12 months after withdrawing from his beloved French Open, Rafael Nadal has underlined his status as the greatest player to ever play at Roland Garros.
Dropping just six games against Stan Wawrinka in Sunday’s final, the Spaniard sealed an historic 10th French Open title at the age of 31. He has now won 79 out of 81 matches played at the tournament, the best win-loss record in its 126-year history.
The triumph occurs after what has been a challenging past couple of years with knee and wrist injuries hampering Nadal’s offensive on the men’s tour. In 2016 it was his wrist which forced him to miss two months of competitive tennis. It was the same issue that also made him to end the season early. Despite the setbacks, Nadal has used his recent doubts to trigger a resurgence in his game.
“I have doubts every day. The doubts, I think, are good, because the doubts give you the possibility to work with more intensity, with being more humble, and accepting that you need to keep working hard to improve things.” Nadal said after achieving the la decima in Paris.
Nadal’s hard work is paying off this year. The Spaniard has already won 43 matches this season, winning a total of four titles on the tour. He has already qualified for November’s ATP Tour finals, becoming the first player to do so, and leads second place Roger Federer by over 2000 points in the race.
Basking in his latest victory, some might expect the 15-time grand slam champion to be less tough on himself. This is however not the case for Nadal and his desire for constant improvement.
“Right now, I gonna have doubts even in a few days, because in tennis every week is a new story and that’s part of the beautiful thing of our sport. Life is not that clear.” He explained.
“So if you have no doubts probably is because you are too arrogant. I don’t consider myself arrogant at all. So I think the doubts or not considering myself very, very good let me work so hard all my career. And for that reason, I am having the success that I had.”
The cautious campaign on grass
In just over a week, Nadal will return to action at the Aegon Championships on the grass. The tournament promises to be a stern test with five out of the world’s top-seven players set to pazrticipate. Unlike the clay, the surface has been less kind to the Spaniard due to numerous issues with his knees. It is for this reason why Nadal has given a balanced overview concerning his Wimbledon chances.
“I hope that my knees hold well and I can have the preparation that I really need and the preparation that I wanted.” He said.
“If I am healthy and I am able to have the right preparation and feel healthy during the Wimbledon, then probably gonna have my chances to play well,” he later added.
After the first six months of the 2016 season it is clear that Nadal’s resurgence isn’t solely down to his ability. It is also down to his determination and motivation to improve and succeed. Already with 73 titles to his name, including a record 53 on the clay, he continues to defy the odds.
“I really want to keep competing for important things, and I gonna keep working hard to try to have more days like today. That’s my motivation, and that’s why I am playing tennis, still playing tennis, because I have the passion for the game and I like the competition.” Nadal said about his future goals.
Nadal will rise to a two-and-a-half-year high of number two when tomorrow’s ATP rankings are updated. He could also potentially rise to No.1 after Wimbledon, a position he last held in June 2014.
