Besides winning a lot on the tennis court, Rafael Nadal is still a source of inspiration for many athletes in other sports. During his long and glorious career, the Spanish legends has shown a resilience and an ability to always give the maximum that have very few equals in the history of modern sport.
The champion from Manacor has had many injuries in his career, but he never gave up and managed to become a global icon. His professional tennis career is not yet over, although the last two years have been very complicated for him. The 22-time Grand Slam champion did not play much in 2024 and has not achieved any brilliant results for a legend of his caliber. The former world number 1 tried to play his beloved French Open, where he won 14 times, but his run ended already at the debut against German Alexander Zverev.
Rafa had the honor of participating in his last Olympics in Paris, where he played single and double with his young compatriot Carlos Alcaraz. Nadal was unable to win his third Olympic medal, but he proved once again that he is one of the greatest athletes of all time. The future of the Spanish ace is very uncertain at this time. Rafa does not play at all since the Olympic tournament and missed the Laver Cup for unknown reasons.
Recently, a video was released in which you see the former world number 1 practicing in his academy. Rafa is expected to return to action at the ‘Six Kings Slam’ in Saudi Arabia in mid-October, a very prestigious performance where he will start from the semi-finals. Nadal was also called up by Spanish captain David Ferrer for the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga in November, but his presence is linked to his condition at that time.
Ceccon pays tribute to Rafa
Thomas Ceccon, gold medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the 100 metres back, has always had his idols Rafael Nadal. And after giving an interview to the Corriere della Sera in which he claimed that the former World No.1 in his opinion “is the greatest fighter in the history of sport” received a message from the 22-time Slam champion who thanked him and expressed his desire to meet him.
Rafael Nadal who also has the Olympic gold in singles won in Beijing in 2008 was called by Ceccon “the greatest fighter in the history of sport. Even now, who no longer has any, he refuses to give up, he tries again, because he likes it, because he enjoys it, because it is his life”.
But these words which have been uttered during this interview are not empty words. The call to Nadal went well and as the swimmer from Vicenza tells us in “Il Giornale di Vicenza” the Spanish champion replied by sending him a message on Instagram. As reported by the Venetian newspaper, Ceccon says: “Nadal wrote me on Instagram very nice words, saying he was honored to mention him among my idols and said happy one day to meet me”.
Alberto Burlina, coach of Ceccon added that “Thomas was very pleased with the words of Rafa, we hope there is also an opportunity to meet, it would be for him very nice”. It will not be easy to cross the agendas: there are still many certainties on the competitive program of Nadal in the coming months: at the moment he should participate in the exhibition called ‘Six Kings Slam’, on the rest there are no dates set in the agenda of the Spanish tennis player.
An example for everyone
In a long interview with Punto de Break, ATP ace Martin Klizan spoke about facing two legends like Nadal and Djokovic: “With Rafa, you know that he is always going to make the match hell for you. Nothing is free. With Novak, you know that you have to be very precise in your shots; if you don’t get it, he is going to destroy you. With Rafa you can fight, you can also hit winners.
With Djokovic, it is difficult to hit winners, but you have to be very precise. You need to use the body serve, mix everything with the slice, the tactics are a bit different. I have a USB file from that tournament with all the matches. I was drinking wine, watching the matches from that tournament, and I found it very fun to watch, because I had so much variety in my tennis. I remember I won a set against him at the Roland Garros, after that match he only lost sets in the semi-finals against Djokovic.”
