Rafael Nadal: An Epic Fall

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Sun was shining and people were cheering as the red dirt of Roland Garros was witnessing the making of a legend and eternity of tennis.

A boy, aged 19, 6’1’’ tall, strong as lead, fast as bullet and fearless as a warrior, sweat pouring from his nose, muscles all pumped up, shoulder-long hair held back and ready to fly, right hand on the ball and the racket in the left. As prepared as a combatant, who is ready to fight, ready to bleed, ready to endure but also ready to conquer, ready to stand tall and ready to never ever give up. He was in sleeveless shirt and Capri pants, he was Rafael Nadal.

It was Semi-final of French Open 2005 and Rafael Nadal was up against the then World’s no.1 Roger Federer. Nobody had thought of that Mallorca boy to beat the very extraordinary and versatile Federer at the grand stage although Nadal had beaten him previously. But to become the best you have to conquer the best and Nadal knew the script. Not only he defeated Federer but also won the French Open 2005. But it wasn’t the end rather a beginning.

‘Born to Sebastián, shaped by hard work, trained by Toni Nadal and inspired by dreams’, Nadal kept moving forward. Not only he presented himself as the best clay court player of all times to the world but also revolutionized his technique to be acknowledged as the one of the best all court players ever to step on the tennis court. His ferocious forehands, his arduous running all over the court, his ability to return every ball no matter how far and difficult it is, his ability to bully his opponents not allowing them to read his game, his dedication to the game and his understanding of it, always put him in the elite club of greats and legends of the game.

Yes Nadal won 14 majors and 67 single titles in total but what makes him special is the aroma of his personality, the firmness and purity of his character, the modesty he always carried with him and most importantly the integrity to himself and to his followers. With all the setbacks he faced in his career, his injuries, his personal issues, no ordinary man can step up but only Nadal, he proved that he is the true picture of ‘went down but never stayed down’ and that’s what makes him even more special.

As every dawn has a dusk, it seems that one for Nadal has arrived. The Barbarian boy, who bore the heat of sun and chill of snow to reach the top of the mountain, conquered the world but cruelty of fate didn't allow him to sit too long over there and dropped him down. He is again at the tail of the road, dejected and over-powered but he is ready to commit, ready to endure as he has never learnt to give up!


 There will be stories of struggle, hard work and pain but that's of Nadal will always be at the top of the pile!  

Muhammad Zunair
(Editor in Chief of SportsSeeds)

Find more at 
http://www.sportsseeds.com/articles.html

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