Rafael Nadal recently conceded in an interview with the ATP Tour that he would not be able to match Novak Djokovic in the Grand Slam race. Djokovic is 2 ahead of Nadal, with 24 to his name and is likely to make it No.25 at least at the Australian Open 2024. But many of the Spaniard’s enthusiastic supporters believe that Nadal still has one Grand Slam win at least left in him before he quits the game probably by the end of next year or 2025 assuming that his body holds up by then.
Recently on X, there was a tweet put out presumably by a Rafael Nadal enthusiast which revealed an unheard-of anecdote about the Spanish legend. This wasn’t even mentioned by Nadal in his autobiography which he released nearly a decade ago. And it was about his experience watching the French Open for the first time back in 2004.
Apparently, Nadal did not even see the face of the center court at Roland Garros in Paris, named Phillippe-Chatrier before the 2004 edition of the competition. But he chose to watch some of the matches from the stands with his then manager, Tuts who was a Nike representative. As a player who was to turn 18 in June that year, it only took him one look at the court to correctly declare in private to Tuts that ‘I’m going to cause some trouble here!’ in the future.
2004, Nadal can’t make his Roland Garros debut for the second consecutive year, stress fracture in his left foot.
He attends the tournament on crutches. When he sees the Philippe-Chatrier for the first time he tells Tuts, his agent at Nike: “I’m going to cause some trouble here” pic.twitter.com/3UMuHAJmo6
— Luigi Gatto (@gigicat7_) November 8, 2023
In a classic case of self-prophecy coming true, the clay court specialist Rafael Nadal made the most of playing for the first time at the French Open in 2005 and won the tournament, coming into it as the 4th seed. Nadal had a tricky draw from the 3rd round onwards, having to beat two experienced Frenchmen back-to-back, i.e. Richard Gasquet and Sebastian Grosjean.
He backed up those victories by easing past fellow Spaniard and good friend, David Ferrer in the quarterfinals. The biggest win for Rafael Nadal was when he beat the World No.1, Roger Federer in 4 sets in the semifinals. But Rafa didn’t have it easy in the final either, having to bounce back after losing the first set to win against Mariano Puerta for his first-ever Grand Slam title.
Rafael Nadal having that level of self-awareness and belief in his abilities at that age, is quite a story. As a result, the unfortunate part was that in 2003 and 2004, the Spaniard could not participate in the French Open due to sustaining injuries at the 11th hour virtually. In 2003, Nadal fell while perhaps needlessly loitering around the net during training, which damaged his elbow severely. While in 2004, he was aiming to recover from the same foot injury that has caused him trouble many times over the years.
In both those years, the draw was so wide open that even Grand Slam champions such as Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin and Andy Roddick could not go the distance. As a result, Carlos Alcaraz’s current coach, Juan Carlos Ferrero won in 2003 while the now nearly-forgotten name from Argentina, Gaston Gaudio took home the title in 2004.
Now, it is well known too that Rafael Nadal made a name for himself first in the tennis world at the age of 16 in 2003, defeating his now coach, Carlos Moya in Hamburg back in 2003 on a clay court. So it is extremely likely that had Nadal played at Roland Garros in 2003 and 2004, he would have virtually had no challenger for 2 Grand Slam titles. Roger Federer was more of a grass court specialist who only won his first hard court Grand Slam in January 2004 and had no credentials as such to challenge for a clay championship.
Rafael Nadal 2024 tennis comeback update
It is no secret that Rafael Nadal has had to battle multiple injuries throughout his career. The fact that Nadal has played professional tennis for so many years and was at the top of his game despite all his challenges is a feat in itself which perhaps no player before him had done so or after him would do so.
With the Rafael Nadal 2024 tennis comeback news confirmed by the player himself recently, it has drawn many positive reactions from the tennis world, including Novak Djokovic. Despite not being ‘friends’ with each other and often trading barbs due to their difference of opinions, Novak Djokovic graciously said that it is great for the sport that Rafael Nadal would be making a comeback.
Djokovic expressed his desire to play Nadal in a men’s singles match at least one more time as the Spaniard could call it a day depending on how he can manage his injuries. The Serb also lauded the 22-time Grand Slam champion’s spirit and passion for the sport, claiming that it is admirable that the 14-time French Open champion manages to bounce back every time from injuries successfully.
