“I had to fight to the end”, Nadal and the 21 Grand Slams, a record tribute to his resilience

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If one day we have to tell Rafael Nadal to our grandchildren, we will start with this masterpiece. Whether he finishes at 21, 22, or 23 Grand Slams, whether Djokovic comes back in front or not, it doesn’t matter. We’ll start with that. And by remembering that with two sets to nothing for Medvedev in this Australian Open 0222 final, the statistics gave Nadal a 4% chance of winning.

And even a little less at 0-40 on his serve and 3-2 for the big Russian crook who martyred him in all corners of the court. To believe in Nadal and his ten years older at this degree of loneliness, despite the memory of his old complicity with victory, was to risk internment in Sainte-Anne hospital without notice.

To say that he comes out of six months without playing

We have known for a long time that the Spaniard is not the type of man to cultivate resignation, but still. Let’s remember where he comes from, just like that: six months without playing because of this damn pain in his left foot which has plagued his existence since his young years. The Muller-Weiss syndrome that it is called, a kind of necrosis of the bones of the foot, which had earned a clairvoyant doctor to announce to the young man that he would never have a high-level career.

In short, the left foot did not lead wide last summer, and we still remember seeing Nadal on crutches at the start of the school year. It even seems that the Mallorcan dabbled in coming after the Covid Long which ruined a preparation already truncated at the end of December. A good slice of fun, yes.

5h24 of play on Sunday and guess who was frolicking like a prisoner on leave in the fifth set, while the world number 2 panted like an old meat with each somewhat long exchange? Don Rafael Nadal himself, a monument of resilience when the matches extend into Proustian lengths. Seeing him sulphate the short forehand on the last game, we were even surprised to think that he still had some under his biceps, the bugger. 21 Grand Slams, therefore, in front of Federer and Djokovic, who if they may have been jealous of Rafa in front of their TV, did not show an ounce of sourness on the networks.

Congratulations from Federer and Djokovic

The first praised Nadal’s “incredible work ethic, commitment, and fighting spirit”, “an example for me and for so many others” when the second, sent home after the administrative sketch that the we know, congratulated the Iberian for this “incredible feat, where his impressive combativeness prevailed once again”. It was hard to say anything else, of course.

Even Medvedev managed to laugh about it on the court during the award ceremony: “We had a great match and you managed to raise your level even further in the last two sets, but I want to ask you, you don’t aren’t you tired? “.

Tired, certainly, seeing how he collapsed on the recovery mat on his way back to the locker room, but still a little less than the opponent. “There were several critical moments, recognized the hero of Melbourne. But I’ve been so many times in the opposite situation here, leading and finally losing [en 2012 et en 2017]that I said to myself throughout the match that I had no right not to fight until the end”.

As for the record that everyone is talking about, we should not expect an arrogant coming out of the most humble champion on the circuit or not far, ratio titles / whims of diva. “I will be clear, if I want to end my career with more Grand Slams on the list than the others. But I also believe that you can’t spend your time looking to see if your neighbor has a bigger house than yours”. For the moment, the largest is in its garden, with the possibility of extension in the spring in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.


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