With 22 majors and two more than his nearest rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal has probably settled the argument as to who among the three is the...
Rafael Nadal after winning the French Open title last Sunday. Pic/Getty Images
Rafael Nadal’s 14th title win at the French Open is simply mind blowing. At an age where champion athletes in individual sports are looking to bring the curtain down on their careers, for Nadal to win yet another major and that too the tough French Open is not only a testament to his fitness and determination, but also the desire to stay competitive in a sport that is being dominated increasingly by youngsters.
Zverev, a promising talent
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There was a lot of talk about another Spaniard, Carlos Alcaraz, but the young man couldn’t quite raise the level of his game to match that of Alexander Zverev, another promising talent. That was the quarter-finals and in the next round against Nadal, Zverev went toe-to-toe for the first set which lasted for hours before a hideous ankle injury meant that he had to be taken off the court in a wheelchair.
Novak Djokovic
Nadal’s concern for his young opponent as he was being taken away also showed the human side of sport and won him even more fans. Don’t forget that Nadal himself had a foot injury which was hampering him, but here again, his mental strength was such that he overlooked the pain and discomfort and just kept going for hours to win another major. With 22 majors and two more than his nearest rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Nadal has probably settled the argument as to who among the three is the greatest of all time. The French Open win also puts him halfway to the Grand Slam of winning all four majors in the year.
A different cup of tea
Last year Djokovic had won the first three, but was outplayed in the finals of the last one, The US Open. To think that out of the six majors since 2021, five have been won by players over 30 years, is simply astounding. The next generation are still unable to break the stranglehold of the Big Two though Daniil Medvedev and Zverev are winning the other tournaments which are played over a best of three sets. The best of five sets which are the Majors seem to be a different cup of tea and here the experience of Djokovic and Nadal is helping them to come back even when they are two sets down.
Roger Federer
The All England Open at Wimbledon will start soon and with the ATP deciding that there won’t be any ranking points in the tournament, some top players who do not quite relish playing on grass may take some time off and that could diminish the tournament considerably. Way back in 1973 too there was a similar situation, where the majority of the top stars stayed away and Jan Kodes went on to win the men’s singles title.
Blockbuster deal on cards
In India, the attention over the next couple of days is going to be on the e-auction for the broadcast rights of the Indian Premier League. This will be watched by the cricketing world with great interest as that could also indicate which way the ICC rights would go. It is conceivable that those who fail to win the IPL rights will go for the ICC rights and the ICC could also get a bonanza. Over the years, the BCCI and ICC have been fortunate that there have always been more than one bidder in the Indian market for the various rights that come up and so end up getting figures that are awesome indeed.
If last Sunday in Paris was Rafa Nadal’s day, who is going to be lifting the IPL rights ‘Trophy’ this Sunday?
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