Really Brilliant article, Original in Italian written by Luca Labadini
which was sent to me via email by a Rafaholic reader Enomis thnx! If you have the time ..I recommend it! Enjoy!RAFA NADAL, stronger than anything and anyone
Who knows if Milan Sterba watched the Wimbledon final. Who knows if he watched it together with Sean Corvin. An international chair umpire the former, a so-called guru of biomechanics and rehabilitation the latter, they shared the same opinion by citing implacable sentences: "Nadal's career will come to an end soon." "He will never be the same again." "His knees are the ones of a 33-year-old man." What we know for certain is that Nadal watched last year's final lying on the sofa of his house in Manacor but he played and won this year's final on the Central Court at Wimbledon, few weeks after having triumphed at Roland Garros. We do not have any recent news of Sterba and Corvin. If even Nadal fans have been surprised at how fast he has been back at imposing his supremacy in the tennis circuit, his detractors have been wrong-footed by it, to say the least.
Just eight months ago during the ATP World tour finals in London where the Majorcan couldn't win a single set in three matches, it was almost impossible to think that after the Wimbledon tournament he would be 99% sure of his retaining the number one spot for all 2010. After a period during which the tennis world kept questioning if Nadal would have ever bitten another trophy, we're now experiencing a period during which that very same tennis world is questioning till when his egemony will last. It's odd how judgments previously expressed with apparent determination and "we know our stuff" are all of a sudden distorted, it's amazing how fast doors that have always been kept locked are now opened easily.
The version of Nadal we saw in 2010 is a completely different version from that player who adrubtedly came into the limelight some years ago. His body has become lean in the process, his muscles are not so big as in the past, his tennis has lost power. Rafa hits the ball with less strength than before but he wins even more. It could seem a paradox but his being conscious of his reduced explosiveness has helped him somehow become a player mentally stronger than the player he was. He knows that he has less weapons than before, he knows that he cannot indulge in a loss of concentration, he knows that he has to measure out his effort not only throughtout the season but also during a single match, and above all he knows that his willpower will never abandon him and that his fighting spirit is still there. Losing weight has been considered a must by his medical staff in order to reduce the burden of his impressive muscles on his joints and consequently minimize the risk of severe injuries. This was the official reason to justify this loss of weight, a reason that did not convince those people who often made innuendos about his taking doping substances. At the beginning of his career, Nadal had to learn how to face and to live with such insinuations that became even more persistent last year during the well-known period of "draught of trophies" but that soon became a mere whisper this year after his brilliant victories. These rumours have always been another opponent to defeat but they have never affected his character. On the contrary, they have helped him in his process of turning into an even stronger player.
Those people's suspicious minds always interested in measuring Nadal's biceps led them to underestimate the Spaniard's real and great weapons, those weapons that cannot be improved in a gym: head and heart. In 2009 Nadal had lost his self-confidence, his deep shots as well as his determination. The sudden and unexpected defeat to Soderling in Paris had undermined all his certainties. Federer's excellent season had cast doubts on his ability to maintain the #1 spot in the ranking. His parents' divorce had touched him profoundly. His withdrawal from Wimbledon, which made it impossible for him to defend his title there, had caused a deep disheartenment. The tendinitis, which affected his knees, had made him feel insecure. During the current year all these issues seem to have disappeared magically. Undoubtedly, his uncle Toni's support in this long process has been of utmost importance. Their relationship has often been questioned by the media, never by Rafa. Since the clay season has started, different opponents with different characteristics have tried to put a spoke in the Spaniard's wheels. Ferrer and his stamina, the left-hander Verdasco and his vicious forehand, Federer and his supreme tennis, Soderling and his power, Berdych and his elegance, Murray and his rhythm, Gulbis and his geniality, which caused him a lot of trouble in Rome. Nadal and his renewed grit that seemed to be lost drove them all back. In these latest three months the only player capable to beat him was his friend and country fellow Feliciano Lopez on the Queen's grass. A painless though unexpected loss that did not undermine Nadal's confidence in himself in his way to another triumph at Church Road.
And so, even if some people have not spared us the trouble to read and listen to their gross attempts to belittle the prestige of his success at the Wimbledon club, guilty to have prepared grass courts that are too slow to be called grass courts (but the same grass courts were the stage of a very much appreciated final between Federer and Roddick twelve months ago), despite someone tries to diminish the value of a win which was on the other hand undoubtedly deserved, a big slice of the tennis world is praising and celebrating the 8th Slam won at a very young age by the 24-year-old Majorcan who succeeded in achieving the important double "Roland Garros/Wimbledon" for the second time in his life as a sportsman.
Even though Nadal's entourage is claiming that their protégé can play to his 30th birthday, it's more plausible to think that, due to the fact that Nadal's tennis requires a lot of mental and physical energy, his career won't last so long as to put Roger Federer's record in the Slams at risk. Only time, and Nadal himself, wil tell how many years are still ahead of him. And to be honest this is of minor importance. Should he retire tomorrow, every single fan of his would be more than proud of what he has achieved so far and the way he has done it. Rafael Nadal has been, is and will always be part of the history of this sport. His movements and gestures will never satisfy the purists of the game, but many aspects of his nature of being a champion will always represent an example to imitate: the refusal of losing, the supremacy of the mental aspect over the technical one, the ability to respect any opponents without fearing any of them, they humility that brings you to forget a win and to dedicate yourself to achieve another target soon, the awareness that you must improve every single day of your life.
And to those people who stubbornly persist in thinking that his wins do not do any good to tennis, our hope is that they choose to follow another sport with no delay. It will take time, if it ever happens, before another athlete like him is born.
0 comments