As the reflection of the sun's rays drew shorter on the famous Eiffel Tower, it looked like this love story had seen its twilight, no longer the courts of Roland Garros would see my love lifting Coupe des Mousquetaire. A heart-broken fan wrote this swansong :- The French love story, assuming it would be tough even for the all-time comeback-king.to recover from this humiliation.
Just like cliché of typical love stories where a loose end can bring down years of trust , it seemed the trust on his most relied weapon- forehand was pulling down his tennis displays . No longer he was feared, rather, the one-time predator was being hunted in his own backyard by unheralded preys.
Losses came in succession, whether being owned by a qualifier Dustin Brown at SW19 in the second round or squandering a two-set lead against Fognini in the late hours at Flushing Meadows, it was so uncharacteristic of Nadal going down without a fight.
The losses weren’t worrying rather it was the way he went down in these losses alarming. It seemed the whole world was crashing down and the relationship had reached a point of no repair. The 2015 tennis season finally ended and so did the pain. A break from tennis was more than welcome given the silence between the love birds was calmer watching than the on-court sufferings.
Another failed attempt
New year, new beginnings, new hopes ; we decided to give this tale another shot, not raising our hopes high, taking small baby steps. Our motto was to be ourselves at Melbourne, even a small win down under would be a welcome sign in rekindling back this love-story.
Just when we thought it had begun, it came thumping against an old foe in Fernando Verdasco and the Aussie Open turned into a mere fiasco. The loss was hard to digest and we both separated on different paths.
Despite not watching him play on the television set, the fan in me was aware of his Miami and Indiana Well outings. It wasn’t for the hope of seeing him win the titles back again rather knowing when it was all over. While he took two steps forwards with his display in the hard-court Masters, the timid loss in hands of Novak Djokovic reminded of the old woeful sorrow tale.
The Homecoming
The red clay courts of Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Madrid, returning back to where it all began for this love-story, Nadal hoped to leave strong impressions before the much awaited Paris outing. A poor performance on the coveted clay-courts would signal the final nail in his coffin, a good fight against the current best would indicate that there is still some life left in the Clay King.
Cometh Monte Carlo, while the fancied gladiators were caught off-guard, the fallen warrior escaped behind the hood, reaching the Masters final for a record time. However, there was a strange feeling to this chapter, no longer the forehand was the weapon of attack and the long rallies being the forte. Nadal was dominating on his backhand and cutting the points short before the opponent found a grip in the points.
Also read: Monte Carlo Masters: Rafael Nadal feels he desperately needed the win
Also rather watching him play live, the fan was a distant spectator letting the live-score websites do the talking. Finally, after 2 years he won the Monte-Carlo crown for an unprecedented 9th time. More than the winning joy it was a sigh of relief, relief that this love story will have a few more days up its sleeves.
It’s still early days into the clay court season and the whole tennis world will be following the remainder of the clay court battle to pick up their favorites for the French Crown. Perhaps, there is a new chapter waiting to be added to this French epic but that’s still a distant perhaps; until then let’s enjoy the new pages of this never ending romantic journey.
What is the foot injury that has troubled Rafael Nadal over the years? Check here
