He was the king… of perseverance
If some were more graceful and others more surgical in their exchanges, “Rafa” will have marked tennis (and sport in general) with his strength, his self-sacrifice and his determination. A characteristic rage to win that made him a player eager to fight in every exchange, as if it were the last. “I play every point like my life depends on it” he confirmed. Dominated or not, favorite or not, he approached each of his meetings in the same way.
Bruised by numerous injuries, he missed eleven Majors during his career but always showed tenacity to return to the highest level and win again, even when his foot hurt him terribly. Victim of Müller-Weiss syndrome (rare pathology which prevents normal irrigation of a bone located in the skeleton of the foot), he always played with recurrent pain. In 2021, when he ended his season by posting a photo of himself on crutches, everyone wondered if the man who resisted everything would recover from this new ordeal. And the response did not take long… In Melbourne, in January 2022, he won his second Australian title after coming back two sets and a break behind in the final against Daniil Medvedev. Unsinkable. He never gave up, never gave up. It’s also what makes him one of the greatest players in history. A few months later, it was with an anesthetized foot that he won his fourteenth title at Roland-Garros. Further proof of his determination to aim only for perfection.
Morocco
