On January 30 of this year, Rafael Nadal went into what seemed like the last hour of the Australian Open, down 2 sets: 6-2 7-6 3-2 40-0. Winning a major is a serious case of survival of the fittest, both mentally and physically. Thus this is where Rafael Nadal comes into the equation. However- it is this very aspect, the mental aspect of the game, which nobody can prepare for over a few short weeks before a major starts. Hours spent in the gym, on the court, in recovery, day after day in the offseason just poured down the drain with a few backhand misses, a few forehand shanks, a few mental lapses under the heat. Why? Simply because the next tournament seems to be eons away. Segueing into this, what can be most disappointing for a player is to then have an early exit on night 1 or 2 in the first round of the opening major of the year. After a whole off-season preparing meticulously for another season, every player enters the Australian Open in a shape to win the Australian Open. Hell, even his peers have described practice sessions with Nadal having the same intensity as a real match.

While it is true that every top level player works hard, it is hard to argue that anybody works harder than Nadal.

While for many many tennis players, the year has sort of come come and go (almost like everybody else at work, where the calendar keeps flipping but mostly much is the same), for Nadal, 2022 brought him something to remember for a lifetime. Whether you like Nadal’s game, or not, it is impossible to argue that this year in tennis has not been special. Now that the 4 grand slams for the year have come to pass, arguably some of the most memorable tennis in a long long time was played at the very first major of the year. Can you believe it? Astonishingly, yet another year is already ready to close on the tennis world.

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