Wimbledon, England
This one hurt. After years of injuries, upsets, and a lack of conviction, Rafael Nadal had become Rafael Nadal again. The speed, the spinning forehand, that backhand of accuracy and angles. His confidence was back, too. You could see that on Monday as Nadal, down two sets to none, went for more and screamed after every point he won. His fist pumps were so common—and so electric—you’d think Nadal couldn’t lose. And then he did.
By now you know the score, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 for Gilles Muller, a 34-year-old lefty who loves grass and showed why. Victory could have gone either way in the fifth set, with both players pushing hard. In the end, Nadal lost his way and Muller did not. After losing a match that tense and that long—it lasted four hours and 48 minutes—Nadal looked distraught.
“That’s not the result that I was expecting,” he said. “I didn’t want to lose that match. So is tough to analyze that in a positive way right now.”
Nadal’s year has been both wonderful and painful. In Paris last month, right after his 31st birthday, Nadal won the French Open for the tenth time in his career, and the first time since 2014. He dominated the tournament, winning every set. Nadal played so well he made up for a taxing defeat against Roger Federer, who trailed 3-1 in the fifth set at the finals of the Australian Open before making a remarkable comeback to start the season.
Credit Nadal for responding—and now he has to do it again. It won’t be any easier. At his age, and considering that his last Wimbledon final came in 2011, this was perhaps the best chance he’ll have on the grass for the rest of his career. Nadal, known for his shrewd memory, couldn’t stop talking about what could have been if just a few points had gone his way.
“I make few mistakes, yeah, especially one that I went to the net,” he said. “Easy to say now, but I am better than him from the baseline, so I probably should not go to the net that early with that shot. Then another one that I wanted to play aggressive with my forehand, and I miss it long. That’s it. Another one, second serve, I had a good return. The line said out, and was good. That was another one that then was an ace.”
Notice his “That’s it?” Nadal is a man who prides himself on making very few mistakes. And against Muller, Nadal had just 17 errors in a match that lasted 66 games. That’s an incredibly low number. (And Wimbledon is known as generous.) But in his mind there were more, even if he happened to be on the run or hitting against Muller as he stood at the net.
Both Nadal and Muller had their chances to break serve in the final set, but only Muller came through.
“Is stupid to say now, but maybe if I had that break at the first set, third or fourth game, maybe we are in a completely different situation,” Nadal said. “But I didn’t. You know, when you play against these kind of players, you cannot have mistakes with yourself. That’s what I did. I did twice, in the first and in the second. That cost me.”
For Muller, this was the match of his career, and not just because he had beaten Nadal only once before (at Wimbledon in 2005). An elbow injury in 2013 wrecked his game and it seemed like he might be done with tennis for good. But instead of quitting, Muller worked on conditioning until he could swing again. He sees that struggle as a blessing.
“The last injury I had was probably the best thing that ever happened to me,” Muller said. “Because I had problems with my elbow, I wasn’t able to touch a racket. I was able to work out physically, I got myself into the best shape I ever was. Since then, since 2014 when I came back, I’m able to play full seasons without any breaks during the season. I have a lot of confidence in my body now, which I didn’t do before.”
As for Nadal, his tournament was going to get even tougher: Marin Cilic, a grass court killer, awaits in the next round. Nadal walks away from this loss with the knowledge that he tried as hard as he could. He just came up short.
“I put everything on the court. I played with all my passion,” Nadal said. “Was a great feeling. That’s it.”
