Rafael Nadal walks off court after losing his match against Novak Djokovic in the second round at the Paris Olympics. — Reuters
ALL these tennis greats want to feel that surge one more time. That unmatchable adrenaline rush of battling alone in the cauldron, their best against an opponent’s best, preferably someone at the top of the game and with something big on the line.
It was all there for Rafael Nadal on Monday at Roland Garros, in his favourite sandbox. The red clay of Court Philippe-Chatrier, his so-called living room.
The right court; the right opponent in Novak Djokovic – the only man with more Grand Slam singles titles than he has – during the world’s biggest sporting event.
Two months ago, Nadal had come to this place for the French Open, which he has won 14 times, looking to play his way into form as he had so often previously.
Instead, in the first round he ran into Alexander Zverev, the most in-form player at the time. The rain fell. The temperature dropped. The roof closed.
All the conditions he hates conspired, and Zverev managed Nadal fairly handily in straight sets.
Nadal didn’t know then and doesn’t know for certain now whether that was his last French Open go-round, but there was a “big chance” it was, he said, however unsatisfying it had been.
It helped that he knew he’d be back here during these Olympics. Maybe he’d get another shot, and on Monday against Djokovic he did, in the heat and bright sun that makes the ball bounce and fly on clay just as he likes.
There is also only one thing Djokovic hasn’t won in his career: an Olympic gold medal.
Nadal, with the feverish support of a standing-room-only throng of 15,000, had an opportunity to keep his biggest rival from making a serious run for that medal after a career spent keeping him from lots of other things.
That included a level of global adulation that has always eluded Djokovic, especially in Paris.
In their 60th meeting (it’s now 31-29 Djokovic) both men took the court with that intensity they almost always bring to these match-ups, even though it was just the second round instead of a semi-final or a final.
“You could feel the tension coming into the match but also incredible hype, incredible atmosphere on the court,” Djokovic said later.
Almost everything was there for Nadal, who at 38 is a year older than Djokovic yet seemingly far closer to retirement, the result of his ever-banged up body abandoning him for most of the past two years. Everything but the two things he can no longer control in ways that he used to – his opponent and his level of tennis, which allowed Djokovic to take apart Nadal, 6-1, 6-4, in a mostly dominant 103 minutes.
Other than during a brief, four-game surge from Nadal midway through the second set, Djokovic abused Nadal’s serve, which has lost speed and movement dramatically after this latest bout of injuries to the middle of his body, which leads him to backpedal rather than move into the court.
Djokovic made Nadal hit extra ball after extra ball, until Nadal was doing what all the other poor souls do – trying to hit the perfect shot from a position on the court where it’s a nearly impossible task.
Nadal swung wildly from several feet behind the baseline all afternoon. He tried tosmack winners from outside a sideline. In a typical match he might be good for a few of those shots, but not many, even when he was at his best.
Djokovic served and pushed forward, getting easy shots on balls around the service line off survival shots from Nadal. He minimised his mistakes, mostly because Nadal, without the old zip on his groundstrokes for most of the day, couldn’t force Djokovic to hit from spots where mistakes happen.
“He was playing almost all the time from comfortable positions,” Nadal said.
“Playing against Novak without creating damage to him and without having the legs of 20 years ago is almost impossible.”
It all added up to another awkward, unsatisfying afternoon for Nadal. More than likely, it did little to satiate that yearning for a last dance through the heat of the battle that all the aging greats, regardless of their sport, know they will miss when they leave the game behind.
Where does this leave Nadal? Not even he knows now, for better or for worse.
In the spring, when his still aching body prevented him from even flirting with the level of tennis that might entice him to move on, he was on the edge of the end and considered not even bothering to give the French Open one more go.
He didn’t see the point; he didn’t need sympathy applause. He needed to be able to compete to win. If he couldn’t, he was content to live with his memories.
This week in Paris, he has expressed more uncertainty about what the next months might hold for him than he has in a long time. He’s not talking about tennis in farewell tour terms.
“I don’t think every day about if I am retiring,” Nadal said late on Monday afternoon.
Djokovic said he doesn’t want Nadal going anywhere, even if that means having to endure more afternoons of playing in front of a crowd chanting “RAFA! RAFA! RAFA!”
“I just hope for the sake our rivalry and the sport in general that we will get to face each other once or maybe a few times on different surfaces in different parts of the world,” Djokovic said.
“I don’t know how he feels in his body, what his plans are. Let’s hope we can play some more.” — The Athletic
