Rafael Nadal: Back where he belongs

Last October, when the man then ranked 7th in the world hosted the sidelined No.12 at his tennis academy opening in Majorca, Rafael Nadal had a prophetic message for those who considered two of the sport’s legends to be yesterday’s men. “Neither Roger or I have forgotten the way to play tennis,’’ said Rafael Nadal, “and we are working to get back to the highest level.’’

And so, remarkably, they have – although perhaps the fact that 35-year-old Roger Federer managed the feat so swiftly with that comeback success at Melbourne Park has slightly obscured the view of another compelling rise. Not only did Nadal follow up his Australian Open final with an emphatic 10th French Open crown, but his Swiss rival’s injury withdrawal from the Cincinnati Masters guaranteed Nadal would win the current round of their clock-rewinding duel for a return to No.1.

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Aged 31, the Spaniard will on Monday start his fourth stint and 142nd week at the head of the rankings – but first since mid-2014 – to reach a numerical high point in a season that has already brought four titles from seven finals. Whether it was Nadal or Federer who dethroned him, it was already inevitable that Andy Murray’s time at the top would be up.

Places, then, have been traded in several respects. In 2016, as Murray was storming past Novak Djokovic to seize the year-end No.1 spot, Nadal was looking further ahead. He declared after the Shanghai loss to Viktor Troicki that drew the curtain on a truncated 2016: “I know what I have to do and I gonna do it’’, explaining he had two-and-a-half months before the start of the next season, to “put myself at the level that I need to be”. That would include adding Carlos Moya to his coaching team, for things that were not broken still needed a little fixing, and a freshened approach.

Nadal, though, had already come back from far worse. Most revealing was his extraordinary post-match press conference in Miami 18 months earlier, when one of the game’s greatest ever competitors laid bare his nerves, anxieties and crises of confidence. The left-hander revealed that although he believed his game had been repaired after a string of injuries and a bout of appendicitis, and while he was as motivated and committed as ever, he was no longer sure he could even hit the ball where he wanted to, or relaxed enough to play well.

Just how impressive his recovery has been since that time in 2015 was neatly captured by the Australian journeyman John Millman, who recently spoke of what it is to face Nadal across the net, even away from his precious clay. After a 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 whipping at Wimbledon this year, Millman described Nadal’s ability to “shrink the court”, and force his opponents to hit the tiniest spots or be punished. “Relentless abuse,’’ the vanquished Queenslander called it, with the utmost admiration.

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There is no shortage of that in the locker-room, with the 15-time major winner setting an enduring benchmark for effort, will and tenacity. The points battle is his latest victory, as physical or other ailments have sidelined or compromised the likes of Murray, Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka, and as Federer nurses a sore back so close to the start of the US Open.

It is, Nadal admits, special to be back at the place he first occupied as a 22-year-old in 2008. “A lot of things have happened since the last time I was in this spot,’’ he said this week in Cincinnati. “Injuries and some tough moments, of course, but I have held the passion and the love for the game, and that’s why I have the chance to be back in that position again.”