Believe, Become Immortal, Rise from the Ashes, Prove doubter wrong - Precisely "Be Rafa"!!!
I typed all the italicized text below, in the first week of Feb 2010...in an extremely crestfallen state of mind!
Scene - 1: Approximately in the middle of the year 2005, Sachin Tendulkar suffered a career threatening injury named the "Tennis Elbow". By that time, the master had already played a massively monstrous 16 years, accumulated over 20,000 international runs, created/broken/smashed almost all the batting records - In spite of that, there was a frenetic fear within me that one of the greatest cricketers ever to have wielded the willow, has finally buckled down to injuries and a glorious career is over, a few years in advance.
God's grace, I was proven wrong, my fears were cast aside and Sachin Tendulkar came out of that dark phase and is still glittering like gold - 5 years hence.
Scene - 2: Rafael Nadal happens to be my second most admired sportsman ever, no prizes for guessing the first one. When Rafa had to limp off from his Quarterfinals match against Britain's latest hope, Andy Murray, I was left absolutely heartbroken. Not that he was in a winning position when he retired, he in fact was made to run all over the court by Andy, who was in blistering form on that day. For the fighter Nadal is, not many would have ruled out a possible comeback - If only, the Knee had stayed put.
Now, how is Scene 1 and Scene 2 related to what I am writing here?
In the first one, by his own admission, Sachin Tendulkar had started to fear if his Cricketing career was nearing its end. Such was the agony and pain on his elbow, that he struggled to even lift his heavy bat and swing during practice. He took his time off the game, played a few practice games and waited until he really felt he was ready to resume International cricket duty. Now see where he is and what he has done over the last year and a half. He is still going extremely strong and looks set for more. Isn't that a fascinating tale of a comeback?
I definitely feel that Rafael Nadal is far from being over, he has a long tennis career waiting ahead. I read from a blog and understood that tendinitis isn't as serious as a cartilage tear or muscle damage. According to Wikipedia, its takes 4-6 weeks for a full recovery...Four to six weeks, only that much. We have seen innumerable comebacks in sports like the likes of Lance Armstrong and Alexander Popov. Lance suffered testicular cancer in 1996, which by the time it was properly diagnosed, had spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. He recovered from that and slowly got back to track and by 2005, he had won 7 Tour de France titles on the trot. Popov's comeback was no less significant - In 1996, during a dispute, he had his artery sliced, one of his kidneys grazed and the membrane that encases the lungs was damaged. He made a terrific comeback soon afterwards and in the Athens Olympics that followed, once again made a clean sweep.
So if Sachin can, Popov can, Armstrong can, why not Rafael Nadal? The list of names do not stop there - we have seen numerous success stories where astonishing comebacks were made by people, when the whole world was against them.
And, to all of you who believe he is only about brute force, he certainly isn't. If tennis was only about the power aspect, Taylor Dent would have been World Number 1 for years together. Can you imagine, Taylor Dent???!!!!
In addition to his monstrous biceps, forearms and calf muscles, Rafa has an incredibly vicious forehand top-spin, that will consistently question even the usually reliable backhand of Roger Federer - Wimbledon 2008, if you have doubts.
His rate of unforced-errors is pretty minimal and he can catch the line almost at will.
His enormous self belief, resilience and ability to dig himself out in troubled times, has been one of the main reasons why Rafael Nadal is so respected and feared by opponents.
All these stand-out qualities get overshadowed for the way he runs around and retrieves the ball, which is one attribute that critics say is the reason for his injury. Though he isn't as naturally gifted and doesn't possess the range of strokes as a Roger Federer, he has his own array of supreme technique that adds nicely along with his power and endurance. It's time that people give him the credit for what he has done.
Sports is all about comebacks, mostly about injuries and completely about the mental state and how you deal with tough situations. Talking about mental strength, Rafael Nadal has it in abundance.
....but I neither completed not published it, since I was largely apprehensive as everyone was, on Rafa's possible comeback from this horrific knee injury. To put it simpler, I love Rafa's game that much and hence I didn't want to think or write anything negative on his injury - I was plainly hoping that he will overcome it, somehow!!!
Back to the present now!!!!
Approximately 4 months afterwards, Rafael Nadal made a comeback in his most preferred surface in the calendar - CLAY. He wiped off the Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid in no time and in the last of those, clinched his 18th Masters Title at a tender age of 23, defeating none other than Roger Federer. Even at this point, I was not getting over-excited or over-optimistic about Rafa's chances at the Roland Garros - reason, those troublesome knees, will they hang on for 2 grueling weeks, 7 best of five matches unlike the masters??!!!
Within no time the French Open arrived and I sneaked into find out Rafa's got a slightly easier draw - according to the papers, possible tougher ones would be Lleyton Hewitt (I wasn't one bit bothered about the Australian anyway), I was more worried about the Serbian, Novan Djokovic, Nadal's likely opponent in the semis, for he had a better all-round game and is very much capable of upstaging Nadal on his day. The first few rounds went without many hassles, the Spaniard was looking more and more assured, fitter and was smoothly narrowing himself down towards the later half of the tournament. I was quietly looking at the possibility of Rafa re-annexing the French Crown which he so dearly owned for the first 4 years since debut - still only quietly.
I received a massive bonus when I saw Robin Soderling (who got the better of Rafa last year) defeating the 'then' World Number One - Roger Federer in the Quarterfinals. The first time in 6 years that Roger has failed to reach the semis in a Grand Slam Event - this record will stay intact for the next 200 years at least, I swear. While the match was nearing it's end, one of the commentators popped out and said, "If Roger loses today and Rafa wins the tournament, he will be back to Number ONE". It was truly incredible to hear this because, a few months back when Roger Federer was simply sliding through at the top of the ranking chart, a deposed Nadal was slipping down and was as low as Number 3 at one point in time. So, to hear he has a chance to be back at the top was sensational to me, that is really an extra incentive for Rafa to push all the way.
Came the Finals and guess who was at the other end of the court - The only man to have ever defeated the Majorcan on the Roland Garros, Clay - Yes, it was Robin Soderling. Isn't it the time to extract a revenge on him, Rafa? they asked. "Not really, if he plays better than me on that day, he deserves to win it, he is a great player" - the humble Spaniard replied - his humility, similar to his ruggedness, knows no bounds. But his mind was focused on only one thing, getting back the trophy and nothing else. Playing an outstanding brand of defensive tennis mixed with ideal aggression at precisely the right moment, he wore down the Swede's heavy balls admirably well. The scoreline 6-4 6-2 6-4 indicates a one-sided finals, but trust me as someone who watched each point with intense care - it was not easy at all. It was Rafa's brilliant retrieval abilities coupled with his undying fighting spirits, uncompromising attitude and remarkable level of determination, that made Soderling look so very ordinary - he certainly wasn't by any means. As the commentator rightly defined, "Robin plays two or three powerful forehands and looks like clearly having an upper hand in the point, but Rafa retrieves, retrieves and retrieves and finally the frustrated Swede over-hits and loses the point". That is exactly what happened right through the evening. In the end, when Soderling made his last of many back-hand errors, Rafa sank onto his favorite clay and embraced it as he often does. But this time, we all noticed what we have never seen Rafa do - He buried his face onto a Roland Garros towel and broke into tears, sobbing inconsolably - So far we have witnessed the ferocious fist pumps with a stern look on his face and a vociferous "Vamos" (meaning let's go in Spanish), but this emotional display is completely unseen and new to us. This goes onto indicate how much it mattered to him, coming back from having suffered tendinitis on both knees, with many calling it career threatening and taking back his proudest possession - The French Open Title - one that had relinquished momentarily for a year.
I am not the greatest in quoting examples, but let me try to equate his comeback trial from injury, with what best I can. Possibly, getting an eye operation done and within a few days, staring at the sun continuously for hours together. Though we know we can if we try to, the mind simply fails to allow us to. Doubts start creeping in, the words "What will happen if?" will keep echoing and every move of ours will be accompanied by the notorious attributes named "UNCERTAINTY and FEAR". Tennis, especially Rafa's, is such a physical game and therefore, the knees become such a vital aspect. How he managed to pull it off against brutally tough-minded opponents, without dropping a set is beyond my level of imagination? Absolutely magical and gutsy!!
In the later half of last year and the first quarter of this year, Rafa has had such a painful exile from the game, being in and out of it regularly - it would have been terribly draining mentally and torturous physically. To comeback from such calamitous circumstances, illustrates a lot about his remarkable self-belief and the will to succeed. He may break down again by the time the hard court season comes around (I pray not), but to have achieved what he has achieved in the last couple of months, is indeed Herculean and will stay in History for an extended while.
Rafa is a true Champion, not a mere clay-court specialist, he brings in much more than that to the court. I am not all that used to prayers but on this occasion, I force myself to pray that his knees hold on for the next 5 years at least - If that happens, he would have ruled the Tennis world for around a decade, I have no doubts at all.
All the best Rafa for healthier times ahead, World Tennis needs you to be so!! This moment, I'm proud and I'm tremendously proud to call myself a fan of yours!!!
"When the going gets tough, the tough gets even tougher"
Pictures Courtesy:
http://www.rolandgarros.com/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8724655.stm
The blog that inspired me:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/match-tough/tennis-needs-nadal-to-overcome-injury-woes/article1445341/ [Looks like the article didn't survive the test of time, though Rafa has -But it just spoke about how the injury can be overcome, why what Rafa was going through need not necessarily be career threatening, some medical explanations, sciences behind etc]
Tendinitis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendinitis
Scene - 1: Approximately in the middle of the year 2005, Sachin Tendulkar suffered a career threatening injury named the "Tennis Elbow". By that time, the master had already played a massively monstrous 16 years, accumulated over 20,000 international runs, created/broken/smashed almost all the batting records - In spite of that, there was a frenetic fear within me that one of the greatest cricketers ever to have wielded the willow, has finally buckled down to injuries and a glorious career is over, a few years in advance.
God's grace, I was proven wrong, my fears were cast aside and Sachin Tendulkar came out of that dark phase and is still glittering like gold - 5 years hence.
Scene - 2: Rafael Nadal happens to be my second most admired sportsman ever, no prizes for guessing the first one. When Rafa had to limp off from his Quarterfinals match against Britain's latest hope, Andy Murray, I was left absolutely heartbroken. Not that he was in a winning position when he retired, he in fact was made to run all over the court by Andy, who was in blistering form on that day. For the fighter Nadal is, not many would have ruled out a possible comeback - If only, the Knee had stayed put.
Now, how is Scene 1 and Scene 2 related to what I am writing here?
In the first one, by his own admission, Sachin Tendulkar had started to fear if his Cricketing career was nearing its end. Such was the agony and pain on his elbow, that he struggled to even lift his heavy bat and swing during practice. He took his time off the game, played a few practice games and waited until he really felt he was ready to resume International cricket duty. Now see where he is and what he has done over the last year and a half. He is still going extremely strong and looks set for more. Isn't that a fascinating tale of a comeback?
I definitely feel that Rafael Nadal is far from being over, he has a long tennis career waiting ahead. I read from a blog and understood that tendinitis isn't as serious as a cartilage tear or muscle damage. According to Wikipedia, its takes 4-6 weeks for a full recovery...Four to six weeks, only that much. We have seen innumerable comebacks in sports like the likes of Lance Armstrong and Alexander Popov. Lance suffered testicular cancer in 1996, which by the time it was properly diagnosed, had spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. He recovered from that and slowly got back to track and by 2005, he had won 7 Tour de France titles on the trot. Popov's comeback was no less significant - In 1996, during a dispute, he had his artery sliced, one of his kidneys grazed and the membrane that encases the lungs was damaged. He made a terrific comeback soon afterwards and in the Athens Olympics that followed, once again made a clean sweep.
So if Sachin can, Popov can, Armstrong can, why not Rafael Nadal? The list of names do not stop there - we have seen numerous success stories where astonishing comebacks were made by people, when the whole world was against them.
And, to all of you who believe he is only about brute force, he certainly isn't. If tennis was only about the power aspect, Taylor Dent would have been World Number 1 for years together. Can you imagine, Taylor Dent???!!!!
In addition to his monstrous biceps, forearms and calf muscles, Rafa has an incredibly vicious forehand top-spin, that will consistently question even the usually reliable backhand of Roger Federer - Wimbledon 2008, if you have doubts.
His rate of unforced-errors is pretty minimal and he can catch the line almost at will.
His enormous self belief, resilience and ability to dig himself out in troubled times, has been one of the main reasons why Rafael Nadal is so respected and feared by opponents.
All these stand-out qualities get overshadowed for the way he runs around and retrieves the ball, which is one attribute that critics say is the reason for his injury. Though he isn't as naturally gifted and doesn't possess the range of strokes as a Roger Federer, he has his own array of supreme technique that adds nicely along with his power and endurance. It's time that people give him the credit for what he has done.
Sports is all about comebacks, mostly about injuries and completely about the mental state and how you deal with tough situations. Talking about mental strength, Rafael Nadal has it in abundance.
....but I neither completed not published it, since I was largely apprehensive as everyone was, on Rafa's possible comeback from this horrific knee injury. To put it simpler, I love Rafa's game that much and hence I didn't want to think or write anything negative on his injury - I was plainly hoping that he will overcome it, somehow!!!
Back to the present now!!!!
Approximately 4 months afterwards, Rafael Nadal made a comeback in his most preferred surface in the calendar - CLAY. He wiped off the Monte Carlo, Rome and Madrid in no time and in the last of those, clinched his 18th Masters Title at a tender age of 23, defeating none other than Roger Federer. Even at this point, I was not getting over-excited or over-optimistic about Rafa's chances at the Roland Garros - reason, those troublesome knees, will they hang on for 2 grueling weeks, 7 best of five matches unlike the masters??!!!
Within no time the French Open arrived and I sneaked into find out Rafa's got a slightly easier draw - according to the papers, possible tougher ones would be Lleyton Hewitt (I wasn't one bit bothered about the Australian anyway), I was more worried about the Serbian, Novan Djokovic, Nadal's likely opponent in the semis, for he had a better all-round game and is very much capable of upstaging Nadal on his day. The first few rounds went without many hassles, the Spaniard was looking more and more assured, fitter and was smoothly narrowing himself down towards the later half of the tournament. I was quietly looking at the possibility of Rafa re-annexing the French Crown which he so dearly owned for the first 4 years since debut - still only quietly.
I received a massive bonus when I saw Robin Soderling (who got the better of Rafa last year) defeating the 'then' World Number One - Roger Federer in the Quarterfinals. The first time in 6 years that Roger has failed to reach the semis in a Grand Slam Event - this record will stay intact for the next 200 years at least, I swear. While the match was nearing it's end, one of the commentators popped out and said, "If Roger loses today and Rafa wins the tournament, he will be back to Number ONE". It was truly incredible to hear this because, a few months back when Roger Federer was simply sliding through at the top of the ranking chart, a deposed Nadal was slipping down and was as low as Number 3 at one point in time. So, to hear he has a chance to be back at the top was sensational to me, that is really an extra incentive for Rafa to push all the way.
Came the Finals and guess who was at the other end of the court - The only man to have ever defeated the Majorcan on the Roland Garros, Clay - Yes, it was Robin Soderling. Isn't it the time to extract a revenge on him, Rafa? they asked. "Not really, if he plays better than me on that day, he deserves to win it, he is a great player" - the humble Spaniard replied - his humility, similar to his ruggedness, knows no bounds. But his mind was focused on only one thing, getting back the trophy and nothing else. Playing an outstanding brand of defensive tennis mixed with ideal aggression at precisely the right moment, he wore down the Swede's heavy balls admirably well. The scoreline 6-4 6-2 6-4 indicates a one-sided finals, but trust me as someone who watched each point with intense care - it was not easy at all. It was Rafa's brilliant retrieval abilities coupled with his undying fighting spirits, uncompromising attitude and remarkable level of determination, that made Soderling look so very ordinary - he certainly wasn't by any means. As the commentator rightly defined, "Robin plays two or three powerful forehands and looks like clearly having an upper hand in the point, but Rafa retrieves, retrieves and retrieves and finally the frustrated Swede over-hits and loses the point". That is exactly what happened right through the evening. In the end, when Soderling made his last of many back-hand errors, Rafa sank onto his favorite clay and embraced it as he often does. But this time, we all noticed what we have never seen Rafa do - He buried his face onto a Roland Garros towel and broke into tears, sobbing inconsolably - So far we have witnessed the ferocious fist pumps with a stern look on his face and a vociferous "Vamos" (meaning let's go in Spanish), but this emotional display is completely unseen and new to us. This goes onto indicate how much it mattered to him, coming back from having suffered tendinitis on both knees, with many calling it career threatening and taking back his proudest possession - The French Open Title - one that had relinquished momentarily for a year.
I am not the greatest in quoting examples, but let me try to equate his comeback trial from injury, with what best I can. Possibly, getting an eye operation done and within a few days, staring at the sun continuously for hours together. Though we know we can if we try to, the mind simply fails to allow us to. Doubts start creeping in, the words "What will happen if?" will keep echoing and every move of ours will be accompanied by the notorious attributes named "UNCERTAINTY and FEAR". Tennis, especially Rafa's, is such a physical game and therefore, the knees become such a vital aspect. How he managed to pull it off against brutally tough-minded opponents, without dropping a set is beyond my level of imagination? Absolutely magical and gutsy!!
In the later half of last year and the first quarter of this year, Rafa has had such a painful exile from the game, being in and out of it regularly - it would have been terribly draining mentally and torturous physically. To comeback from such calamitous circumstances, illustrates a lot about his remarkable self-belief and the will to succeed. He may break down again by the time the hard court season comes around (I pray not), but to have achieved what he has achieved in the last couple of months, is indeed Herculean and will stay in History for an extended while.
Rafa is a true Champion, not a mere clay-court specialist, he brings in much more than that to the court. I am not all that used to prayers but on this occasion, I force myself to pray that his knees hold on for the next 5 years at least - If that happens, he would have ruled the Tennis world for around a decade, I have no doubts at all.
All the best Rafa for healthier times ahead, World Tennis needs you to be so!! This moment, I'm proud and I'm tremendously proud to call myself a fan of yours!!!
"When the going gets tough, the tough gets even tougher"
Pictures Courtesy:
http://www.rolandgarros.com/index.htmlhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8724655.stm
The blog that inspired me:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/match-tough/tennis-needs-nadal-to-overcome-injury-woes/article1445341/ [Looks like the article didn't survive the test of time, though Rafa has -But it just spoke about how the injury can be overcome, why what Rafa was going through need not necessarily be career threatening, some medical explanations, sciences behind etc]
Tendinitis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendinitis
I knew this post was in the making but did not know that you were preparing for a long time:)
ReplyDeleteI never doubted that he would be ever back maybe because i didn't understand the severity of his injury.If not for the 'then' world number one ;) i would always backed Rafa.But then you always have champions of champions.I wished that this French open i could see another battle of the titans but not to be.
I was disappointed to see Roger without any answers for Soderling's booming serve and forehand and anticipated how Rafa would react to the same.Tremendously well would be an understatement for Rafa really got under the skin of Soderling.When Soderling's ultimate weapon that took him all the way to finals failed he did not have a plan B.With Rafa at the other end its not gonna work that way.
Full marks to Rafa.I would like to have the delight of watching him take over Roger in the centre court at Wimbledon.See you at the Wimbledon :)
It was a pleasure reading your post, as always :)
More than anything his attitude "Never give up" is something which made me admire him. Federer is the more gifted among these two but Rafa is better with his strategies. He uses the topspin to good effect against Federer to defeat him, the same topsin was used by him in the first set against Soderling, once he got the confidence he can defeat Soderling on his own game he went for the shots. Genius may I call. I am just hoping that he is fit to dispose Federer from the number of career grand slams. Long way to go Nadal but it is not impossible. Now lets get to the grass with confidence. By the way nice post.
ReplyDeleteRightly said, Nadal took Federer head-on when everyone else looked so intimidated against him, despite possessing brilliant serves and more complete techniques. The likes of Davydenko, Roddick, Hewitt, Blake come to mind. That's what is special about Rafa, he believed and made others believe that Roger can indeed be beaten!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to Wimbledon!!