Heart. Claw. Honor. Courage. Greatness. doWhat to say about Rafael Nadal Parera? What Nadal has achieved, conquering his 14th Roland Garros 2022, is just one more sample of what this superhuman being has been, is and will be able to do. Nadal is not only a tennis player, an athlete. Nadal is much more than that. Rafa is a way of living life, to fight, to put passion and effort into every second that passes, no matter what or who is around you. He has shown us that week after week, on or off the track.
Rafael Nadal himself is a masterpiece; and it is that the masterpieces awaken in you a feeling, a “nosequé” inside people. A song, a film, a work of art… and Rafael Nadal, who simply awakens in all of us a nosequé every time we see him dance on a tennis court. And this is not achieved by everyone. They are not the 14 Roland Garros, nor the 22 Grand Slams, not even the 92 titles that he has won throughout his career. It is the emotion that he transmits every time he steps on a courtthe pride that the world of tennis feels when watching one more match, because one day Nadal will end and, on that day, we will cry with happiness for everything that Rafa has given us.
What he has achieved these two weeks will remain in the memory. When they ask us: where were you when Nadal won his 14th Roland Garros? Many will say that they were on the sofa in his house, others in a bar sharing those moments with his friends. But surely, setting aside the place, we all share something: a feeling of pride and excitement. Many of us may even share tears of joy, that is Rafael Nadal Parera. Something more than a person, than a tennis player; is simply Rafael Nadal Parera.
Don’t kill Nadal ahead of time
A pessimistic environment surrounded Roland Garros 2022 before starting. After a small rib injury, Nadal arrived with little filming on the clay tour. To that, the complications in his battered foot that makes him suffer so much were added. To Rafa and also to us. On his return, a prompt elimination in both Madrid and Rome set off alarms and sowed doubts before his debut in this edition of Roland Garros. But playing in Paris, at the Philippe-Chatrier, in the courtyard of his house, is something totally different. After 17 years we do not learn: Rafael Nadal cannot be considered dead at Roland Garros, never.
At the moment in which Rafa steps on the clay of Paris it is as if he became a superheroin an alien, as if entering a parallel universe where the years do not pass, a kind of never land. As he has us so spoiled, Rafa crushed in his first three games on the Parisian clay. Thompson, Moutet and Van de Zandschulp felt firsthand what the nightmare is in this tournament. Auger-Aliassime believed for a couple of hours that he could get rid of Freddy Krueger of Roland Garros, but Rafa took out that superhuman strength to carry out the match and leave the Canadian by the wayside.
logic said that, as he arrived at the tournament, Djokovic, Alcaraz or Zverev would be in charge of putting the 4 in the box of Nadal’s defeats at Roland Garros. But Rafa does not understand logic in Paris. Neither Djokovic, nor Alcaraz, nor Zverev, nor Tsitsipas, nor Ruud, nor his battered foot could stop him. Simply, Rafael Nadal Parera. Surely it has not been his best tournament in terms of play, nor in terms of physicality, but yes it has been his best Roland Garros in terms of courage, honor, pride. Mentally, it may have been the most difficult of all.
The murmur about a possible withdrawal, for a possible break without a return date, a foot that was killing him physically but, above all, psychologically. But what are we going to say that the world does not know. He has not won because of his wonderful forehand, because of his great backhand that has helped him in difficult moments, because of the great dominance he has had at the net throughout the tournament. has won by bravery, because many others -the great majority- would have given up, or thought that it was impossible. But not Rafael. He continued, fought, trusted and showed the world, once again, who he is. Everybody knows his name, they know about his exploits, they know even the smallest details. But no one, absolutely no one, knows how to define him.
Simply, Rafael Nadal Parera.
Thank you, Rafa.
