After 15 long years of his first title, in Sopot, it can be said that Rafael Nadal quotes more than ever. It was hard to imagine that the boy whose voice was raging, with synthetic messages, in the telephone conversation we had from the Polish city, would now be a title to match Roger Federer's 20 greats . Nadal painted well, but not even the most optimistic would have meant so much. Everything has changed a lot since then. The newspaper is done differently, under the frenzied simultaneity of the digital edition, social networks have revolutionized not only communication but society as a whole, the world is going through a global upheaval and Spain also has nothing to do with the country that He greeted the victory of a newcomer.

But he is still there, undisturbed, better if it is possible that the ardent adolescent athlete willing to fight for everything, intact the fortress, tuned the tennis speech, already installed as a hero, although his championship belies any illustrious recognition.

Nadal is an anomaly, a competitor who has made routine triumph. He almost always wins, as if living outside the weather and the erosion of difficulties, which have not been few throughout his career. Shortly after taking off in the elite, he was diagnosed with a foot injury that doubted the possibility of continuing to compete at the highest level. Since then, the season has been rare in which it has not had to face some physical mishap of considerable magnitude. He was considered depreciated on more than one occasion. His knees creaked, his egregious architecture seemed to disarm. He always returned, also after the critical 2015 season, when he even perceived serious doubts, wrapped in improper results of his admirable service sheet.

Appetite intact

Today, with 33 years, and recognized again by this newspaper as Man of the Year , distinction from which he already earned in 2010, it would be foolhardy to put an expiration date, after subscribing one of the best seasons of his life, with victories in Roland Garros, the United States Open and the Davis Cup. Capable of a permanent reinvention, it plays better than ever and keeps intact competitive voracity. Their weaknesses, if any, are undetectable. Perhaps among the succession of hyperbole that has been legitimizing, one of the most accurate would be the one that categorizes it as infinite. Difficult not to yield to that exclusive category of deities when we are before an athlete who has entered fully into the dispute to become The best tennis player ever. Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have blurred from the border the most repeated champions in the majors until they are alone in an extraordinary and still very lively confrontation where the Spanish manages better credits to win.

Federer's hegemony, with 38 years, is precarious in the face of the double threat that looms over him. With his two greats of the year that goes, Nadal has narrowed the distance to the maximum. In the last three courses, there are five major ones, two more than the Swiss and one more than Djokovic. Nole , the most versatile of the three players, however, lacks the constancy and determination of Nadal, whose degree of commitment is superior to that of any of his rivals. His eternal vocation is also manifested in the renewed power every year on clay. So much time later, he is not yet guessed an alternative on the surface from which he projected to become an integral tennis player, the all court player who intimidates in all scenarios. Without losing an iota of his authority over the land, he has managed to implement the resources to compete to the fullest in any terrain.

Moyà's influence

The continuous process of transformation has found in Carlos Moyà , who took over from Toni Nadal as coach three years ago, a crucial help. Also Mallorcan, close to Nadal since his teens, the first number 1 of Spanish tennis was always characterized by transgressing the stereotype of the player of our country. High and good punch, Moyà was planted at the end of the 1999 Australian Open, major words in an era where the predominant culture left the aspirations of Spanish tennis players almost constrained to the ground. It is inevitable to see in this Nadal so evolved in relation to that of its beginnings the right hand of Moyà.

If next to Toni , Nadal always conveyed a feeling of naturalness, little has changed things since the relay. Both Moyà and Francis Roig , his close collaborator, support the philosophy that has characterized the tennis player since its inception. While its closest competitors fold at times to the aura that surrounds the stars, the Spaniard still looks a lot like the germinal tennis player who took his first steps almost just started the millennium. Being one of the best athletes ever, Nadal continues to respond to the Anglo-Saxon label of the boy next door , the boy next door , a virtue that turns each of his successes into a sincere collective celebration beyond the logical joy they wake up in their home country. The rank of extraordinary leader, who once again manifested in the recent Davis Cup, has not contaminated his naive spirit, the constant embodiment of the purity of the sport. Much closer to the outcome than to the starting point, Nadal tries to squeeze every moment in the blunt expression of the values ​​that have brought him here. The thrown and brave lad who made his way among the best with the determination by flag counts today, in addition, with the enormous wisdom acquired over the years, also thanks to a stubborn desire to continue learning. It is lawful to ask, however much it may be amazing at this point, whether we are facing the final Nadal or can still offer us a more resounding version of himself.

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