When Rafael Nadal made a spirited run to the Australian Open Final, and got to play his old rival in Roger Federer, it seemed like one last encore for us Fedal tennis fans. Nine months later, those two gobbled up all four slams (had Nadal held off Federer in that 5th set, the gap in majors would be 18-17, instead it is 19-16). Nadal is the #1. Federer is the #2. For someone who grew up with tennis from 2003-2010, all seems right in teh world. And the rightest part is Rafael Nadal, king of New York, for a 3rd time and holder of now 16 Grand Slam titles.
Each of his three wins in New York cemented incredible seasons for different reasons. His first win in 2010 cemented him as an all-court all-timer. It completed his career slam. It made him the first (and to date, only) man to win a slam on clay, grass and hard court in the same season. In 2013, it completed his greatest ever comeback, returning from a serious knee injury that made him miss the 2012 US Open and 2013 Australian Open. He had a dominant season, and a dominant American Hard Court swing, winning Canada, Cincinnati, and then the US Open, locking up another year-end #1. Finally, in this year, it sees him just elevating his game to a ridiculous level. It was a vintage performance, with fleet movement that was reminiscent of his early days, to a hard-serve brought out of nowhere. It was pure Rafa.
More than anything, what this tournament, and the assured, confident way he played that mirrored him at his best, really showed was that Rafa is rightfully and fully back. The incredible run to the Australian Open final was a nice touch of nostalgia, especially seeing him beat members of the Lost Generation (Dimitrov) and the Next Generation (Zverev) in 5 sets. The French Open was his one last hurrah - a feeling I felt even though he dominated that tournament in a manner few have ever come close to doing. That was cemented when he lost to Gilles Muller at Wimbledon and lost relatively early at the Summer Masters events.
But then this happened. All year, I was wondering what the long term is for Rafa. I honestly never expected him to be playing this well at 31 years ago. Especially when he was struggling and 29 and 30. It was a long time coming. For some reason, this felt more earned, more important than his win in France. It had been nearly four years since he won a tournament on hard court. It had been four since his last major. Until this year, he had two full years of disappointment at hardcourt majors, the best result being blasted off the court by Tomas Berdych in the 2015 Australian Open quarterfinals. Outside of that, it was 5-set choke-job losses to Fabio Fognini, Fernando Verdasco and Lucas Pouille.
If anything, that was the real fear. That either losing the Australian Open final after leading 3-1 in the 5th set, or losing 15-13 in the 5th set to Gilles Muller at Wimbledon, would penetrate Rafa's psyche, turn him back into the unconfident loner that traversed the ATP tour in 2015-16. Instead, it only served to make him stronger.
Over the last three years, Rafa has opened up to the public, using us as his sports psychologist. I have rarely heard a player talk so openly about being nervous, about lacking confidence, about getting tight in big moments. Rafael Nadal at his best is the strongest fighter in the sport, the guy who has won the last 15 Major Semifinals he has played, and is lifetime 39-10 in major Semifinals and Finals. At his worst, he is the guy who hasn't even got to that stage more often than he should. As we head to the end of 2017, a good twelve years after he first won a major, he is squarely the guy at his best.
As we head into 2018, despite the incredible year Rafael Nadal has had he is no closer to catching Roger Federer. But I truly believe he doesn't care, and neither do I. This 2017 season, including a ridiculous 10th Roland Garros title, a 3rd US Open Title, widening the gap between him and Novak Djokovic. He will never catch Roger Federer, but he's showed a lasting power, a will to compete, a mental strength that seemed rather impossible at various times in his brilliant career.
When his career ends, it will be interesting to see that US Open should be his second most successful slam. It's hard to think given it was the last one that he conquered, but now he's done it three times over. It cemented his legacy as a Career Slam holder in 2010, as the owner of the greatest single-season comeback story in 2013, and now as truly, unquestionably, no worse than the 2nd best player ever in 2017. New York truly does love to crown kings, and in Rafa they got another opportunity to do so.
