A year ago in the 3rd round at Roland Garros,Rafael Nadal withdrew due to a wrist injury against fellow countryman,Marcel Granollers.He missed Wimbledon alongside Roger Federer having most of the summer off until his appearance at the US open where he succumbed to a fourth round loss to Lucas Pouille.Many would have written off Rafa who now was 30 as the sun set in New York towards the end of the 2016 Grand slam season.He had failed to reach grand slam quarter final for the first time since 2004.
2017,however, became a different story. No more does he wear the long sleeveless shirts and capri shorts that became a trend last decade.Reaching the Aussie Open final as a ninth seed and playing a long fought five setter against Roger would never be forgotten.Despite leading with a break in final set, he had lost five straight games to lose the Norman Brookes trophy.However,it was his 3rd round encounter against Alexander “Sascha” Zverev,hailed as the new tennis sensation of the future,which set the ball rolling for his much more comprehensive run.
The procession didn’t end there.Indian Wells and Miami brought further “Fedal” encounters which the Swiss won on hard courts taking his winning streak to 4 against his old rival.Rafa now has been winless in Miami in 5 final’s attempts.He couldn’t have asked to have a better time to claim “Red Respite”.Coming in, he had won 9 times previously in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Paris. Even his favoured Real Madrid will have had to take a bow to that.
Monte Carlo became easier for him once he had dispatched Kyle Edmund early on. He breezed through the final against Albert Ramos Vinolas to claim the 10th trophy and pass Guillermo Vilas’s 49 clay court titles record.In Barcelona, he came across a novelty.The Real Club de Tennis had renamed Pista Rafa Nadal stadium in his honour. He didn’t disappoint and dominated Dominic Thiem in the final claiming his 51st clay court crown.
The theme of “Thiem” enocunters didn’t end there.He played him again in the final of Madrid Open which despite being close to losing the first set,prevailed again in straight sets.Thus,came Rafa ‘s 30th Masters title tying his long time rival Novak Djokovic’s record. He seemed unstoppable on clay now.Thiem however got one back on Rafa ending his 17 match win streak on the Foro Italico in Rome in the quarters.The tourney was eventually won by Sascha Zverev. Paris was next in line for no.10.
Rafa breezed through almost each round.Robin Hasse could count himself lucky.In the second round took eight games off Rafa which was the most in the whole tourney anyone managed against the spaniard.The following round, he just lost one. Nadal played on different planet losing just seven games to Thiem in the semi.The term ” thrashed ” would be an understatement.The 2015 Roland Garros champion ,Stan Wawrinka who had won earlier against Andy Murray in fifth set battle was supposed to be a test at least. It didn’t.The US Open champ was caned with just six games before the traditional ” Rafa’s fall of victory “on the red surface in astonishment would occur. Overall,he had lost just 35 games at Roland Garros this year,his best show so far in his 13th French Open appearance,ten of which have been titles.He has only lost 2 matches in Paris ever.
The intensity of his strokes hit another level on clay. Whilst many struggle to adapt on the surface,Rafa would just not make errors on the surface and line passing shots to all sides,all day long.As is ever exhibited, he counters a huge punch using muscular build though how long will he sustain in a long season this is open to question.
If the European clay court season was evidence of Nadal’s resurgence on the ATP tour, then Roland Garros was no short of being the coronation.Andy Roddick had previously said that Rafa would win “eight french opens”.Rafa went for the ultimate in tennis, a grand slam “La Decima” in a calendar season where he has three now on the same surface. Can it be ever equalled ? Can anyone ever close to it ? Many in the tennis world resoundingly say not.
Whether it is the best ever sporting achievement is up for debate.For now the basking clay of Roland Garros in Paris is home to a 15th Grand Slam to a legend of tennis who has passed another legend in Pete Sampras.A historic 2017 rolls on.
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