With his 22 Grand Slam titles, the Spaniard is now two lengths ahead of his great rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer (twenty Majors each).

"Rafa" has been crushing the competition on ocher for almost twenty years, but reducing its palette to this color would be a mistake.

On hard court in Melbourne, he won only twice, but has one of the best win/loss ratios.

In Australia earlier this year, he became the second player in the Open era (since 1968) to win each of the four Grand Slams at least twice, after Djokovic.

With 92 trophies, the throne of world N.1 occupied for 209 weeks, five Davis Cups and two Olympic gold medals, in singles and doubles, he has, at 36 (he celebrated them on Friday), one of the the most abundant prize lists, with those of Djokovic and Federer.

He himself places above his two victories on the grass of Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010, especially the first, won in a legendary match against the Swiss champion, co-author with him of one of the most exciting soap operas in history. Sport.

The race for the Grand Slams Kenan AUGEARD AFP

It was on clay, the most demanding ground for the head and the legs, that his art reached its perfection.

For more than a decade, from April to June, he has been almost unbeatable thanks to his enormous lift and his slides: 473 matches won out of 519 played, or 91% success.

battle beast

His Parisian triumphs, from 2005 to 2008, from 2010 to 2014, from 2017 to 2020 and therefore in 2022, are his masterpieces.

No champion has ever managed to win the same Grand Slam tournament so many times.

Rafael Nadal undisputed king at Roland-Garros, June 5, 2022 Christophe ARCHAMBAULT AFP

No one either has ever won 81 matches in a row on clay, a record set between April 2005 and May 2007, nor stacked 62 titles on this surface.

Born to a merchant mother and a business manager father in Manacor, the third city of Majorca, an island to which he remains passionately attached, Nadal spent his childhood in a building where his whole family lived.

Or rather his clan, so much a Mediterranean spirit united its members - in this respect the separation of his parents, in 2009, was a severe test.

His uncles were of decisive importance: Miguel Angel Nadal, the FC Barcelona footballer, who made him aware of the demands of professional sport at a very young age, and especially Toni, his mentor from the age of 4 until 2018 ( when his compatriot and friend Carlos Moya took over).

Rafael Nadal moved after receiving the Mousquetaires Cup after his victory over Casper Ruud at Roland-Garros, June 5, 2022 Thomas SAMSON AFP

Under the rule of this trainer, "the most severe one can imagine", the little prodigy sweated blood and water at the tennis club just opposite the family residence.

"He put me under very strong pressure, used harsh language, often shouted; I was afraid of him," says the player.

According to Toni, it was the price to pay for turning a rather shy and fearful boy into a beast of a fighter on the court.

And also as a gentleman: "absolute ban on throwing your racket".

"Immersed in his tennis"

Less technically gifted than Federer - even if we must not underestimate the skill of his left paw, which he only uses to play tennis, being right-handed - Nadal triumphed thanks to his mentality, to this " ability to accept difficulties and overcome them superior to that of most (his) rivals", he says, and to his exceptional power of concentration, when he is "fully immersed in (his) solitary tennis, with a feeling of intense life".

But his body has often been his worst enemy.

As early as 2006, he thought he was lost because of a congenital malformation (Müller-Weiss syndrome) in his left foot which forced him to wear custom-made shoes.

This pain that comes and goes without ever going away has become frankly disabling in recent months.

To the point that doubt hangs over his return or not in 2023.

"Rafa" Nadal against Casper Ruud in the final of the Roland-Garros tournament, June 5, 2022 Thomas SAMSON AFP

Knee and wrist issues also kept him away from the courts for long periods of time.

This immensely wealthy (nearly $130.5 million in earnings, not including advertising revenue) and celebrity describes himself as an ordinary man who likes nothing so much as fishing with his friends, watching football - which he preferred to tennis as a child - and spending time with his wife Francesca, a Mallorcan whose life he has shared since 2005.

© 2022 AFP