I have a confession to make. And I am ashamed to admit it. But I had doubts. I didnt believe in Rafa before this Roland Garros started. I thought Djokovic was too strong. Hes without a doubt the toughest player Rafa has ever played, after all. The only one who could really measure up against Nadal. Who wasnt afraid. Who knew how to play him. Who knew how to BEAT him. But there are no excuses. Rafael Nadal has through his whole career proven doubters as myself wrong. People have written him off more times than any other player in history. Hell never recover from this injury. Hell never win slams outside clay. Hell never come close of Federer. Hes done. Its over. You dont recover from 7 months absence. No way Nadal is going to win slams at 25, are you kidding me? His playing style is too tough on the body. He might even have retired at 25. No way Nadal will beat Djokovic again, are you blind? He doesnt stand a chance. And on it goes... But this guy is more than a tennis player. Hes a phenomenon. In every sense of the word. One of the best athletes of all time. And probably THE best when it comes to the spirit of a champion; to never give up; to fight to the bitter end. To accept success and defeat with equal amount of humbleness. Hes constantly mocked, ridiculed, laughed at, hated and abused by haters on the internet, people who find pleasure in seeing him down, for various reasons, but the difference between them and Nadal is that they have no idea what it takes to be a champion; they have no idea what it takes to even show up, to give yourself a chance in life - regardless of result. Its easy to be tough and judgmental behind a computer screen, isnt it? It doesnt matter if Nadal wins more slams. Or if he holds his ranking. It doesnt matter if Nadal ends his career at 30 or 35. It doesnt matter how much hatred he gets, if anything - it just shows peoples true colors, cheering for others misery - can you get much lower than that? Nadal has nothing more to prove. Hes won grand slams for 10 straight years now and above all, hes had the chance to live out his dream, and that was the only thing he ever asked for. If anything, the success of Rafael Nadal proves that you can accomplish almost anything in life if youre willing to SUFFER for it. If youre willing to WORK for it. If youre willing to put your soul into what you do, every single day, and if you do that enough times - youll be successful. This is not the day to talk about records, or speculations about the future. I certainly have my thoughts on how far I believe Nadal will go in terms of grand slam wins, but it doesnt matter what we THINK - the only thing that matters is what we DO. And Rafael Nadal has proven once again that you should NEVER write him off. He could be 90 years old in a wheelchair, but man - Id STILL not count him out. Ive learned my lesson. And I apologize. Sincerely, A very emotional fan. (Chrillz Gutschmeister on ATP worldtour site)
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 17:52:29 +0000
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