Wimbledon: Nadal: “That was the absolute limit”

It looked like the end of a heavyweight world championship in boxing, the end of this unforgettable Wimbledon game. On one side of the floor at the Theater der Tennisträume is the Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, the loser.

And on the other side the lucky Rafael Nadal, hands out in the sky above the Centre Court, but not in a glaring, over-excited, self-forgotten pose. Nadal knows what is right, even at the end of one of the most emotional, memorable victories in many years of tennis.

And so, after the match point, after this Grand Slam marathon, another iconic scene arose: Nadal overcame the net, went over to del Potro, who had buried his face in the grass, cut off and disappointed. He tapped him, helped him up, and then the winner and the loser marched to the net in a hug.

It was an amazing moment, after a mad game, in which the Spanish gentleman had saved himself 7:5, 6:7 (7:9), 4:6, 6:4 and 6:4 into the semi-finals. “That was absolutely crazy, at the absolute limit,” Nadal said later, now back in the club of the last four on Church Road for the first time since 2011. There, for the 52nd time in his career, he will meet Novak Djokovic, the reinvigorated Serbian Grand Master.

The King of Wimbledon, whisperer Roger Federer, has resigned after his striking five-set flop against South Africa’s giant Kevin Anderson. But Nadal, the other old Titan, is still here. And how: With his inimitable victory over del Potro, the Mallorcan bullfighter has also become the favourite for the 2018 qualifiers on Church Road.

“Rafa still has that little bit more, that certain extra,” said del Potro, “he’s a fantastic warrior out there on the square.” Curiously enough, Nadal was on the pitch against the Argentinian just as long as it took him ten years ago to break Roger Federer’s winning streak in the legendary 2008 final – four hours and 48 minutes.

“Strokes of genius” is the name of a documentary about the Federer/Nadal duel, which celebrated its premiere shortly before the current Wimbledon edition. It is a nostalgic look back, a look behind the scenes of the fight, which ended with Nadal winning 9:7 in the fifth set. Federer was 26 then, Nadal 22.

And of course, admiration was always present: That they both still play a dominant role in the market, as the current number 1 and number 2 in the world rankings. That they celebrate Grand Slam victories like in their greatest time ever, six in a row even since their comebacks after bad luck in the year 2016.

But the dream of a reunion of friendly rivals on Sunday, in the tournament’s ultimate game, which burst in the turbulence of Wednesday. There the paths of the maestro and the matador separated. Federer failed after a 2-0 set lead and a match point in the third act, he later spoke of it as “a terrible feeling”, he was “exhausted and totally broken”: “I only showed average, that wasn’t enough”.

Nadal was also on the edge of the abyss, trailing del Potro with 1:2 sets, but made a fabulous comeback. In the fifth movement the fans experienced a cascade of dream shots, a game full of virtuosity and passion, a fight for every point, a fight as if for life or death.

“That was without a doubt one of the best sentences I have ever seen in tennis,” said Andy Murray, the injured local hero, on the BBC microphone. Nadal once even rushed into the spectator terraces to run after a ball. He wanted to win at any price.

In recent years, the Spaniard had often missed Church Road due to injury on the tennis greens. Dustin Brown, for example, the German trick player with the hip-length rest braids, duped him in the second round in 2015.

In 2017 Nadal had a traumatic farewell in the round of 16, losing 13-15 to Gilles Muller from Luxembourg in the fifth set and marching off the court with tears of bitterness. This year Nadal seems to be at the height of his strength again, also because he skipped his usual preparation tournament in the Queens Club after his French Open victory.

Nadal can still put on weight if necessary. Now, in the second, intense week at Wimbledon. He will need his strength, even now against Djokovic and his dream of a title renaissance.