Rafa Nadal remains undefeated this season. The Spaniard was once again epic in his career to come back from a 5-2 loss in the third set against Sebastian Korda and end up taking the duel in the tiebreak and advancing to the third round of the Indian Wells Masters 1000 . His fighting spirit and never giving up has led him to make great comebacks throughout his career. We review some of the most notable.
“My uncle, my family, never allowed me to throw a match,” Rafa Nadal confessed at the press conference after his debut at the Master 1000 in Indian Wells. With those words, the Spaniard wanted to explain how he was able to turn around a 5-2 loss in the last set against Sebastian Korda to end up sealing the ticket to the next round in Indian Wells. And it is that the Spaniard returned to pull of epic to overcome a duel that had uphill. The word surrender does not fit in his mind, the one from Manacor was used to make things difficult for his rival and ended up turning the score around to add another episode to his legend.
Sebastian Korda , just 21 years old, came close to becoming one of the few players -you can count them on the fingers of your hands-, who has managed to get Nadal out of a Masters 1000 in his debut in the tournament. The American bordered on the feat after reacting to a set against and starting to drop sticks from the bottom of the court and also resolving in the net if necessary. He went up 5-2 in the third set, with a double break, but did not take advantage of either of his two service turns to close the match and ended up kneeling in the tiebreak. One more comeback for Nadal, the second in this stellar start to the season after his final at the Australian Open.
Rafa Nadal’s career is full of epic moments. Matches in which Nadal has fought against the current to end up taking the victory, giving the world a lesson in self-improvement and making the public vibrate with that pride that is so much his. At 35 years old, with a painful foot injury and with three new titles in his showcase, plus the clay tour looming, anyone could have lowered their arms and thought about the next goal, but not if your name is Rafael Nadal Parera .
another epic battle
The Rafa Nadal comeback that most resonates in our minds due to its closeness and its significance is that of the 2022 Australian Open final, in which he lifted two sets against Daniil Medvedev to end up becoming the first man with 21 Grand Slams of history. But it is not the only time that Nadal has come back from two sets down throughout his career to end up taking the victory in the fifth. He did it in the Madrid 2005 final against Ivan Ljubicic; against Kendrick in the second round of Wimbledon 2006 and the following year also on the London grass against Youzhny.
On other occasions, Nadal has faced several match points against, raising them and taking the final victory, as in the last edition of the Godó final against Stefanos Tsitsipas . Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev or even his own coach, Carlos Moyá, are some of the tennis players who have seen their chances of beating him vanish despite having a match point.
Also, like against Korda, Nadal has been able on many occasions to turn the set around despite being far behind on the scoreboard. He did it in the 2019 Masters Cup against Daniil Medvedev, winning the set despite going 5-1 down. He was also able to lift a 5-1 down and 40-0 against Pablo Andújar in the second round of Roland Garros 2011. It was the third set, the Spaniard had won the first two, but instead of thinking about the fourth With such an adverse score, he managed to recover, equalize the contest, force the tiebreak and end up resolving the match in sudden death.
“The normal thing in this type of match, in that position, is that out of 100 you lose 90. But if you give up, you lose 100. If you’re there, you can win that 10%,” Nadal explained at a press conference after his debut in Indian Wells. That never giving up and making things more difficult for his rival make Nadal one of the most successful athletes in history. It is, without a doubt, an example of self-improvement and attitude on the court and in life, because his career is full of comebacks against rivals and his own ailments.
