I've written a lot about Rafa over the years, and more pointedly about his brilliance at particularly the French Open. And of course, why wouldn't I - he is more prolific at Roland Garros than any athlete is basically anywhere.
I first wrote about it in 2010 when he won there for the fifth time (https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2010/06/there-is-man-in-switzerland-today-man.html).
I then wrote about him again when he won for a 9th time in 2014 (after which he went through a 2.5 year malaise): https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2014/06/rafa-nadal-reaching-highest-of.html
I then went on a spree when he won again in 2017, writing about him in:
2017: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2017/06/la-decima.html
2018: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2018/06/la-undecima-de-nadal.html
2019: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2019/06/rafas-dozen.html
and 2020: https://loungingpass.blogspot.com/2020/10/rafa.html
I guess I can again here - for a sixth time overall. It has become a bit of an annual tradition at this point, and what a brilliant one it is. But this one somehow is different from him reconquering his perch (2010), or doing it again (2017) and then so many other times. This is number 14.
When Rafael Nadal first broke through in 2005, winning his first French Open on his first try (a weird coincidence that he didn't play it in 2003 or 2004...), 14 was the target all players were shooting for. Federer had four, and it seemed everyone was going after 14, a record that Pete Sampras set in 2000 (with his 13th) and finalized in 2002. It should have lasted a long time. Of course that record has now been passed by three people, and Nadal is ahead of 14 by an astounding eight slams (the entire career of Agassi, or Connors!). But more than anything, he matched Pete's 14.... at one event.
This is the most laughably amazing outcome of Nadal's career on clay. There is nothing more ludicrous than him matching the slam count of the record holder when he started at one tournament. It is insane. Yes, it seemed like he would never lose if you go back to that day in 2008 when he blitzed Federer 6-1 6-3 6-0. He did lose three times, including the next season, but we were right. As crazy as it sounded, we were right. Some said "maybe he could win 10!", which sounded hilarious enough. But 14 was an incredible target.
Nadal did it in weird circumstances, both simultaneously a terribly tough road, needing five sets to beat Felix Auger-Aliassime in the 4th Round, four sets to beat Djokovic, getting an admittedly lucky break against Zverev in a match he could have easily lost. But by the end, when conditions got sunny and hot and outdoors, he was the same guy who has boatraced great player after great player. The scoreline seemed rough for Ruud (6-3 6-3 6-0), but then you realize the only other two players he has bageled in a French Open Final: Federer, in 2008, and Djokovic in 2020.
Throughout the entire tournament, there was the weird undercurrent on Nadal's potential retirement at worst, and stepping away for a bit at best. The weird signs spread like wildfire, some real like Nadal saying he would "address the foot situation after the tournament", and some fake like a weird story that circulated on Saturday that Nadal had booked a second press conference win or lose.
In the end, it is serious - Nadal facing a foot nerve issue that he is going to try to fix but could lead to either a surgery and lengthy rehab, or him retiring. But you know what: he is 36. No one ever expected him to last. Go back again to 2005, or certainly the next few years, and many probably thought he might burn out by 26. But he lasted, he persevered. He changed his game and stayed dominant on clay while picking up the slack everywhere else. He has reached the mountaintop. If he has to end his career now, while it will seem too soon given he won the two majors played this year, it will also feel 100% like a career absolutely fulfilled.
He may very well retire, but he may also keep going. That said I had to juggle some thoughts over the weekend that maybe this was it, maybe this was the last time I would see Rafa. And weirdly, I was at peace with it. Even if he returns, his career isn't endless. There are too many other great players. Again this is weird to say when he's halfway to a calendar slam - and while he wouldn't be nearly a favorite in Wimbledon if he did play, he did win the US Open the last time he played it.
But there is an end in sight, whether its this year or next, or the year after. No matter what, he got to 14. He got to 22, sure. He gets his time atop the leaderboard, even if Djokovic passes it in 2023, or Alcaraz in 2037, or whatever. But more than the 22, he got to 14 at the French. He got to a point that has literally become hard to comprehend. Few would've thought he could play long enough to even enter the tournament 14 times, let alone win that many.
He won in the first year of Bush's second term. He won when Youtube was in its infancy. He won back when Brady was a "winner" who didn't put up big stats. He won at a time when Andy Roddick and Marat Safin were teh 2nd and 3rd seeds in the French Open - and he's done it now with Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev are. Nadal at the French Open is truly the best match of player and court/arena/stadium in sports history. Few have ever put their greatness so incomprehensibly far away from the pack as Rafa here. And if this is it, or even if it is not, he got to 14.
