Rafael Nadal reaches a happy ending for the 14th time at Roland Garros. Let us take a glance at this difficult and storied victory with its main lines.
Pete Sampras had won 14 Grand Slam titles when he retired in 2002. The American star, who developed 12 of Roy Emerson’s, was considered to be at the top for many years. But in the intervening 20 years, we have watched more or less all the records of men’s tennis shatter. Still, it doesn’t sound like the fact that Rafael Nadal has 14 titles at Roland Garros, equating Sampras with all they’ve won in one tournament. Rafa, who beat Casper Ruud in three sets in the last game of the 2022 French Open, which was completed yesterday, once again improved the most incredible record in tennis history. The Spanish legend, who opened the season with a surprise championship at the Australian Open, returns from Paris, where he came under the shadow of injury suspicions, with the “Musketeers Cup”. So how did Nadal do it?
Rafael Nadal suffered a rib injury in the Indian Wells final after storming into 2022 on the hard court. It wasn’t much of a problem, but it was possible that he missed part of the clay court season. He wasn’t 100 percent yet when he came back at the Madrid Masters. A more serious problem surfaced while he was playing his second match at the Roma Masters, where he had previously won 10 times. So much so that Nadal’s foot injury, which had recurred intermittently since 2005, showed itself again. The statement “I am not injured; I am a player living with an injury.” was the manifestation of his disappointment. Actually, he was aware that could throw a bed blanket on his French Open claim, which seems to be taken for granted. Melbourne had lifted their 21st slam trophy and with that sharpness they had a golden chance to reach 22. At the start of the tournament, no one knew—including himself—if he could use it.
Rafael Nadal, who has been battling the so-called Müller-Weiss Syndrome for a long time, made a plan to push through all the conditions when he came to Paris to play Roland Garros. The experienced racket, who invited his doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro to the tournament, was able to not feel pain thanks to the injection applied to his feet during the matches he played. When asked at the post-semifinal press conference, “If you were given a new leg in exchange for losing the final, would you accept it?” The clear “Yes” answer he gave to the question explained many things. He had a condition that bothered him not only on the court but also in his daily life, which could even affect his mobility in his retirement. In this way, playing tennis at a high level was a giant reflection of his warrior character.
