Rafael Nadal’s mental ferocity to overcome adversity and make history at every turn at Roland Garros

Whenever we talk about the virtues and qualities of a gifted person, the first thing we focus on is what makes them different, trying to explain why they always or in most cases succeed in prevailing. Because it achieves such high levels of performance, making a difference from the rest, repeatedly winning those very difficult tournaments, overcoming those complicated and blocked games; Not only do they solve a huge number of problems that others cannot, but they also manage, under these enormous obligations and pressures, to often find their maximum performance. And one of them is Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who is looking for his 14th title at Roland Garros, a fact that is difficult to review.

Clearly he cannot describe his virtues but what is clear is that the winds did not always blow in his favor. Specifically, Nadal is a very atypical phenomenon, who has always had an enormous ability to overcome like Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

The point is how the three managed to find the pinnacle of their performances when not everything was in their favor. Maybe when the body puts them on a very high level of difficulty, when they have to compete with that discomfort generated by being constantly whipped by some annoyance. And here comes the million dollar question: has it been working on that aspect or is it surpassing in its genetics?

In the case of the Spaniard, the enormous merit lies in having given his nature, that powerful physique, a game that has evolved and ceased to be what many have mistakenly classified as a super aggressive player like a passer-by. In fact, the statistics indicate – and it happened recently against Djokovic – that in the points that are defined in the first four shots, it is Nadal who has the greatest difference. In fact, there was a parity afterwards when the point crossed the initial back and forth.

This makes it clear that one of his greatest virtues is the intelligence to adapt to circumstances to compete in top-level tournaments with a truly extraordinary performance and even breaking past records when the preparation could not have been ideal before.

It’s amazing how Nadal does to maintain that mental strength, even when he enters the field knowing that the chances of making a great performance will be slim. This is why, among all the virtues with which he has been able to work over time, there is one that exceeds the ability to understand and, even more, logically, is admirable. As Djokovic did at the time, the Majorcan set such a high level that no one can reach it.

Nadal, for the umpteenth time, arrived at an important tournament without the necessary preparation. There are countless examples and situations in his career, but the most recent was when he arrived in Australia with no great results and ended up taking a title that surprised him. Also for the way you get it. For his resistance and for the level he had been able to generate.

At Roland Garros 2022 that situation reappears. He is a Nadal with enormous difficulties and who, as already described, is much more transparent in his statements and makes it clear how worried he is. It is unparalleled to see him compete with that ferocity without measuring or speculating which ball to run and which not, when to wear down his body and put it to the maximum by accepting and understanding the consequences and giving everything at all times and in every game..

Nadal faces a huge possibility. Once again he overtook his biggest rival, Djokovic, in a battle that could have been much longer but also, clearly, he had his chances of having reduced it and having optimized and healed his energies and, above all, his physique. . That is why the admiration generated by this type of player who is sometimes even considered non-human. Because they make others believe that they have no problems, that they have no pain and that everything always flows in their favor.