Tennis just isn’t some people’s bag. That’s cool. But it was impossible to not be impressed by Rafa Nadal winning the 2022 French Open. You didn’t need to be a tennis fan to know you were watching greatness. It was THAT evident. In fact, it was everything that is great about sports in general.
A man on one foot who had long ago proven he was a once-in-a-lifetime talent went out and dominated on the sport’s largest stage. Nadal’s victory showcased his determination, guile and supreme understanding of the game. Sure, he still has some physical ability. But it along isn’t not winning him any matches.
Just like Tom Brady, Max Scherzer or 1997-98 Michael Jordan, Nadal is managing to do more with less. However, what makes his run this year so impressive is the fact he is doing it on his own. TB12 throws passes to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. MJ didn’t need to defend Karl Malone.
There is nowhere to hide in tennis. No one is spelling the Spaniard for a few games so he can rest. What’s more, this ain’t golf where most of a player’s time is spent walking from point A to point B. Nadal’s massively diminished physical abilities and mounting injuries should be a huge issue for him.
And yet, they weren’t in the 2022 French Open Final against Casper Ruud. He was able to use his knowledge and superhuman understanding of the game to land obscene shots. His body was getting him to where he needed to be on the court, but his brain was doing the rest.
That made watching Rafa Nadal win the 2022 French Open awesome to watch. This was an athlete milking the absolute most out of everything he has left. This is the same thing that makes Brady must see television.
He isn’t going to bulldoze defenders like Josh Allen or throw 80-yard dimes like Patrick Mahomes. Instead, Brady relies on every ounce of smarts and experience with what’s left in that old-man body to play at an elite level. It’s not always pretty. Winning doesn’t need to be.
For Rafa Nadal to win the 2022 French Open, not to mention the 2022 Australian Open, at this stage of his career is a sporting masterclass. While Roger Federer was busy being a cheapskate and Novak Djokovic was preoccupied with acting dumb, Rafa managed to sneak past them both to be the sport’s greatest player.
