Australian Open – The finals lost by Rafael Nadal in Melbourne: a part of legend but a bitter aftertaste

Yet it is there, in the Antipodes, that the great story calls him. In a Rod Laver Arena which did not always succeed on the evenings of the final. Since his first victory here, against Roger Federer in 2009, the Spaniard has never won again. A look back at these always special and often bitter losing finals.

2012: the masterpiece against Djokovic

Number of Grand Slam titles on the counter : 10

The context : By the time he arrived in Melbourne that year, Nadal was no longer the strongman of the circuit. Worse, he systematically appears on the photo of the winner but never in the skin of this one. At Wimbledon and then at Flushing, Novak Djokovic had fun stealing the show, beating him regularly, in four sets each time. It is the Serb who firmly occupies the first place in the world after a completely delirious year 2011 marked by his Petit Slam and a crazy record (70 wins, 6 losses).

The game : History. Magnificent. Fantastic. Use all the superlatives you want. They are justified in view of one of the most beautiful Grand Slam finals in history. By its length already. 5h53 for what remains, still today, the longest Major duel in history. A crazy intensity, an undeniable quality of play and twists in all directions. All the ingredients for a final that has gone down in history.

After a huge fight for four sets, Rafa and Nole will battle it out in a final round of fire. As a ruthless animal, the Spaniard manages to break the Serb on his only opportunity of the set, pointing in the lead at 4-2. The scent of success tickles his nostrils. “In that moment I felt the title within my reach against someone who had beaten me six times in 2011“, he explained after the fact. But Djokovic, immense champion and extraordinary mental strength, comes to break in stride. Blow on the helmet on the skull of Nadal who only scores one game before seeing the Serb probably win the most significant victory of his career in five sets (5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5) First defeat, first goal.

The statement that sums it all up : “I’m not happy to lose the final, of course. But it’s one of the losses I’m most proud of in my career.”

2014: Wawrinka exploding, his back too

Number of Grand Slam titles on the counter : 13

The context : The Spaniard took back the crown. At the end of 2013, after his final victory in Flushing against Djokovic, Nadal took control of the ATP rankings and seemed to be launched like a bullet towards a 14th Major. In the semi-finals, despite an XXL blister in his left hand, he crushed Roger Federer in three sets. In the other part of the table, Stan Wawrinka signed one of the biggest matches of his career in the quarter-finals to leave the Djoker, three-time defending champion, at 9-7 in the last set. Nadal doesn’t know it yet but ‘Stanimal’s’ birth certificate has arrived.

The game : Possibly one of the strangest Major finals in recent history. After a first set to suffer the gunshots of the Swiss, Nadal knows the worst: his back is blocked at 2-1 in the second set. At that time, the abandonment is close, his uncle Toni will explain later. But, because he is an extraordinary fighter, Rafa returns to putty. Not without having made a detour in the hands of the physiotherapist at the start of the second set. A choice that will have earned him a line of whistles from the Rod Laver Arena.

Clearly, he is not in full possession of his faculties. His first bullets never exceed the 150 km/h mark again. But Wawrinka has a trembling hand when concluding. Logic. Even diminished, Nadal seizes the third set and suggests that the suspense is real. He himself knows that this is false: “I could win a set like that, but not three, not against such a strong opponent.” Because “Stanimal” regains his senses and ends up logically winning his first Major (6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3). Disappointment, pain, tears. But above all a new set.

The statement that sums it all up : “I tried everything until the last moment, for the public, for my opponent, for me. But it was impossible to win this way“.

2017: A Fedal for eternity

Number of Grand Slam titles on the counter : 13

The context : Back to the future. To find Rafael Nadal in the final of a Major, you have to go back to Roland-Garros 2014. To find Roger Federer in the final of a Major, you have to go back to the US Open 2014. Annoyed by physical glitches, the two men left the field open to the gluttonous Djokovic, annoyed by Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka. Seeing Nadal and Federer at the top again was as much a desire as a pipe dream, some thought at the time. But the two men will defy the odds to invite themselves to the final. Romantic, exciting and intriguing as the poster seems to come from a time that we definitely thought behind us.

The game : A rise in power for a finish of madness. After four rounds of a high level but sometimes unequal, the two magicians set the sights in a last set already passed in posterity. As against the Djoker in 2012, Nadal made the break. Even earlier in the round. At 3-1, Federer’s chances look slim. However, the Majorcan will not score a single game in the match, leaving the Swiss to reconnect with the Grand Slam success that had been avoiding him for more than five years.

Legendary, the game is. But the result is still not in favor of the Spaniard. At the time of the traditional awards ceremony, he attacks this “stuff” while underlining his honor to be in the photo of the most significant sporting event of 2017. “I can not say that I’m sad”, he will have the honesty to underline after his failure, so much to come back to the final after all his past physical setbacks is a feat.

The statement that sums it all up : “I think it was a great game. I liked being part of it“.

2019: A One-Way Spanking

Number of Grand Slam titles on the counter : 17

The context : After a year 2018 marked by his eleventh title at Roland, a heartbreaking semi-final at Wimbledon, but also by an end to the season in blood sausage because of his withdrawals and repeated withdrawals, Rafa returns to Melbourne in search of feelings. Thanks to an open draw where he faces young talents still in the learning phase, he makes his way to the final at great speed. lost only 48 small games (8 per game on average). Facing him stands the master of the place, Novak Djokovic.

The game : An unexpected butchery. Faced with a Djokovic in the area, the Mallorcan is without response, pulverized in just over two hours and three small dry sets (6-3, 6-2, 6-3). Much more tense than his opponent, much less precise, Nadal comes up against his limits as much as the bewildering level of his executioner. Of all his finals disputed in Major, a fortiori against Djoko, it is the most violent because the chasm between the two seems abyssal. On the match, he will only take eight games. As a revenge, he will leave only 7 to the Serb at Roland-Garros in 2020, as a scathing response to this southern correction.

The statement that sums it all up : “Tonight I had no chance“.