In the rich history of Wimbledon, while the players like Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, John McEnroe, Novak Djokovic have a place superior than many others, one man who occupies an equally significant position in the chapters of Wimbledon is none other than the ‘King of Clay’ and the two-time Wimbledon champion himself Rafael Nadal.
While French Open has been the Spaniard’s most successful Major and Australian Open being the least successful of his illustrious career, Nadal has experienced a roller-coaster of a ride throughout the years at the Championships, Wimbledon. From being crowned as a champion not only in 2008 but also in 2010 to succumbing to shocking twin second-round exits in 2012 and 2015 and an embarrassing first round exit in 2013 to once again ending up as a semi-finalist in 2018, Wimbledon over the years has witnessed an indifferent Rafael Nadal at its royal All England Club than any other Grand Slam Major.
Let’s have a glimpse at the Spaniard’s highs and lows at the third Slam of the year, the Wimbledon.
Champion in 2008 and 2010
On July 6th 2008, on a rainy, cloudy day, in fading light, after an intense, high-octane, roller-coaster of five breathtaking sets of grueling tennis, a new man emerged on the horizon to be crowned as the new Wimbledon champion. In the process, Rafael Nadal also halted Federer’s five-year Wimbledon winning streak that began in 2003.
Rafael Nadal was in the ascendancy against his biggest rival on the Centre Court in the finals, bagging a 2 set to nothing lead against the then 5-time Wimbledon champ. But, Federer wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet and won the next two sets via the tie-breaks as Nadal agonizingly waited for his moment with the destiny at the lush green courts at SW 19.
Rafael Nadal, who suffered a painful, heart-breaking loss against the Swiss maestro a year ago, again in the finals, the emotions of dejection and disappointments of the losses in the previous two finals would have resurfaced for the Spaniard as Federer forced the match into the deciding fifth and final set.
However, Nadal gave us an impression of being a cornered tiger, determined to make his mark. Neither the genius of Federer nor the uncertainty of dimming light could stop Nadal that day as the Spaniard embraced perhaps the biggest moment of his career, bagging his first ever Wimbledon title.
2008 Wimbledon final between two of the greatest rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal would go down as one of the extraordinary matches ever played not only in the history of Wimbledon but also in the history of tennis and has certainly become a part of folklore for over a decade now.
For Nadal, 2008 Wimbledon triumph to win his first Slam other than the French Open is perhaps his one of the most significant achievements, if not the greatest of the Spaniard’s glamorous career so far.
If win at Wimbledon in 2008 was jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring and sensational, Nadal’s triumph at 2010 was like an outward expression of rebellious Rafa performance and simply incredible, to say the least. In 2010, in his journey towards the title triumph, the Spaniard was just a set away from being eliminated not once but twice, but simply refused to give up and his never say die attitude bailed him out of the precarious situations. Against players like Andy Murry and Tomas Berdych, in the semi-finals and in the finals respectively, Nadal was ferocious, relentless and dominant as he outplayed both of his challengers in straight sets to win his 2nd title at All England Club.
Runner-up in 2006, 2007 and 2011
Following his two title wins at Roland Garros in 2005 and 2006, Rafael Nadal just seemed ready to bring out his clay court game to the lush green lawns of Wimbledon.
By the time Nadal and Federer met in the finals of 2006 Wimbledon on the back of their final clash just a month ago at Paris, their rivalry had already kicked in. The stark contrast between the world beater and the prodigy that just took the French Open by the storm continued to mesmerize the tennis world more and more by each passing day.
In 2006, Federer cruised past Nadal rather easily in four sets in the Spaniard’s first ever appearance in the Wimbledon final. And then came 2007, exactly a year later, the two arch-rivals once again stood on the opposite sides of the net in the summit clash at the All England Club for a second successive year.
Resilient Nadal, determined to lift his coveted Wimbledon trophy, forced the match into deciding fifth and final set. However, he was left distraught and disappointed as his goal seemed so near, yet so far as Federer prevailed over his upbeat challenger to win the fifth set and subsequently the Wimbledon title and Nadal’s wait for his first ever title at the All England Club continued.
Following a second Wimbledon title victory in 2010, Nadal entered the 2011 Wimbledon as the defending champion. En route his appearance in the fifth Wimbledon final, Nadal got past amazing grass-courters like Juan Martin Del Potro and Andy Murray to meet the Serb, Novak Djokovic in the finals.
His Wimbledon final clash against Novak Djokovic which the Spaniard comprehensively lost in four sets was the beginning of the breath-taking rivalry between perhaps the two best baseliners of our generation. They would have played staggering, breathtaking matches like the Australian Open 2012 final and 2013 Roland Garros semi-finals, but the seeds of their mesmerizing rivalry were planted in the final of 2011 at the Centre Court, SW 19.
Terrifying Lows
Post-2011, while Nadal remained to be a dominant force elsewhere, injuries and aging body haunted the Spaniard on grass, especially at Wimbledon.
Especially at the Grand Slams, Nadal’s dominance can be understood from the fact that in the period from the French Open of 2011 to the 2012 French Open, Nadal found a place in each of five finals at the Majors, winning both the French Open in the process.
But, at the Wimbledon of 2012, Rafael Nadal perhaps faced the first biggest shock of his career, losing to 100th ranked Lukas Rosol in his second round clash. If his shocking defeat in the previous year was to be considered a minor blip off the radar, Nadal’s sensational first-round exit at 2013 Wimbledon against Steve Darcis, ranked 135th then, was preposterous and embarrassing by his superlative standards.
Nadal’s woes at Wimbledon continued further as he yet again succumbed to an unceremonious exit as early as in the second round, against Dustin Brown, again a player outside of top 100.
Resurgence, 2018
Since the beginning of Australian Open of 2017, alongside his rival Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, overcoming the agony of past injuries and heart-breaking losses have scripted a staggering story of resurgence and a remarkable comeback.
More importantly, he has been once again able to transcend his success that he has achieved elsewhere on to the lush green lawns of Wimbledon. At 2017 Wimbledon, Nadal still suffered an early exit as he was outcast by the resilient Giles Muller in their fourth-round clash.
But, by the time it was 2018, Nadal was all set to make amends to his game to once again create an impression at the All England Club. In his first four rounds at the Wimbledon of 2018, Nadal didn’t drop a single set and in his quarter-final clash again Argentine Del Potro, played an exceptional form of tennis to overcome the Argentine in five grueling sets in a match that lasted for 4 hours, 48 minutes.
The win against Del Potro in the quarters meant Nadal was through to his first Wimbledon semi-final since 2011. His opponent in the semis was a familiar foe in Novak Djokovic. In their epic clash, spread over two days that lasted for over five hours, it was a battle between upbeat Spaniard and a resurgent Serb. The Serb marginally outclassed the then 17-time Grand Slam champion in their titanic five-set thriller. Nadal might have lost the match, but he was certainly back to his ominous best yet again at the prestigious and royal Centre Court at the All England Club. His resurgence at Wimbledon was complete, demonstrating the world of tennis that he was still a champion of a player on grass too.
2019
Just as so many previous years, 12 to be precise, Nadal will once again enter Wimbledon in 2019 being crowned as an undisputed French Open champion. Though it is true that playing on clay and grass are two opposite ends of the spectrum, however, Nadal’s triumph at the recently concluded Roland Garros will help him to approach the upcoming Wimbledon with immense confidence and self-belief. Just the fact that he won a Grand Slam yet again will hold the Spaniard in good state of mind and would help him believe that he has a got a fair chance to be crowned as a Wimbledon champion for the 3rd time in his illustrious career so far.
Just as he did in 2017 and 2018, Nadal has opted out of playing any professional tournaments on grass prior to the start of Wimbledon this year too and will head into the 3rd Slam of the year without any baggage of previous performances on grass pertaining to this year.
