Rafael Nadal madness: The joy and struggles of being his fan

Growing up, sports dominated a major chunk of my daily life. Either it wasstarting the day by flipping the newspaper backwards, to getthe sports updates, or fighting for the remote -- with the elder sibling -- to watch sporting events from across the globe (not denying, cricket remained top priority).

Nonetheless, my father's inclination towards tennis brought me closer to the game. Soon, I found myself gazing at the TV sets for hours, particularly, when marquee players faced each other on the court. The four Grand Slam events became a major part of my calendar year as well.

Impossible, what???

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While Roger Federer won titles left, right and centre and made tennis look like the easiest game of all -- it is anything but easy -- a slightly younger Rafael Nadal emerged out of Spain to challenge the Swiss maestro.

Nadal dominated every opposition on clay court, especially winning the French Open without breaking any sweat on many occasions. Slowly and steadily, he gained a good hold on hard courts (US Open and Australian Open). His aggression, palpable energy, fitness, etc. won me over. His training and playing style proved that he hardly ever caredfor theword 'impossible'.

As years progressed, Nadal and Federer were joined by Novak Djokovic as the Big Three continue to rule the roost in tennis to date. Meanwhile, I managed to sustain my interest in sports by donning thejournalist's hat in the specific beat.

While tennis took a backseat for me, I continued to keep a tab on Nadal's journey. Often, his sudden first-round exits left me bewildered whereas his injury concerns made me restless. Nonetheless, I slowly made peace with the fact that it isn'teasy being Nadal and, probably,tougher remaining his fan.

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The Spaniard, however,kepthimself relevant in the field andcompetedhard, withmajor titles still flockinghis way albeit at regular intervals.

In 2018, Federer attained his20th Grand Slam trophy when he defended his title in the Australian Open. In the year 2020, Nadal equalled the Swiss maestro when heclinched the French Open. In the following year, Djokovic joined the two with equal number of titles (20) with a win in Wimbledon 2021.

Thus, Nadal headed into the 2022 Australian Open as a very strong contender to become the first male tennis player to get to 21 major titles. Of course, World No. 1 Novak Djokovic'sdeportation back to his home country (Serbia) before the Aus Open-- due to Covid-19 vaccination row --helped Nadal's cause. On the other hand, Federer wasn't taking part in the showpiece event. Thus, it seemed as if the stars were aligned to see him recreate his unimaginablemagic on-court.

However, nothing comes easy when you are Rafael Nadal. His fans are also used to seeing him sweat hard, change (tight) t-shirts during lengthy matches, grunt loudlybefore winning big. A similar script unfolded for the tennis superstar when he faced Russia's Daniil Medvedev in this year's Aus Open final atMelbourne Park on January 30.

Luckily, Iwas glued to the TV seton thatSunday afternoon -- enjoying a peaceful week-off -- to watch the summit clash. Being on-offhelped me immensely as the mental pressurewas set to grow manifold.

Down but never out...

In a flash, Nadal lost the openingtwo sets. The aces were far and few in between. Medvedev was breaking his serve as it seemed all lost. Having grown up watching his relentless energy, never-say-never attitude until the last point, power-hitting and turning into an aggressorduring tougher tides, I still hadhopes on Nadal. However, they were falling apart with each point lost.

A big player keepsfighting on as he, or she, knows even a small moment can shift the momentumin their favour. Nadal has time and again done that. While I feared the pattern would catch up with him, the veteran proved that one who believes in himself, or herself, doesn't fear the impossible. All of a sudden, he earneda few good points whereasMedvedev lost the plot amidlack of crowd support; bringingthe Spanish player back in contention.

The 35-year-old won the third set and came from behind to win the final two. Eventually, Nadal won 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 to stun the sporting fraternity. While the social media fanclubs will only keep a count on the Big Three's titles, Nadal remains unfazed despite becoming the first manto reach the magical 21-Grand Slam title mark.

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Nadal and Nadal-fan: A strange match made in heaven!

Nadal remains content with teaching his fans to do the cliched -- keep working hard and let the process take care of the results. His appetite for success, fighting spirit, ability to bounce back, self-belief and competitive spirit is worth a chapter in itself.

At 35, Nadal continues to give me goosebumps. He makes me come face-to-face with an unwanted side of mine (where Igetirritated when the going gets tough) before signing off by doing the impossibleon the court. Surely, the joy and struggles of being his supporter will continue for as long as he continues to challenge the impossible.