Lesson from Rafael Nadal

[Mahmood]

I have a confession to make. And I am ashamed to admit it.
But I had doubts.
I didn't believe in Rafa before this Roland Garros started. I thought Djokovic was too strong. He's without a doubt the toughest player Rafa has ever played, after all. The only one who could really measure up against Nadal. Who wasn't afraid. Who knew how to play him. Who knew how to BEAT him.
But there are no excuses. Rafael Nadal has through his whole career proven doubters as myself wrong. People have written him off more times than any other player in history.
"He'll never recover from this injury."
"He'll never win slams outside clay."
"He'll never come close of Federer."
"He's done. It's over. You don't recover from 7 months absence."
"No way Nadal is going to win slams at 25, are you kidding me? His playing style is too tough on the body. He might even have retired at 25."
"No way Nadal will beat Djokovic again, are you blind? He doesn't stand a chance."
And on it goes...
But this guy is more than a tennis player. He's a phenomenon. In every sense of the word. One of the best athletes of all time. And probably THE best when it comes to the spirit of a champion; to never give up; to fight to the bitter end. To accept success and defeat with equal amount of humbleness.
He's constantly mocked, ridiculed, laughed at, hated and abused by haters on the internet, people who find pleasure in seeing him down, for various reasons, but the difference between them and Nadal is that they have no idea what it takes to be a champion; they have no idea what it takes to even show up, to give yourself a chance in life - regardless of result. It's easy to be tough and judgmental behind a computer screen, isn't it?
It doesn't matter if Nadal wins more slams. Or if he holds his ranking. It doesn't matter if Nadal ends his career at 30 or 35. It doesn't matter how much hatred he gets, if anything - it just shows people's true colors, cheering for others misery - can you get much lower than that? Nadal has nothing more to prove. He's won grand slams for 10 straight years now and above all, he's had the chance to live out his dream, and that was the only thing he ever asked for.
If anything, the success of Rafael Nadal proves that you can accomplish almost anything in life if you're willing to SUFFER for it. If you're willing to WORK for it. If you're willing to put your soul into what you do, every single day, and if you do that enough times - you'll be successful.
This is not the day to talk about records, or speculations about the future. I certainly have my thoughts on how far I believe Nadal will go in terms of grand slam wins, but it doesn't matter what we THINK - the only thing that matters is what we DO.
And Rafael Nadal has proven once again that you should NEVER write him off. He could be 90 years old in a wheelchair, but man - I'd STILL not count him out. I've learned my lesson. And I apologize.
Sincerely,
A very emotional fan.

(Chrillz Gutschmeister on ATP worldtour site)

[mspayam]

What Toni Nadal and Marian Vajda said about the Final

Toni Nadal and Marian Vajda spoke to the press after the epic 2014 French Open men’s final.

Toni Nadal (Rafael Nadal’s coach):
"We’re delighted and very emotional about this victory. This is the first time that we came to Roland Garros having lost so many matches on clay this year. We lost at Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome and even though we won in Madrid, I can’t forget that Nishikori had to retire in the final. So we were short on confidence. Djokovic played very well here in the first set. Rafael wasn’t playing badly but he made a few errors and when you’re playing Novak, there’s no room for manoeuvre.

The match turned on its head at the end of the second set because Djokovic’s level dropped a little. We all felt it, and Rafa stepped up then. This match wasn’t at the same level of the 2012 final or last year’s semi-final, but it was a very, very intense final. At the end of the fourth set, Rafa was cramping up everywhere and he almost couldn’t go on. We really had to fire him up because we knew that if he didn’t win the fourth, he’d lose the fifth because Novak was stronger than him physically. At the end of the match, when he came up to me in the stands, he told me that we needed to get the doctor to come and see to him because he was really, really exhausted."

Marian Vajda (Novak Djokovic’s coach):
"It was a strange match. It was disappointing but you have to admit that Rafa was simply better than he was today. Novak started off the match very well and had a really good first set but he didn’t manage to maintain his level of play because Rafa just got better and better. In the second set, Rafa was playing quicker, his top-spin was more and more difficult to play and the rallies were incredibly tough because the two players were stuck in the corners. I don’t know if the spectators realised or not but it was really, really intense. Novak started to have a few doubts, he was also having a few stomach problems and when you’re playing Rafa, any time your game slips a little, there’s no way back. In the fourth set, Novak got back to 4-4 but Rafa didn’t give an inch, he gave it his all and he ended up winning the match. It’s tough to lose a Grand Slam final but that’s the way sport is."

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