Yeah, nice article on Nadal.
Must admit I was taken aback to read the vitriolic comments from posters professing to hate or despise Rafa.
I wonder whether this reflects what seems to be a fairly widespread bias against him based largely – I think – on the, perhaps accurate, perception that he’s a somewhat manufactured player. This is, of course, magnified when he shares the court with such an obvious natural talent as Roger Federer.
I always incline towards the artist rather than the artisan when it comes to sport: Seve not Faldo; O’Sullivan ahead of Hendry; the flawed genius of Gazza and the fallible flash of a Hamed or Lara rather than the metronomic magnificence of Wilkinson or the consistently applied skills of a Lennox Lewis or Tendulkar. And above them all – as much for his candour and charisma off the court as the tempestuous grace he displayed on it – John Patrick McEnroe.
But rather than following this inclination to the Federer camp, I can’t help but side with Nadal. The almost feral intensity and startling physicality he brings to his tennis is irresistible and I’ve quickly warmed to the slightly incongruous and – as far as I can tell – ingenuous humility and empathy he displays in all the interviews and presentation ceremonies I’ve seen.
In contrast, the bland (though not objectionable) confidence bordering on arrogance of Federer leaves me cold. I don’t dislike him and – naturally – I enjoy watching him play, but there’s just nothing to be drawn to. And the bottom line is that, on Sunday, he was crying for himself; crying because he lost. Didn’t Thatcher do that once?