Rafael Nadal bows out after more than two decades on the tennis courts. By having achieved unanimous approval and without ever having broken a racket in anger.
At a graduation ceremony at the tennis academy that bears his name last June, Rafael Nadal gave a speech. He mentioned a conversation with his eternal rival and friend Roger Federer during the filming of an advertisement. It was about inheritance. “We were happy with the recognition we received for our achievements, but we thought it was even more important that future generations remember us as good people. […] I could recommend you to be influencers, but I prefer the term leader. People should look to you as role models. Not only because you are good tennis players, but also because of your human values.
This message echoes comments made by the Spaniard in an interview with online sports media AS after announcing his retirement on October 10. “It is by feeling appreciated and loved that I feel the most satisfaction. I have always had very good relationships with the people who have been close to me throughout my career, as well as with the people at ATP with whom I have worked. I’m proud of it.”
It is also the common thread of many compliments received from the tennis world. Renowned coach Darren Cahill, for example, said: “Rafa has all the human qualities you want to teach your children: kindness, respect, loyalty, generosity, work ethic…” “We all know how much Rafa was a good player. But most of all I remember the lessons he gave us young players as our sport’s greatest role model: how to behave, how to manage your emotions in difficult situationshow to choose the right people around you and how to stay humble despite all the success,” testified Jannik Sinner, the current world number one.
“The examples you had growing up shape you as a person.”
A Ferrari bought, then resold
Throughout his career, Rafael Nadal has repeatedly said that he is not superior to anyone, whether an opponent or a ball boy. There is no shortage of anecdotes. So, after winning his fourth French Open in 2008, he sought his father’s approval to buy a Ferrari. He grants it, “but only if you also win Wimbledon,” he replies. What he does, after a legendary final against Federer. He then buys the sports car. Which quickly gathers dust in the garage. Nadal sold it shortly after: it was too great a sign of wealth and luxuryhe could not stand it: “I found myself ridiculous,” he wrote in his biography.
The same year, the tennis player realized, after a tiring training session preceding the US Open, that he had left an empty water bottle on the court. He then immediately interrupts an interview with two journalists, ties his shoelaces and sprints towards the court to throw the bottle in a trash can. The arrogant champion who lets others clean up his mess is an image he couldn’t relate to, even at the peak of his career.
At each tournament, Nadal has also always made a point of remember the first names of all staff members – from the cook to the security guard – to address them through the latter and thank them personally one by one at the end of the competition. During longer interviews, he also insisted on serving coffee or water to journalists himself. And if an autograph session was planned afterwards with children, he stayed until everyone had received theirs.
Over the years and experiences, he has always remained respectful. Not only towards people, but also towards his equipment. In 22 years of professional career and more than 1,400 matches, he has not broken a single tennis racket on the court. Even the other gentleman, Roger Federer, cannot say the same. The Mallorcan owes this attitude to his uncle Toni, who trained him from a young age and taught him to stay positive in all circumstances on the court. “When Rafa was 6 years old, I told him that if he threw away his racket, I would never coach him again. There are millions of children around the world who cannot afford a racket. He had this chance. In his farewell interview with AS, Rafa also emphasized the importance of his education: “It is obvious that everyone has their own character, but the examples you had in your childhood shape you as a person. I always played tennis with passion, because I loved it, but also because I had a great sense of responsibility and I tried to do things in the best way possible.”
With Roger Federer, both his best enemies on the court and one of his best friends in life. © GETTY IMAGES
Dare to doubt
This mentality allowed him to healthily detach himself from the euphoria of a victory or the frustration of a defeat. “I always wanted to be the best. At least, I wanted to do my best to be the best, especially in my self-motivation and self-improvement.” The prize list, on the other hand, has never been an obsession. Or, as Nadal once clarified in another interview: “If you can’t lose, you can’t love winning, so I have to accept both.” This is also why he never considered the numerous injuries that affected him throughout his career as a curse. “Thanks to this, I learned to appreciate all the positive moments even more.”
Even though he sometimes played poorly, the king of clay never let his emotions dominate him. Always and everywhere he maintained self-control and concentration, to play every point with the greatest intensity. That’s why he also stuck to his familiar rituals: from the cold shower before the match to tasting his two bottles of water during downtime, including his gesture routine at the time of service. This is not a compulsive superstition, but a way to block negative thoughts and focus solely on your tennis. He never thought three moves ahead. Only in the next point. And when the match ended, to the next match, not to victory in the tournament.
This whole mental process of finding the winning tactic, especially in matches where he was trailing, is one of the most enjoyable aspects of tennis for Nadal. The “remontada” victories, he admits, gave him more satisfaction than those where he dominated from start to finish. Because, each time, he managed to channel the doubts that had always haunted his mind. Nadal never ran away from them, he embraced them. “If you don’t doubt, you become arrogant. Doubt is part of life, it’s a good thing. This means that you have to invest yourself, constantly asking yourself how to improve. Things can’t change by themselves, you have to make them change.”
So Nadal didn’t pick the day, he picked every moment. Even during training sessions, which he approached with the same intensity and seriousness as a match. It is thanks to this mentality that he spent 22 years refining his tennisnotably his baseline game, his volleys and his serve. Crucial elements to be able to beat his great rivals, first Roger Federer then Novak Djokovic, on hard and on grass. The fact that the king of clay has also won the US Open four times and the Australian Open and Wimbledon twice is as valuable to him as his fourteen (!) victories at Roland Garros.
Thanks to my injuries, I learned to appreciate all the positive moments even more.”
No excuses
On clay, where rallies are generally longer, his unfailing combativeness was even more visible. “Play every point as if it were your last,” Uncle Toni advised him. So that he should never look for the reason for a defeat in a lack of motivation. At 14, however, he took this advice a little too literally during a team tournament where he was down 6-0, 3-0 in a match, even though he had beaten everyone in the course of all previous matches. Coach Toni was worried, until he noticed that young Nadal’s racket was broken and ordered him to change it. When his uncle asked him after the match why he hadn’t done it sooner, he replied, to his great surprise: “You always told me to never make excuses, don’t you isn’t it?”
Nadal’s body sometimes completely gave up on him, especially at the end of his career, but his fighting spirit never, or almost never, gave in. Since his late teens, with his corsair pants and impressive biceps, he wielded the racket like a sabre. Despite his young face and shy appearance, he looked like a predator on the court. Ready to defeat your opponent at any time. If tennis is boxing without the blood, as legendary commentator and journalist Bud Collins once said, Nadal was, in this respect, the undisputed world champion. The term “Nadalada” was even coined because of his way of winning points and seemingly losing matches. As in the semi-final of the 2009 Australian Open, against his compatriot Fernando Verdasco, in an exhausting five-set duel, after midnight. During a break, he saw and picked up a dandelion achene that had fallen from the sky due to the Melbourne wind, on which he closed his eyes and made a wish: “To win the tournament.” Nadal won the marathon match lasting more than five hours, as well as the final, in another five-set duel against Roger Federer.
For him, it was a way of being, of believing and thinking, everything a champion is supposed to do. This attitude, his always impeccable behavior and his modesty have made Rafael Nadal immensely popular. However, he knew that one day his career would have a price. At 17 years old, he was diagnosed with Müller-Weiss syndrome, a rare foot deformity that doctors said would prevent him from turning pro. Against all odds, he ended up winning 22 Grand Slam tournaments. But this year, he had to face the facts: even his inner fire was no longer able to resist time.
Without regret and with great gratitude, Rafa will bid farewell to professional tennis in Malaga, in front of his family, during the Davis Cup final which takes place from November 19 to 24. He knows that he has received much in return for what he never considered a sacrifice, but rather a privilege.
