Rafael Nadal: A Career Retrospective
by Oak Gast
November 20, 2024
And then there was one.
In what can be considered the start of the twilight era of tennis’ Big 3, we find ourselves at last at Rafael Nadal’s final official match and subsequent retirement. Thus, the youngest and most highly decorated of sporting history’s greatest dynasty will remain competing among the world’s current best.
It’s not at all unlike Novak Djokovic to fully know and recognize his own moments as distinct from those of his opponents and peers. During Roger Federer’s final autumn/season, Djokovic’s otherwise stellar resumé features a few gaps. No participation at the 2022 US Open, taking backseat at the Laver Cup, and a decade-defying full stampede of the so-called “Next Gen” at the World Tour Finals after the fact. For the purposes of this piece, his victory at the 2022 tournament serves to echo and elevate Federer’s legacy, as he tied the Swiss’ six-time titling at this event in 2022.
Now, with Nadal’s retirement, Djokovic finds himself in the spectator role once more. The 24-time grand slam winner sat out the last Masters event of the year in Paris (a tournament which he has won a record seven times) and pulled out of the season-ending World Tour Finals. Earlier this month, Djokovic was spotted in the crowd of the ATP 250 tournament in Belgrade, run by none other than his own brother. With Serbia failing to make the Davis Cup finals, Djokovic’s most unique year since his breakthrough comes to an end. However, the narrative will likely shift back to the tournament’s best-in-history seeking a 25th slam come January at the Australian Open. So, for the moment, the stage seems set for Nadal to take his final bows in his home country.
The Davis Cup is a unique tournament in of itself, with a century-old rich legacy. It has seen an increased prominence on the men’s tour since the addition of professional level players in 1973. Furthermore, it’s a tournament that saw Nadal catapulted to the global forefront of the sport back in 2004 and has served as a battleground for many iconic matchups over the years. While the format has been shortened to a “Best of 3” approach, the final round matchups provided often feature top 20 players squaring off against each other, with the unusual aspect of representing their country in what is otherwise an individual sport. It’s also a great opportunity to see singles players subbing in for some doubles action, pairing with their country’s specialists for exciting big-name doubles action otherwise unseen. It’s evident that the players care greatly about this tournament, relishing in their countrymen’s antics and courtside support. In sum, it is a tournament that feels more collective and less rehearsed than what we are typically accustomed to seeing on the ATP.
This environment obviously appealed to Nadal, although some of us can’t help but wonder where the final chapter would’ve been if Spain hadn’t reached the elimination rounds. The annual Laver Cup? Barcelona, perhaps on “Pista Rafa Nadal”? One last Roland Garros? We will never know. What we do know is that by the time our calendars mark December, Rafael Nadal’s competitive presence on tour will officially be tennis history and cemented as legendary canon. It’s a fact that 8-year-old me struggles to fully comprehend, as my mind drifts back to the 2009 US Open, the first tournament I can remember watching after picking up a racquet. I remember the quarterfinals, as the broadcast flipped back and forth between the Big 3 and some guy named Juan Martin del Potro. My dad told me I had to pick a favorite player if I was going to watch tennis with him, but I was discouraged against picking Federer, that being his favorite player. But my eyes were already drawn to the gravity-defying whirlwind of a certain Spaniard as he hurled himself into and across every ball that came his way.
It’s hard to describe the full impact of a childhood idol. If you had one, you know the feeling. The air of mysticism that they will always inevitably possess. The reverence with which they hold themselves in your mind. The overflowing fountain of inspiration they provide. It’s powerful stuff. Tennis has been lucky, with the game’s all-time greats seemingly arriving on the heels of one generation to the next. Laver, Rosewall, Connors, Borg, McEnroe, Edberg, Agassi, Sampras, and then, of course, the Big 3, all within a split-step of each other. It took the three greatest players ever simultaneously coexisting to throw any kind of wrench in this formula. While we wait for the next chapter to reveal itself fully, we can start to more holistically evaluate this remarkable era of the world’s most popular individual sport.
Tennis’ “Holy Trinity” functions more interrelatedly than most sporting rivalries. There is no Nadal without Federer’s four-year run of near total dominance. And there is no Djokovic without having the two most accomplished players of all-time setting the stage for him to rise up. Let’s start with Nadal and Federer, digging into their Grand Slam rivalry to make sense of this triumvirate. While all of their matches are of course iconic in their own right, history primarily looks at Slams for making larger judgments on a player’s caliber.
Although it wasn’t their first official “Best of 5” match, Federer and Nadal’s first Grand Slam matchup proved to be indicative of their overall clay court rivalry. At the 2005 French Open, Federer managed to steal a set, very much like the two matches he actually would win against Nadal on clay. But the Spaniard’s devastating red dirt prowess proved itself, nonetheless. Nadal would triumph in their first Slam matchup, and again one year later, one round later, in the finals of Roland Garros. A few weeks later, Federer would have his revenge, bagelling Nadal 6-0 in the first set of his eventual four-set Wimbledon finals victory. One year later in 2007, the story was much the same, with a Nadal victory at the French followed by a Federer triumph at Wimbledon. This second showdown on tennis’ biggest stage was the first time they would play five sets in a Slam, and the match left Nadal self-admittedly “destroyed,” according to his semi-autobiography Rafa by John Carlin and himself. In 2008, after a Nadal 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 trouncing in the French Open final, the stage was set at Wimbledon for what will go down as likely the greatest match of all time. 9-7 in the fifth, as the legend goes, in what ultimately saw Nadal and Federer both cement themselves as the two greatest two to ever do it, at the time…
Though we never got a Fedal US Open matchup, their Australian Open encounters proved nothing short of dazzling. The duo met four times at the first slam of the year, twice in the semifinal stage, twice in the finals. Though Nadal captured their first three meetings down under, Federer would have the last laugh, winning a scintillating contest of wills in 2017. The 2017 AO final feels like a turning point in the chapters of these two tennis greats, as Federer would only ever capture one more slam after this match and would never best Djokovic in a slam again. During this time period from ’09 to 2017, there was only one other Slam matchup, it being another Nadal victory in the final of 2011’s Roland Garros (where he now sits ultimately at 14-0). The last two Slam matchups for these titans would prove fitting, with one at the French, and then once again a few weeks later, a final dance at Wimbledon 2019. Both of these matches were semifinals, but perhaps more final-adjacent in terms of the excitement they generated. In fitting fashion, Nadal rolled to a straight-sets victory on the clay, while the grass grounds made for a highly entertaining four-set match, with Federer ultimately sealing the deal on the encounter and their historic rivalry. I remember the latter live, watching with my dad, a whole decade after getting into tennis. I don’t think either of us ever assumed that either player would possibly play into their late 30’s, but we found ourselves captivated by the nevertheless timeless matchup. Of course, Federer would then go on to lose what might be the second-greatest match of all time the following Sunday, losing two championship points on his serve to none other than Novak Djokovic.
This piece won’t make time to focus on Federer and Djokovic’s rivalry, we’ll save that for when the latter retires… But as Nadal’s swan song reaches its final chorus, it is definitely worth digging into tennis’ greatest rivalry of all time. Nadal and Djokovic met a record 60 (!!) times on the professional circuit, which makes for the most that two male opponents on tour have ever played one another in the Open Era. As their legacies grew, the head-to-head proved to be a fascinating contest, peaking to a 30-29 standstill ahead of their final and 60th clash at the 2024 Paris Olympics. While Djokovic would claim their final meeting to move ahead 31-29, let’s look back at this storied and unparalleled rivalry.
The first meeting between these two giants was on Nadal’s hallowed grounds of Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros. Coincidentally, this venue would be where they shared their last three meetings as well. It’s a stadium that definitely benefited and of course elevated Nadal in the long run of his career, but the first official match between these two seemed to shape Djokovic’s career in a lot of ways moving forward. In their early days, Djokovic was known to struggle physically in terms of endurance, and against Rafa in this first tussle, he ultimately retired in the third set. These two between each other have produced perhaps the most physically demanding and excruciating tennis the world may ever see. Indeed, Djokovic’s retirement at the 2006 French Open and 2007 Wimbledon against Rafa proved to be one of the motivating factors for his subsequent fitness journey/overhaul. It’s clear that Nadal and Djokovic brought out the very best in each other, with many iconic Grand Slam and ATP encounters.
Their first of three five-set matches proved to be an instant classic, with many agreeing it to be the greatest match ever played on a hard court. The final of the Australian Open in 2012 was a heartbreaker for me to watch, but it is one that I will never forget either. As was tradition, I would get up in the middle of the night to watch the final live, and then usually sleep in later after. However, with this six-hour slugfest, I would find myself bleary-eyed on the edge of my seat while the rest of my family started waking up. The match proved to be an absolutely staggering contest, with some of the most jaw-dropping and physical rallies ever in what would be the longest Grand Slam final to date. It also marked the third straight Grand Slam final contested between these two, with Novak also triumphing both times prior. Djokovic would ultimately take home the prize in this war of attrition, but both players gave every ounce of will and then some more. The iconic post-match moment that will live forever is, of course, both players being unable to stand and cramping up after such a draining contest. As both of them were brought chairs, the hung heads and splayed legs conveyed total exhaustion. Nadal would go on to say that this match was the most memorable of his career, not because of how he lost, but because of how they played.
When I read Nadal’s semi-autobiography, I was struck by how he always considered himself to be the underdog going into any match, regardless of surface or who was on the other side of the net. The utmost respect with which he viewed all of his opponents was deeply moving, and I was fascinated by how he used doubt as motivation. It was a bit of a paradigm shift for me as a kid, having no language around these concepts really prior to reading about them. In his book, published during the 2011 season, Nadal talks extensively about Djokovic as being someone he was very worried about coming up on tour. He explained how the strategy against Novak is very different than that against Federer, where he would simply just hit to his backhand always if possible. In fact, he admitted as much in that there isn’t really a strategy against Novak, you just have to be at your very best every single point in order to even have any chance of winning.
It's fitting that these two would have the edge on each other in practically every scenario. Nadal remains the only player to ever bagel Djokovic twice, doing so both times in finals. Similarly, Djokovic is the only player to ever beat Nadal at Roland Garros twice. They would only ever have three five-set encounters in their eighteen Grand Slam matchups, one on each surface, starting with the marathon 2012 AO Final. 2013’s French Open semifinal was another 9-7 in the fifth story for Nadal, back before the fifth set was capped at 6-6 for all the Slams. Likewise, in 2018, the deciding fifth set went beyond what is scoreboard-possible today, with Djokovic prevailing 10-8 in yet another one of the all-time Wimbledon matches. Nadal seemed poised to conjure up another 9-7 in the fifth miracle story, having three break points at 7-7 on Djokovic’s serve. But it was not to be, as the Serbian staved off all challenges to ultimately out-rally Nadal, whose net rushing was all too similar to Federer’s missed championship points the very next year.
History was made, history was denied, but ultimately history thrived, as we all were left spellbound to watch these two giants dance on the biggest stages. In 2021 and 2022 Nadal and Djokovic produced some of their highest levels ever in back-to-back years at the French Open, both proving to be mesmerizing four-set contests. 2021 saw Djokovic emerge victorious over Nadal in what may be the best tennis ever performed on clay. Go watch their third set of their semifinal match if you want to see “tennis nearer the gods.” With this timeless victory, Djokovic achieved perhaps his most incredible feat, a second Grand Slam victory against the most dominant clay court player of all time, at a tournament where he will finish with a staggering 112-4 record. 2022’s quarterfinal clash was another four hour, four-set epic, serving in many ways as the legacy match for both Nadal and Djokovic, and the Big 3 as a whole. It remains the last Grand Slam match between any of the three, and their last match before Nadal’s two-year injury-riddled slow exit from the sport. Nadal would outlast Djokovic in an epic fourth set through a tiebreak, though not without his fair share of opposition due to a trio of match point saves from Djokovic, as he is known to do. 2022’s eventual French Open victory may be Nadal’s greatest Slam, followed closely by his AO victory a few months prior. Both tournaments saw Nadal pushed to the absolute brink, but he would persevere to achieve then-record 21st and 22nd Grand Slam titles, breaking his tie with Federer and Djokovic at 20 slams apiece.
From then on, Nadal would only play 12 more Grand Slam matches. Five at Wimbledon 2022, four at the 2022 US Open, two at the 2023 Australian Open, and then one last Slam match at Roland Garros 2024. This Grand Slam stretch was hard to watch for many fans of the Spaniard, with few moments of glory interspersed throughout. Wimbledon 2022 saw Nadal retire due to injury before the semifinals, halting a 19-match Grand Slam streak; his best attempt at the coveted Calendar Slam. A few months later while mounting his first US Open campaign in three years after winning the title in 2019, Nadal battled through the first three rounds before falling to a resurgent Frances Tiafoe. Things then seemed to take a turn for the worse, with Nadal reinjuring his hip a couple of months later in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open. It seemed as if the threat of injury that had hung over Nadal’s career since he first burst on the scene finally had come to fruition, though indeed a decade or two later than anyone expected. After the 2023 Australian Open, Nadal’s competitive nature would be quite limited, requiring nearly a full year before he could take the court again in Brisbane the following January. Wisely, Nadal didn’t play the Australian Open this year, seeming to set his sights on one last Roland Garros run. Nadal’s leadup preparation was mostly successful, although it was clear that for the most part this was not the same leviathan we were accustomed to seeing on the red dirt.
A cruel twist of fate would pit Nadal against one of the most in-form players in the world in 2024, Alexander Zverev. Though more competitive than the straight-sets score would indicate, Nadal’s final Slam match on the “terre battue” would be a bittersweet moment, with rivals becoming fans in the seats, as Djokovic and a certain Carlos Alcaraz looked on. In somewhat poetic fashion, Alcaraz would eventually play Zverev in the final, triumphing over the German in five sets to fully embody the role of spiritual successor to his countryman. Furthering the poetics, 2024 also marked an Olympic year, meaning that many of the same players would be returning to the Roland Garros stadiums during the Paris Olympics for the coveted Gold medal. Nadal and Alcaraz would team up for doubles, delighting tennis fans all around the world. But in another cruel twist of fate, Nadal would be slotted to meet none other than Novak Djokovic in the second round for singles in what would be the final match of the storied Big 3 rivalry.
Nadal did not ease into the match as Djokovic did, requiring three sets to fend off a hungry Marton Fucsovics in the first round. When the match became reality, I cleared my schedule to make sure I could watch these two dance one last number together, though that wasn’t confirmed at the time. The tennis world could feel it, though, the stakes, the history, the venue. Although it wasn’t the French Open, their last meeting would be on the same court as their first, nearly 20 years later. As Djokovic is prone to do, he came out looking near-perfect, rifling off five games in a row before taking the first set 6-1, and then jumping ahead 4-0 in the second set. The streets will never forget though the four consecutive games that Nadal roared back into, defying expectations and Djokovic to get back to 4-4. I leapt to my feet, unable to contain the emotions in that moment. Djokovic would regain the lead and proceed to take the match 6-4 in the second, but it was fitting to see tennis’ most fascinating dichotomy end in a competitive fashion. Later in the year, after Nadal had announced his retirement, the two would meet in an exhibition match at the ludicrous Six Kings Slam in a third-place consolation match after each falling to the new Grand Slam guard: Jannik Sinner and Alcaraz. The warm embrace shared by the two at the net after Djokovic’s victory was quite wholesome, and Nadal was all smiles as Djokovic seemed more somber than usual.
There is no way to fully explain or summarize the impact of Rafael Nadal on the sport of tennis. You could talk about how his buggy-whip forehand ushered in the rise of the “modern forehand.” Or you could argue that his signature AeroPro Drive from Babolat helped popularize larger head sizes and thicker beams for the racquet industry as a whole. He also helped to bring Federer back down to earth, who had an air of immortality about him before Nadal managed to fend him off from winning every Slam possible. And of course, Nadal also largely formed the greatest statistical player of all time, Djokovic. In no small ways, he changed the game and inspired others to do the same. It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye, but perhaps not farewell, to the greatest left-hander to ever pick up a racquet.
