With his 22 titles in total, the Spaniard, who announced Thursday an absence of several months and his probable retirement in 2024, held alone for a few months the record of Grand Slam titles, before being caught by Novak Djokovic but with, forever, two lengths ahead of Roger Federer (twenty).

"Rafa" has crushed the competition on ochre for nearly twenty years, but reducing his palette to this color would be a mistake.

On hard courts at the Australian Open, he has won only twice but has one of the best win/loss ratios. In January 2022, in Melbourne, he had become after Djokovic the second player in the Open era (since 1968) to win at least twice each of the four Grand Slam tournaments.

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 years old (he will have 37 on June 3, 2023), one of the most abundant palmares, 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, conquered in a legendary match against the Swiss champion, co-author with him of one of the most exciting soap operas in the history of the sport.

The race for Grand Slams © Kenan AUGEARD / AFP

It is on clay, the most demanding terrain for the head and legs, that his art has reached its perfection. For more than a decade, from April to June, he was almost unbeatable thanks to his huge lift and his slides: 474 matches won out of 519 played, more than 91% success.

Beast of Battle

His Parisian triumphs, from 2005 to 2008, from 2010 to 2014, from 2017 to 2020 and in 2022, are his masterpieces. No champion has ever managed to win the same Grand Slam tournament so many times... nor any other category for that matter.

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

Nor has anyone ever won 81 matches in a row on clay, a record set between April 2005 and May 2007, or stacked 63 titles on this surface.

Born to a merchant mother and a business manager father in Manacor, the third largest city in Mallorca, the Balearic island to which he remains passionately attached, Nadal spent his childhood in a building where his whole family lived. Or rather his clan, as a Mediterranean-style esprit de corps united its members - in this respect the separation of his parents, in 2009, was a harsh test.

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

Rafael Nadal emotional after receiving the Coupe des Mousquetaires after his victory over Casper Ruud at Roland Garros, June 5, 2022 © Thomas SAMSON / AFP

Under the rule of this coach, "the most severe we can imagine", the little prodigy sweated blood and water at the tennis club just in front of the family residence. "He put very much pressure on me, used brutal language, often shouted; I was afraid of him," the player said.

According to Toni, this was the price to pay to turn a rather shy and fearful boy into a fighting beast on the court. And also as a gentleman: "Absolute prohibition to throw his racket."

"Immersed in his tennis"

Less technically gifted than Federer - even if we should not underestimate the skill of his left paw, which he only uses to play tennis, being right-handed - Nadal triumphed thanks to his mentality, this "ability to accept difficulties and overcome them superior to that of most (his) rivals", he says, and 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 due to a birth defect (Müller-Weiss syndrome) in his left foot. This pain that comes and goes without ever disappearing has become frankly disabling at the very end of his career.

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

Knee and wrist problems also kept him off the court for long periods of time, not to mention abdominal tears. And it was finally his inability to overcome a hip muscle injury, which occurred in January 2023 in the second round of the Australian Open, which pushed him to withdraw from Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and probably the US Open since he hopes to return for the Davis Cup at the end of the year.

This immensely famous and wealthy man (nearly $135 million in earnings, not including advertising revenue) describes himself as an ordinary person who loves nothing more than going fishing with his friends, watching football matches – which he preferred to tennis as a child – and spending time with his wife Francesca, a Mallorcan whose life he has shared since 2005. They had a son in October 2022, named Rafael.

© 2023 AFP