Before we get to Rafael Nadal's inconceivable accomplishment, let's quickly just realize that he is still a top all-court player, and far and away the best clay court player, at 32. The one knock on Nadal was that he would break down early, that his style was not conducive to a long playing career. And while he battled his challenges with his body starting with his initial knee tendonitis in 2009, he is still winning majors and dominating top players at 32. No one, even the largest Nadal-ite like myself, would have predicted this.
What Nadal showed in this tournament is that he's as mentally strong as ever, which matters because his mental lapses and lack of confidence was what really hurt him in 2015-16 as much as his injuries. But those years playing less matches, losing earlier than normal, arguably gave him more time off, more time to heal, to rest, to turn the page over to a period of renewed dominance.
What's the best stat to encapsulate Nadal at the French Open? Obviously, the 86-2 record is laughable. But my favorite is that he has now won the tournament six times losing no more than one set. Three times he's won it without droppoing a set (2008, 2010, 2013). And now three times he's done it with dropping just one set (2007, 2012, 2018). He's 22-0 in semifinals and finals. He's dropped just six sets across his eleven finals. There are no words to describe his dominance. At 32, he brushed away a renewed Juan Martin del Potro 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, and then beat Thiem 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. Nadal is not human.
What keeps him going is an interesting question, but one quickly answered when he teared up during the trophy ceremony. I've watched probably every single one of Nadal's slam wins, and only remember him crying three other times: 2010 French Open, his first slam after his first injury, 2013 French Open, for the same reasons, and now this. I don't know why this time seemed to hit him more than last year, when he got the Decima, or so many of the others, but it did. That's why Nadal keeps playing. He loves to compete, he loves to play tennis, he loves to win.
So what exactly does eleven French Open's equate to? How about the same amount of slams as Bjorn Borg won in his career. Rafael Nadal at the French Open, is a top-5 player of all time. Eleven slams is one less than Novak Djokovic has in his career. Nadal's ability to compartmentalize him being the overwhelming favorite is so incredible. The pressure on him is immense. Him losing a set is a news story - as it was in the quarterfinals against Diego Schwartzman. Following a ran delay, Nadal won 18 of the last 20 games. Ruthless, as always.
When Nadal got number nine in 2014, firmly ensconced at #1 in the world, it seemed like he could run the total to 12 or 13, chasing down Federer in teh process (it was 17-14 at the time, with Federer not having won a slam in two years, and Nadal winning three of the previous five). Like his favorite club, Real Madrid, La Decima would take a while, needing until 2017, and then it seemed something of a capper. A year later (with a nice little US Open mixed in as well), we can start again wondering of #12 or #13 are in his sights.
At the moment, it is best just to bathe in how ridiculous this all is. He won the tournament in 2005, two weeks after turning 19. At the time he was already #4 in the world, because he had run up a ridiculous stretch on clay. People were already calling him one of the most naturally talented clay court players ever. Not only was he that, he tirelessly worked to keep up that label from the start. Despite changing his game to make him successful across surfaces, his overwhelming mastery of the clay just continued. In sports, there are so few guarantees, so few closed arguments. If anything, let's just be happy Nadal has raised the tent of best player on any one surface we don't even have to argue about that ever.
