by Neil Harman
Times
April 9, 2024
RAFAEL NADAL has beaten a player he regards as unbeatable, thrived in an atmosphere that has paralysed the finest of athletes, and yet he retains an adult's appreciation of his struggles and his limitations at the age of 18.
It would seem the world is Nadal's oyster, but the Majorcan is not ready to reach out for it at the moment.
To those who saw a 15-year-old make a memorable ATP Tour debut in Monte Carlo three (northern) springs ago, stun Roger Federer in the Miami Masters last year and help to deliver Davis Cup glory to Spain in December with a lung-bursting victory over Andy Roddick, Nadal's capabilities are endless, his future immense.
But, in between those enormous highs, he has known what it is like to suffer physical setbacks, to be powerless as the world passed him by, and that is why Nadal retains a sense of perspective rare for someone of his talents.
He is No.17 in the rankings after coming within two games of beating Federer in the Miami final last Sunday. Before that he won successive tournaments in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, and Acapulco, both on clay, after losing to Lleyton Hewitt in a five-set classic in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Those, he refreshingly accepts, were the limit of his ambitions. "When I went to Brazil, I knew I could win, the same in Acapulco, but I don't see myself right now as a Grand Slam winner - this is real," Nadal said.
"I wanted to win three matches in Australia and I did that, but I played one long doubles, a five-set singles against (Mikhail) Youzhny, then a 7-6 third-set loss in doubles the day before facing Hewitt. We were even until the fourth set, which I won even though I had bad cramps. In the fifth, I could not move."
Although he may think he cannot win a Grand Slam title yet, others believe he can. "Nadal is so strong for his age, so intense," US Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe said. "He's going to be top 10, maybe even top five by the end of the year. It would not surprise me if he wins the French Open."
Federer and Andre Agassi have a high opinion of Nadal, who has started his claycourt season with a thrashing of former world No.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero and an easy win over countryman Guillermo Garcia Lopez on Thursday in Valencia.
"He's an outstanding athlete, and because he's a lefty, he moves totally different from most players," Federer said.
"His forehand is huge, even on the run, he can hit it with spins. His backhand, he hits very close to the body, but still gets it back well. We'll see very much from him in the future."
Agassi was particularly impressed with Nadal's strength, considering his age. Nadal's biceps bulge from his orange sleeveless T-shirt.
"You see the evolution of athletes getting bigger, stronger, more powerful, faster and explosive and hitting the ball harder," Agassi said. "Me at 18, looking at Nadal at 18, from the neck down you would think one person was 26 and the other was 12."
Despite predictions of success at the French Open, Nadal delivers a very non-Spanish answer to a question of where he might win his first Grand Slam title.
"I have never played Roland Garros (he has missed the past two French Opens with injury), I like all the slams, but Wimbledon is special," he said.
"If I choose one to win, it is Wimbledon. I think the Spanish players have a good chance - (Carlos) Moya and (Feliciano) Lopez have been to the fourth round and if we get a good draw ...."
He rolls his deep brown eyes. Those eyes were staring out from every Spanish front page four months ago, when Nadal was the unlikely hero of the victory over the US in the Davis Cup final in Seville.
Behind the scenes before the tie, the intensity of the debate over who should play had reached fierce levels. "It was my most important moment and my most difficult one," Nadal said.
"There were problems, because all players want to play and the captains tell me I am to play instead of (Juan Carlos) Ferrero.
"I was going to tell them, 'let Ferrero play, I will be happy'. But Moya came to me and said, 'don't be stupid, you are playing great, better than Ferrero, I am 100 per cent sure you can win'." And he did.
Moya had been there to help his fellow Majorcan through his three-month absence from the tour in the middle of last year because of a stress fracture in an ankle, when Nadal's morale sunk and his ranking slipped from the 30s towards No.70.
"There were days when I would not talk to anyone, even my close friends and family," he said. "But it helps to appreciate what you have when it is not there. It was a tough injury because it took a long time to heal and when you have achieved something and you have to achieve it all again, you wonder if you can do it."
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