Rafael Nadal is set to have an emotional farewell on home soil in Malaga at the Davis Cup 2024. The Spaniard may not have had a successful comeback season this year. Still, he will always remain inspirational for many because of his ability to overcome career-threatening injuries on multiple occasions. So the ATP has already made their tribute ready via TennisTV in the form of a video montage.
The video began by mentioning the knee injury Nadal suffered in the second half of the 2012 season. The former World No.1 had an incredible first half, having finished a close second at the Australian Open after having played a five hours 50 minutes final against Novak Djokovic. But Rafa hit back against his biggest rival by defeating him in the French Open final.
Even as Nadal won three more titles in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona and Rome, his knee had already caused him trouble at the Miami Masters, where he made it to the semifinals. So he aggravated that injury after losing in the second round at Wimbledon to Lukas Rosol. After that upset, Nadal could not play until January 2013.
Few would have predicted back then that Nadal would go on to have one of the best years of his career, with Djokovic still at his peak, Andy Murray being on the rise and Roger Federer still being competitive. He proved many people wrong by winning as many as 10 titles that season as well as ending it as the World No.1 despite not winning the ATP Finals.
When the world doubted, Rafa delivered
His most iconic career comebacks, one match at a time. #RafaSiempre | @RafaelNadal pic.twitter.com/YPYycle7wD
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 15, 2024
The second part of the video was about the time when Nadal suffered from a wrist injury around October 2016. Nearly 24 months leading up to that, the 22-time Grand Slam champion did not win a single Majors title, which was arguably the worst phase of his career until then.
The injury didn’t help and many feared that it was the end of the peak Nadal since he had crossed the age of 30. However, when he made it to that epic Australian Open final in 2017 against Federer, he was truly back in form. The season culminated in the Spaniard winning the French Open and the US Open titles as well as the year-end World No.1 trophy.
And the final part of the video was about his devastating foot injury in August 2021. Nadal was seen walking in crutches and at the age of 35, there were many calls for his retirement. But his never-say-die attitude resulted in him pulling off one of his greatest Grand Slam wins, which was at the Australian Open 2022.
In the final, Nadal was down and out after being two sets and 2-4 down in the third against Daniil Medvedev. So that match will always go down as the one that would define his career. The season also saw the Spanish champion win the Melbourne Slam, Acapulco Open and once again, the French Open.
Nadal also was the World No.1 for most part of the season. He also could have made it to the finals of the Wimbledon but had to pull out due to an abdominal injury before his semi-final against Nick Kyrgios.
Rafa has had other impressive moments in which he overcame adversity. Had he not suffered those injuries and the Mueller-Weiss Syndrome, who knows how much more he would have won and dominated in the Grand Slam race? So his retirement should be more of a celebration of the ability he had to be a hero the sport had never seen before him and perhaps, will never see after him.
