The remodelling of Rafael Nadal

In late November, Rafael Nadal stepped out at a Tommy Hilfiger promotional event in Madrid sporting a short, sharp, sculpted haircut.

A tennis star’s fresh look ordinarily wouldn’t generate a ton of headlines. But Spanish media and the internet lit up on the subject, with much speculation surrounding other changes for the 14-time Grand Slam champion.

This was perhaps the first time in Nadal’s playing career we had seen a new style. Sure, the lengthy locks of his pirate-pants era had shortened somewhat over time. But in 15 years as a pro, his flowing, slightly untamed hair was a constant.

This style was a significant departure.

A few weeks later, Nadal announced that Carlos Moya would be incorporated into his coaching team. The previous set-up, from childhood until that point, had basically consisted wholly and solely of Nadal’s uncle Toni.

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While the shake-up in his entourage was a more tangible, radical change compared with the more symbolic nature of his haircut, both pointed to a man determined to start afresh ahead of the new season.

It was obvious why.

The year 2016 was Nadal’s annus horribilis – injury forced him out of his beloved French Open after the second round and contributed to his decision to shut down his season several weeks early in October. In between, he missed two-and-a-half months of action and returned only because of the lure of the Rio Olympics. He won just 39 matches – his lowest total for a season since 2004. It was even less than the 42 he won in 2012, when he missed the entire second half of that season with a knee injury.

Yet 2016 was just the latest chapter in Nadal’s broader tale of slow and steady decline. It had been almost three years since he’d advanced to a Grand Slam final; the last time that occurred was when he won at Roland Garros in 2014. It had been nearly two years since he’d even reached the quarterfinal stage at a major. His year-end ranking, from its zenith of No.1 in 2013, slipped to 3rd (2014), 5th (2015) then 9th (2016).

He needed a spark.

This article first appeared in Australian Tennis Magazine. Order your copy from tennismag.com.au

New hair and new coach were accompanied by a new take on Australian Open preparation. Nadal arrived Down Under far earlier than in previous years, contesting the Brisbane International for the first time. For the second straight year he participated in a FAST4 exhibition in Sydney, but instead of simply practising, playing his match and departing on the same day he arrived, he landed a day early in 2017 to enjoy his experience, visiting Taronga Zoo and boating around Sydney Harbour before taking on Nick Kyrgios the next night.

In tow was long-time girlfriend Xisca Perello, accompanying Nadal to Australia for the very first time. “After 10 years, finally my girlfriend gets a wildcard to come here,” he joked during the Australian Open.

Nadal is always one of the tournament’s primary stars yet at Melbourne Park this year he was distant third, fourth or fifth – depending on the bookmaker – in the favouritism stakes, well behind the short-priced top-ranked duo of Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic.

But his fresh approach to the season, new team and generally more relaxed vibe – as well as a productive six-week training and practice block in Mallorca prior to the new season – seemed to combine to pay significant dividends, and blew the form book away.

“I was practising great before Carlos came to the team,” Nadal said. “(But) with Carlos on the team now, is something different and special for me. Helps in some ways, no? Is important for me to have the chance to do exercises with him. He knows very well my game, he knows what I need to do.

“Here, with Toni, are doing a great couple. Both of them are talking a lot between each other. They are talking a lot with me. For me is important to have people that I know well around me. I have confidence with them. They have confidence with me. Most important thing is to have good human persons around you, and I have.”

The core elements of Nadal’s game – viciously struck forehand, court speed, fighting spirit and passion – hadn’t fused in previous seasons, especially in 2016. Yet they were once again firing synergistically to help him arrive in his first Australian Open final in three years.

“It’s about getting back to confidence. It’s important. When you are playing and winning matches, then you have things that comes very automatic, no? But when you are out for a while, you need to recover all these automatic things that makes you play easier, no? That’s the important thing,” he explained.

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“I tell you is less difficult to have a comeback if you have time to practice before your comeback … You come back in a new season for everybody. When you get injury for a little while, for you it’s a little bit tougher, but at the same time, everybody starts from zero again.”

What happened next to Nadal was somewhat unprecedented.

He lost to Roger Federer.

In the Australian Open finale, leading 3-1 in the fifth set, Nadal dropped five games in a row and watched his rival snatch the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup out from under his nose. Such a turn of events was extremely rare – Federer had not beaten Nadal at a major tournament in almost a decade.

The statistics were so heavily in Nadal’s favour that perhaps not even the Swiss himself felt victory was likely. Nadal led their encounters 3-0 on Australian soil, 6-2 in Slam finals and 9-2 at Grand Slams.

Once upon a time, such a loss – particularly when he let such a golden opportunity slip – would have cut Nadal to the core. To paraphrase one tennis writer, woefully unhappy only began to describe the Spaniard following defeat. As Nadal himself once gravely said after several early losses in 2015: “There is no other way forward other than to accept it or die.”

And although you could see the disappointment etched on his face after the match, Nadal appeared more philosophical when dissecting the Australian Open final. “Of course, winning an event like this is so important. For me, if I won that one, will be amazing,” he said.

“But the real thing is what makes me more happy, more than the titles, is go on the court and feel that I can enjoy the sport. Today I am enjoying the sport. (At Australian Open 2017) I won great matches against great players. I competed well against everybody. That’s the most important thing for me. That makes me feel happy.

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“At this moment in my career, more than titles … is being healthy enough to work the way I need to work, to fight for the things I want to fight. I’m going to keep trying to do and to work the same way.”

Less than a month after that final, Toni Nadal announced he would be stepping away from coaching and travelling duties at the end of this season to focus on developing junior players coming through the new Rafa Nadal Academy. “Until [Rafael] was 17 years old, it was me who decided everything … And the truth is that every year, I had less decision making,” Toni said, “until the day when I will decide on nothing.”

As the 2017 season has unfolded, we have seen Nadal successfully continue on this new path. The decision to embrace leisure time on the road, incorporate fresh voices into his inner sanctum and actively enjoy his time on court have coincided with a strong return to form (including 17-straight wins at the start of the clay season) that sees him wear the ‘favourite’ tag going into the French Open.

Should he return to the Grand Slam winners’ circle at Roland Garros, and then Toni step away at the end of the year, it would mark something of a full circle moment. Or if anything else, the transition to the next phase.

This article first appeared in Australian Tennis Magazine. Order your copy from tennismag.com.au