Rafael Nadal: Willing to Suffer and Never Gives Up
I have a confession to make. And I am ashamed to admit it.
But I had doubts.
I didn't believe in Rafa before this Roland Garros started. I thought Djokovic was too strong. He's without a doubt the toughest player Rafa has ever played, after all. The only one who could really measure up against Nadal. Who wasn't afraid. Who knew how to play him. Who knew how to BEAT him.
But there are no excuses. Rafael Nadal has through his whole career proven doubters as myself wrong. People have written him off more times than any other player in history.
"He'll never recover from this injury."
"He'll never win slams outside clay."
"He'll never come close of Federer."
"He's done. It's over. You don't recover from 7 months absence."
"No way Nadal is going to win slams at 25, are you kidding me? His playing style is too tough on the body. He might even have retired at 25."
"No way Nadal will beat Djokovic again, are you blind? He doesn't stand a chance."
And on it goes...
But this guy is more than a tennis player. He's a phenomenon. In every sense of the word. One of the best athletes of all time. And probably THE best when it comes to the spirit of a champion; to never give up; to fight to the bitter end. To accept success and defeat with equal amount of humbleness.
He's constantly mocked, ridiculed, laughed at, hated and abused by haters on the internet, people who find pleasure in seeing him down, for various reasons, but the difference between them and Nadal is that they have no idea what it takes to be a champion; they have no idea what it takes to even show up, to give yourself a chance in life - regardless of result. It's easy to be tough and judgmental behind a computer screen, isn't it?
It doesn't matter if Nadal wins more slams. Or if he holds his ranking. It doesn't matter if Nadal ends his career at 30 or 35. It doesn't matter how much hatred he gets, if anything - it just shows people's true colors, cheering for others misery - can you get much lower than that? Nadal has nothing more to prove. He's won grand slams for 10 straight years now and above all, he's had the chance to live out his dream, and that was the only thing he ever asked for.
If anything, the success of Rafael Nadal proves that you can accomplish almost anything in life if you're willing to SUFFER for it. If you're willing to WORK for it. If you're willing to put your soul into what you do, every single day, and if you do that enough times - you'll be successful.
This is not the day to talk about records, or speculations about the future. I certainly have my thoughts on how far I believe Nadal will go in terms of grand slam wins, but it doesn't matter what we THINK - the only thing that matters is what we DO.
And Rafael Nadal has proven once again that you should NEVER write him off. He could be 90 years old in a wheelchair, but man - I'd STILL not count him out. I've learned my lesson. And I apologize.
Sincerely,
A very emotional fan.
