Sam Bunce
Rafael Nadal announced in October that he will retire after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, which will take place from the 19th to 24th November.
The ‘King of Clay’ has the chance to win his fifth Davis Cup title for Spain in front of a home crowd as he takes to the court for the final time in his illustrious career.
Rafael Nadal has been a complete one man show throughout his career spanning across three separate decades at the very elite levels of men’s singles tennis.
Where it all began
Mallorca. On the Balearic Islands of Spain, a young Rafael Nadal was honing his skills in two sports, football and tennis, through the influences of his two uncles Miguel and Toni.
The former was a professional footballer, who most notably featured heavily for FC Barcelona in the 1990s led by Johan Cruyff, who tactically transformed European football.
Miguel was a centre back with tactical intuition, crucial for adhering to the system of Johan Cruyff, with Pep Guardiola often sitting in front of him as a midfielder. But, he was also physical and aggressive, atypical of Barcelona players nowadays.
Nadal has displayed elements of the attributes of his uncle throughout his career in tennis with an elite mentality, but where did this really come from?
Nadal’s other uncle, Toni, introduced him to tennis at the age of three at Manacor tennis club. Several red terracotta courts lined alongside each other in the oppressive and blazing heat of the Mediterranean, and the relationship between uncle and nephew, between player and coach had already started.
It then became the task of Toni Nadal, with the warmth that we see today concealed, to manufacture this talent into an unyielding athlete of tenacity, and the means necessary to do so were often not very pretty.
Toni Nadal had identified a natural talent for tennis and a somewhat unique relationship that the youngster had with the tennis ball, unlike the many other kids he had coached and analysed.
It then became the task of Toni Nadal, with the warmth that we see today concealed, to manufacture this talent into an unyielding athlete of tenacity, and the means necessary to do so were often not very pretty.
There was unrelenting toughness to his training and he spoke to Rafa in a confrontational and controlling manner at times. The expectation he had to fulfil alongside a packed schedule of also playing football, and the commitments of his studies in these early years was demanding and could even be considered unfair.
Nevertheless, endurance, physically and mentally, were at the forefront of what Toni knew needed to be developed to significantly accompany a technical proficiency that Nadal had the foundations of.
Even when success did come when his nephew returned from a South African tournament at the age of 14, he was insistent on making sure the boy kept his feet firmly on the ground. Often, it was nothing more than that, and it seemed to work.
Father Sebastian and mother Ana Maria ended up deciding on rejecting a tennis scholarship in Barcelona in favour of keeping Toni by their son’s side as the man to assist their son’s endeavours not in football, but in tennis.
From 1990 to 2017 in fact he was by his side. A relationship of this type in sport was truly peerless.
Nadal’s demeanour reflects how he was surrounded by these figures of inspiration in both sports from an early age. It is encompassed by doggedness, certainly in the playing style of Rafael Nadal, and a distinct, crucial strength of mind.
Nadal describes his childhood in his book as a “fairytale” and despite all the “haranguing I got from Toni, I am not one of those athletes whose life stories are all about overcoming dark beginnings in their rise to the top.”
The rise to the top in professional tennis
15-year-old Rafael Nadal, played his first professional tennis tournament on the island he grew up on, and then at 18-years-old he won his first grand slam at the French Open, and little did we know that this was the beginning of something revolutionarily unprecedented.
Four consecutive wins for Nadal at Roland Garros, and four undefeated years there since his debut was remarkable.
If you were drawn to face Rafael Nadal at the French Open, there wasn’t really any point in turning up.
However, the Wimbledon 2008 final was really the most defining moment, usurping Roger Federer as the number one.
A 22-year-old Spaniard took the tennis world by storm in 2008, as he conquered the Swiss man’s five-year winning streak in a five hour and five set contest.
In that famous win, when Nadal collapsed to the ground in elation under the darkening skies in London, the tides of tennis were changing.
There was a new kid on the block, and he wasn’t going to go away, and his name was Rafael Nadal. He won the Olympic gold medal just one month later that year.
More than a decade of dominance on the clay would then ensue for the Spaniard, unlike anything ever seen in any individual sport, with a 97% win rate at Roland Garros over the span of his career. If you were drawn to face Rafael Nadal at the French Open, there wasn’t really any point in turning up.
Four Davis Cup victories, and yes, another Olympic gold medal, as well as 22 grand slam titles, the second most of all time in the men’s game behind rival Novak Djokovic’s 24.
A captivating career that will draw to its conclusion. Undeniably, it was not an easy ride for the man himself and those behind the scenes with injury and longevity, contemplating how much he could push it.
What has remained though is a cabinet of titles, each with a story behind them, and a legacy for himself, but more importantly the impact of it on the world of tennis, sport, and those up and coming tennis players on tennis courts in Spain.
The Davis Cup Finals
It would certainly be a moment that would live in the memory of Rafael Nadal for the rest of his life if he could lift one of the biggest trophies in sport, in physical size, alongside prodigy Carlos Alcaraz, who will be at the heart of the host nation’s efforts to reach the final.
Each contest in this finals tournament consists of two singles and one doubles match played in a best of three format to determine who advances.
Spain will face the Netherlands on the opening day, and Rafael Nadal will be the opening singles match against Botic van de Zandschulp, where he will try and avenge Carlos Alcaraz, who shockingly lost to the unseeded Dutchman earlier this year in the second round of the US Open.
But, Wimbledon and French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz will fancy his chances against Tallon Griekspoor, who he defeated on his way to triumph in Beijing last month.
Reigning champions Italy boast a selection of players all in fine form in their trip across the Mediterranean following the ATP finals in Italy, and they look to be real contenders again for tennis’ so-called World Cup.
Olympic semi-finalist, 22-year-old Lorenzo Musseti and world number one Jannik Sinner will bring energy and competency into their singles games no doubt, while doubles pairing Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori’s complementary partnership recently will assuredly put them in a confident place heading to Andalucia.
Australia’s doubles dominance and the USA’s depth of singles players in the top rankings will put them in good stead. However, adding to tennis legend Rafael Nadal and the successful young force of Carlos Alcaraz in Spain’s line up, in their shadow, is the doubles world number one Marcel Granollers.
The 38-year-old rose to the top of the tree in May following his win at the Italian Open with doubles partner, who is only one year older than him, Argentinian Horacio Zeballos.
The pain from back to back losses to the Italian duo Bolelli and Vavassori in Buenos Aires and Rio last year subsided after victories over them at Indian Wells, the Olympics, and Montreal.
His experience in doubles and ability to overcome the Italians seems significant and we will have to see if he can execute the same with Pablo Carreno Busta by his side.
In Malaga, on the indoor hard courts at the Martin Carpena Arena, it will be a hostile and electric atmosphere that will not disappoint.
Rafael Nadal has been a complete one man show throughout his career spanning across three separate decades at the very elite levels of men’s singles tennis. But it will be time for Spain’s other tennis talents to step up, show what they are made of, and demonstrate to the world what Rafael Nadal is, a catalyst in forming the new generation of tennis players in Spain.
He will be primed and ready to pounce against the world’s best at the Davis Cup. At his age, he said he will play only if he feels ready, but what we all hope and expect is Spain to go all guns blazing for Rafael Nadal, the last time one of the sport’s greatest players and inspirations will grace Spain’s tennis courts.
Sam Bunce
Featured image courtesy of [@arnok] via [Unsplash]. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of [richardmille] via [Instagram]. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of [Wimbledon] via [Instagram]. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 3 courtesy of [Djokernole] via [Instagram]. No changes were made to this image.
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