TENNIS resembles boxing.
On that tennis rectangle and inside the boxing ring are two gladiators. No coaches permitted. No teammates allowed.
Tennis is mano a mano. And if the goal — like boxing — is to punch and cause the enemy to bleed, then no person inflicts more trauma than Rafael Nadal.
Consider this one point that transpired four days ago when the 34-year-old Spanish legend played the 18-year-old Spanish phenom Carlos Alcaraz at the Madrid Open.
Nadal serves a bullet to Alcaraz’s forehand, who returns it crosscourt. Nadal shuffles his feet and slams an inside-out forehand. Alcaraz scrambles to hit a backhand drive that causes Nadal to scoot left, beyond the doubles alley. On the defensive, Nadal throws a looping shot. Alcaraz pounds the Dunlop tennis ball. Nadal scurries back and turns defense to offense. He slams a forehand for a winner!
But, no, the fleet-footed Alcaraz retrieves the shot. The ball bounces short and is hammered by Rafa’s Babolat Pure Aero racket. Alcaraz dashes to his left and hurls a perfect 15-foot lob over Nadal’s 6-foot-1 frame. The ball lands two feet inside the baseline. Nadal zooms backwards and makes a U-turn to strike a forehand. With Nadal 30 feet away from the net, Alcaraz deftly hits a drop shot. It’s a winner.
No! Nadal flies back as fast as a raging bull that’s teased with a red cloth. Nadal slices the ball. Alcaraz throws a topspin lob but Nadal jumps and twists his 188-lb. body up in the air to hit the hardest shot in tennis — backhand smash — as Alcaraz barely touches the ball and makes a mistake.
Alcaraz winces in pain as the rally ends. He succumbs to abdominal cramps that require a medical timeout. Minutes later, Alcaraz staggers back on the court. But the torture intensifies as Nadal beats him, 6-1, 6-2.
That was just one point. The score then was 2-0, 15-all — at an insignificant stage of the match — but Nadal treated the 27-second-long rally like it was a Wimbledon championship point.
Why this talk of Rafa?
Because the 34-year-old just won the 2021 Laureus Sportsman of the Year trophy. He bested all other male athletes, including LeBron James and Lewis Hamilton. Here’s what he said:
“I have had some amazing competitors. The rest of the sportsmen probably deserve the trophy the same as me, but this was the year for me and I can’t be happier.
“Winning the French Open and equaling the 20th Grand Slam of Roger Federer has been an unforgettable moment. It means a lot to equal my great rival, but at the same time, my great friend. It’s something very special after all the history we have had together on and off court.”
What a humble, self-effacing speech.
This is the Nadal Paradox.
On court, especially on clay, he torments and humiliates people; he relishes in their suffering.
Off court, he doesn’t call attention to himself and is a four-time recipient of the Sportsmanship Award — given to a person’s “fair play, professionalism and integrity on and off the court.”
In simple words, he’s the ATP Tour’s nicest guy. What a boxer this Rafael Nadal.