That’s why it’s so hard to quit and so easy to dream.
When Rafael Nadal’s tennis career ends, there will be absolutely nothing like fighting on an acre of red clay, in front of more than 12,000 Spanish faithful (and Zinedine Zidane) who cling to every his shots.
And then comes the moment when, after an hour and a quarter, this first crucial moment having arrived at its pivotal moment, he sees the ball arriving on his backhand with just the right amount of float.
He knows he can do what he’s always done.
He can take those few quick steps, move his hips and chase the forehand that will seal this first-set tiebreak, on his fifth chance to get the lead he so desperately wants.
And he knows, as soon as he takes this tear in reverse, that it’s done. He knows the ball won’t come back. Then he crouched down, punching the air under his knees three, four, five times.
The screams of the crowd shake the metal roof of the Caja Magica, his country’s national stadium. It’s gone and he can feel it: the competitive rush that he and these 12,000 want to feel again, and again, and again, because they know that when she’s gone, she will never come back.
A week ago in Barcelona, Nadal ended his first-set loss to Alex de Minaur, the increasingly powerful Australian roadrunner who reached the top 10 earlier this year.
Saturday in the Spanish capital, Nadal came to play all evening against De Minaur, if necessary.
This is not the case.
After just over two hours, he earned the kind of victory he’d been working for since undergoing left hip surgery nearly a year ago and suffering another injury in that area in January during his first comeback attempt.
He triumphed 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 over a top player on his beloved red clay. He had one more step left in his journey to Paris next month, to try to win Roland Garros for the 15th time – or at least to feel what he felt on Saturday at the place that made him what he was. ‘he is.
It was “a great test,” Nadal said. “Let’s see how I recover.”
Nadal has repeatedly said he will only play in Paris if he can compete like he always has. Thanks to a win and a loss in Barcelona and his first-round loss to a 16-year-old wildcard named Darwin Blanch on Thursday in Madrid, Nadal said his injury-riddled body was not where it needed to be.
GO FURTHER
Ghosts of clay court past: Rafael Nadal’s return is really about his legacy
Where should he be? Nadal wants to be able to dream, not just to congratulate himself on the tournament and the stadium that has meant everything to him throughout his career. He wants to enter the court believing that anything is possible – that his body will be able to withstand between 21 and 35 sets of the most grueling tennis over 14 days.
“It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about going out on the field feeling like I can fight,” he said after Saturday’s stirring victory.
“If I can’t go on the field and dream, even if it’s the minimum percentage, minimum, for me it doesn’t make sense. I prefer all the memories I have.
This Saturday in Madrid gave him a little more hope that in the next three weeks he will enter the field knowing that when he presses the gas pedal he will feel the revs of his engine exactly like he wants it. enough to make him think of a crazy idea to cross the finish line.
Make no mistake: Nadal remains a shadow of what he was at the peak of his powers. Pain in the middle of his body reduced him to hitting two seconds of service.
His feet barely leave the ground when he serves. In men’s tennis, getting so-called “free points” – winning aces and serves – or inducing returns of serve that come back for easy ranking (“plus one” points) are the fruits that every player collecting in clusters at a given time. point in a match.
Nadal gets almost none of that now.
This means his serve is little more than a rally starter. It worked just enough against a below-par De Minaur.
The Australian was tight at the start, knowing he would face Nadal and 12,000 of his closest friends. He could sense early on that this was a different version of Nadal than the one he faced in Barcelona. In the second game, Nadal fired a forehand down the line to get his first chance to break De Minaur’s serve, then made an error to take an early lead.
There was also an early confrontation with the chair umpire when Nadal was certain he had challenged a decision, but the umpire ruled he had not raised his hand in time and instead played the shot. Nadal, who almost never engages an official, insulted the referee for more than a minute.
Very quickly, this match seemed much more than a test or a farewell ceremony in what could have been Nadal’s last competitive match in his country.
He had come to win.
“His level has risen,” De Minaur said of Nadal a few minutes after the end when he still seemed a little dizzy from having endured this unique crucible for the second week in a row. “He looked pretty good there, if I may say so.”
All things considered, he was.
GO FURTHER
Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and the search for a graceful and glorious exit
A deep forehand and backhand combination into opposite corners gave him the opportunity to step back onto his heel and fire a pass over the top, the kind of vintage Nadal pattern that will make the brains of the Rafa faithful dance with visions of a deep run in Paris. . No longer able to chase down as many forehands, he instead ripped backhands across the court with some of his old ferocity.
There were times when he hit all manner of forehands and backhands, flat, sliced and lobbed, twirling with topspin, using every inch of the court and playing with the kind of variety he’ll need to compete at this level. When he needed to, he circulated the ball upfield at angles that tested the strength of De Minaur’s ankles.
Two points from victory, Nadal fired a backhand that flew past De Minaur as he entered the court. The ball had barely left Nadal’s racket when he let out a primal roar, as if releasing in an instant nearly a year and a half of pain, struggle and frustration.
What is happening now?
Nadal’s body has proven so fragile in recent years that he is always one step away from the end, but anyone who watched him on Saturday, or caught the highlights, or hears those roars and sees those shots fist, now knows what is possible, at least one afternoon in the Spanish capital, in a best-of-three match.
The next test is what happens when he wakes up in the morning, how his body feels after pushing him in a way it hasn’t done in almost two years, by his estimation. If all goes well, he will play again on Monday against a fellow Argentine named Pedro Cachin, who knows clay, like most of his compatriots. Another try.
“It’s not about playing better or worse,” he said. “It’s about going out there with real hope. So anything can happen.
Whatever happens, he will always have this Saturday afternoon in Madrid, in a stadium called the Magic Box.
(Top photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)