Adios, Rafa! There is a life lesson in the way you played the game

It was somewhat tragic to see Rafael Nadal capitulate to Alexander Zverev in the first round of the French Open earlier this year.

Such upsets are a part and parcel of sport — but then, Roland Garros was the playground of arguably the greatest ever clay-court player and, given his superhuman feats at the venue (it was only his fourth singles defeat in 116 matches there), debate on whether the end was near resurfaced.

The announcement eventually came on Thursday, 10 October, in a video message — after the owner of 22 grand slam titles gave it another shot, trying to add to his two Olympics medals in Paris, albeit without success.

The end will now come at the Davis Cup Final 8 against the Netherlands in November, in Malaga, Spain — after which, tennis will lose its biggest gladiator of the Open era.

It may then be a little lonely up there for Novak Djokovic, 37, when he resumes his pursuit to add to a daunting tally of 24 grand slam titles next year.

Exactly two years back, Roger Federer had signed off with a farewell appearance at the Laver Cup too — ironically, playing doubles with Nadal in his last game. Their rivalry forms a part of indelible tennis folklore.

Big Three now history

The dynamics of the opt order in men’s tennis will change forever after this, with the battle of the Big Three metamorphosing into a struggle for Djokovic to hold his own against an emerging new order, led by Alcaraz and world No.1 Jannik Sinner.

As fans, all we can say is that the sport of tennis was lucky to see the trio coexist with Andy Murray in the new millennium; but then, like all good things, the show had to end sometime.

The paeans of praise started flowing soon enough, with Rafa's good friend Federer leading the way: 

The Swiss master and Nadal shared a unique relationship of fierce rivalry on court and healthy respect off it. 

An effort to measure their competitiveness in figures is not fair; but then, it will at least help illustrate how little there was to chose from between these two legends, despite their contrasting styles.

In 40 head-to-head clashes, Nadal prevailed 24–16. The Spaniard was also ahead 6–3 in the nine grand slam finals they had set up between them. The 2008 Wimbledon final between the two rivals, which Nadal won after an epic seven-hour struggle punctuated by rain delays, is considered one of the greatest-ever grand slam finals.

With the help of hindsight, one has to say that Nadal — now 38 — would still not have given up, but for the myriad injury problems that continued to dog him for the last two years.

If the tennis writers’ favourite metaphor about his personality was that of being akin to a Spanish matador, he justified it aptly through his career by bouncing back from career-threatening knee and back injuries.

However, a chronic foot injury, an abdominal issue and a hip problem that required surgery had all been taking their toll on the ageing champion lately, as he kept dropping in and out of the circuit all too frequently.

Just ponder this: In the last two years, the only two grand slams he played in were the 2023 Australian Open and the French Open this year — he had pulled out of Wimbledon, the US Open and the Laver Cup.

‘’It’s been a rough few years, especially the last two. I haven’t been able to play without limitations. It’s been a difficult decision, one that has taken me a while to make, but in this life, everything has a beginning and an end and I think this is the right time to put an end to what has been a long and much more successful career than I could have ever imagined,’’ the man they called the people’s champion said in Spanish across his social media platforms.

‘’I’m very excited that my last tournament will be the Davis Cup final, representing my country. I think it’s coming full circle as one of my first great moments of joy was the [Davis Cup] final in Seville in 2004,’’ he said.

And so, adios, Rafa.

Thanks for all the entertainment — but more importantly, there is a life lesson in the way you have played the sport: that of never giving up against any and all odds!