Rafa Nadal and Winning Ugly and the Heart of a Champion

I've been a tennis fan for decades (I won't declare how many).  I've been following Rafa Nadal's career in close detail since 2008 (when I discovered The Tennis Channel!) and have an archive of his matches going back to when he was 16 years old (his first entry into the Master's at Monte-Carlo and defeat at the hands of the great Guillermo Coria).

In my opinion Rafa has not faced a moment like this in his career, ever. Having his world No. 1 ranking ripped from him (instead of his conceding it to injury).  

There are very few instances in which he has been thoroughly outplayed.

Examples come to mind: the 2008 Australian Open at the hands of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.  The 2009 semifinal against Juan Martin Del Potro. The 2010 semifinal against Ivan Ljubcic at Indian Wells. Andy Murray at the 2010 Australian Open

Each time, Rafa got a little unnerved, and determined the next time around to prove that he was the better man. In 2008, the next time he faced Jo-Willy, he collapsed to his knees at the conclusion of the match with an indescribable look on his face—one of having proved something to himself: nobody owns me!

Other times he could point to mitigating circumstances—chronic knee tendinitis, parents' divorce, foot injury, abdominal tear.

The situation that he finds himself in now with respect to Djokovic is potentially a person who has his number.  Somewhat like Ivan Lendl back in the heyday of the 80s when he finally learned what it took to defeat John McEnroe.

His reaction to this circumstance, a lack of confidence, is causing ripple effects across his game.

For a true champion, here's where the rubber hits the road. A champion has to learn to win when he is not at his best; when he no longer has an 18-year-old lightning fast body to cover up for a 'multitude of sins' in his game; or when the game moves beyond the skills he has relied upon for a large portion of his career.

Rafa is good at changing things up, trying different things.  But as we have seen over and over again, Rafa can also revert to a defensive mode of play that is more easily exploited by his adversaries when he runs out of ideas on the court. He wears his emotions on his sleeve; he talks at press conferences about self-doubt, in full view of the public.

Brad Gilbert, a former player (with a luke-warm talent,) wrote a book called 'Winning Ugly.' It is all about using the tools at hand to win when weaknesses in your game are being exploited by your opponents.

Interestingly, many of the techniques recommended by BG are ones that Rafa already uses. Examples include being ready to go the minute the match starts, having a pulse rate elevated already (Rafa's kangaroo jumps), and being willing to forgo serving first in order to take advantage of your opponents lack of readiness to break him early.

BG talks about managing one's nerves as a key aspect of working around the fear of something. He has four nerve-busting techniques.  But as a fifth, he includes a note about Jimmy Conners' nerve-busting approach, which was to simply see a huge pressure situation as an opportunity—to have fun in the most pressurized situations. The more pressure, the more opportunity. (BG notes that the Jimmy Conners approach does not work for everyone!)

The thing I admire most about Rafa is his response to pressurized situations.  I've seen him struggle a lot, particularly in 2009.  I've seen players learn how to exploit the weaknesses in his game.  But I've also seen him as the fighter, the last man standing after a brutal, physical encounter. I've seen him fight off match points (numerous ones in the same game).  

It's sometimes ugly!  Sometimes it's five sets!  Sometimes he's had to take weeks and months to find the antidote to someone else's game.

We saw some ugly tennis in the early rounds of the French Open.  We saw five-setters.  We knew Rafa spent a lot of time coming up with an antidote to the Soderling game. But it is clear that he is facing challenges at the business end of this tournament.

He seems to always show us something of the inner workings of the heart of a champion. As far as I'm concerned, he's shown us that heart, even though this tournament getting there has been ugly.

My greatest surprise was his win at the 2009 Australian Open, after playing a five hour-plus semifinal.  I wrote him off.  I hid in the kitchen while the match was being played expecting him to lose it.

This 2011 French Open season is bringing us a whole new look at Rafa, his game, his heart. As a fan, that's what we're here for.

Even if he loses, I expect not to be disappointed through the end of this clay/grass slam season!