Short read: Why Rafael Nadal will forever remain the greatest star of French Open

Last Sunday’s epic men’s final of the French Open between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner is arguably the greatest such at Roland Garros (the venue for French Open and now used to refer to the event itself). Yet, rather than the end, the beginning of this year’s event better defines greatness at Roland Garros as they honoured Rafale Nadal with a plaque embedded on the side of the court with his footprint and signature on it. That is indelible legacy. Why does Nadal deserve this?

A new book by Christopher Clarey “The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and his Kingdom of Clay” throws light: “Nadal won 14 titles at this venue, a record that’s widely considered unbeatable and twice the previous record number of seven by Chris Evert. During the course of these 14 titles over 20 years, he built a 112-4 win-loss record, and remained unbeaten in all 14 finals he contested.”

Some bits from the book review to get us interested:

“As Nadal’s assistant coach Francis Roig says in the book, “Rafa is someone who is very simple, with human values that are strong and anchored but in competition he becomes superhuman.”

…One of the sweetest stories of The Warrior is connected to Toni (his uncle). When Nadal was still a boy coming up the ranks in tennis, Toni had convinced the child that his uncle had magical powers. Nadal would therefore call him Tio Mago (Uncle Magician) or Natali, because Toni had also convinced the child that he was an Italian football player for AC Milan.

In his first tournament, when a seven-year-old Nadal was to play a 11-year-old in an under-12 team competition in Mallorca, Toni told Nadal that if he started to really trail in the match, Toni would make it rain so that the match is called off. Down 0-4 at one point, Nadal, in true Rafa style, fought back to 3-4 when it started raining. The little boy immediately went up to Toni and in all earnestness said, “Listen, Natali, I think you can stop the rain because I think I can beat this guy.”

Fifteen years later, in the 2008 Wimbledon final against Federer, there was a rain delay with the 22-year-old Nadal leading two sets to love. When Toni reached Nadal in the men’s locker room, his first words to his uncle were, “Now was not the time to make it rain!””

Despite his super competitiveness on court, he had a very philosophical approach to life: “I have so many positive things in life, so many reasons to be happy and content with everything that I have. I don’t need to create for myself a need or an obsession to try and get something more,” says Nadal, in one of his typically philosophical pronouncements. “There’s a book in his transcripts,” former French Open champion and now commentator Jim Courier tells Clarey. “Someone could cherry-pick the Tao of Rafa in his press conferences because he simplifies things that mystify a lot of athletes.””

This is despite his lack of fluency in English: “Nadal’s global appeal paled a bit in comparison to Federer not just because of the latter’s elegant playing style, but also because of his ability to communicate in multiple languages. To Nadal’s disadvantage, he learnt English later on as an adult, which meant that while he spoke nuanced Spanish, his English was “clipped and caricatural”. There were straight translations out of Spanish, Clarey writes, like, “It’s obvious that I started well the match” or “Today have been a very good Test”.”

His rivalry with Djokovic: “Clarey argues that Nadal’s greatest rivalry was against the Serbian, not Federer, though the latter was the more glamourised contest and earned more buzz. Nadal and Djokovic played each other 60 times in 18 years, with their first (2006 quarter-finals, which Nadal won) and last (Paris Olympics, which Djokovic won) competitive matches played—coincidentally—at Roland Garros. No man beat Djokovic more often; no man beat Nadal more often. They ended up finally at 31-29 in favour of Djokovic.”

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