenerative condition in which a bone in the middle part of the foot is deformed. The Spaniard will miss the Tokyo and Wimbledon 2021 Olympics before abandoning the final season entirely in August. Some are already speculating about the end of a career. He may return in 2022, but before the Australian Open, which Nadal wins phenomenally, hardly anyone trusts him to make a big comeback. After the defeat in Rome in mid-May, he complained again about “very bad pain again”.
Is the syndrome stopping the clay court king again? After Nadal’s third set win, Djokovic shows why he is world number one and has won 20 Grand Slam titles. He breaks the Spaniard and can send the epic duel into a fifth set with his own serve when the score is 5:3. But it follows Nadal’s next resurrection. injury or not. At the very last moment he secures the break to 4:5 and when the score is 6:6 it goes into the tiebreak. There, even the Serb can no longer cope with his brutal strength and precision, which Nadal somehow manages to dig out again to the surprise of the spectators.
And so, just like his favorite football club Real Madrid in the Champions League this year, Nadal has come back from deficits and ultimately won the title, one resurrection after the other. The foot injury can’t stop him, neither can last year’s winner Djokovic, who added one of his three defeats to him in the 2021 semifinals in Paris with a world-class performance. Almost in disbelief himself, Nadal raises his arms after his victory. He wins an incredible 69 percent of the points on the second serve, Djokovic only 46 percent. The Serb reacts irritated after the game. “I didn’t see any problems with him,” he says. “I’m not at all surprised. It’s not the first time he’s been 100 per cent fit just days after an injury that left him barely able to walk. He’s done that many times in his career.”
Now Alexander Zverev is waiting for the incredible revival on Friday. The German number one was in strong form against Spain’s new teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz, another epic duel could ensue. However, it is unclear how Nadal will continue after Roland Garros. Again a bitter career end is in the room. “I have what I have in my foot, so if we’re not able to find an improvement or a little solution to that, then it’s going to be super difficult for me,” explained the Spaniard. “Of course I will continue to fight to find a solution, but so far we haven’t found any.” It would hardly surprise anyone in the tennis circus that the giant would get up a few more years.
If he wins against Zverev and the final for his 22nd Grand Slam triumph (Djokovic and Roger Federer each have 20), discussions about Rafael Nadal as the best tennis player of all time should flourish again. Although these are idle and the Spaniard is the first who does not want to hear anything about them. He’s way too polite and shy for that. Even in the epic quarter-finals, he thanks the ball boys several times with a “Merci”. Everyone in the stands and at home on the screen wants to shout a thank you for this incredible resurrection. Gracias, Rafa, don’t let it be the last.
