Nadal wants to 'forget the knee,' but he can't
10:09 PMBy Art Spander
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. -- “Forget the knee.” That was an order from the man with the knee, an order from Rafa himself.
Forget the knee, but how do we accede? For Rafael Nadal, so reckless on court, so fearless and subsequently so fragile, it is all about the left knee, which kept him away for tennis for seven months.
Without Nadal, who seemingly used to win the French Open by merely buying a croissant, who has taken all the Grand Slam tournaments, the game’s Big Four had been reduced by one.
He wasn’t at the U.S. Open. Wasn’t at the Australian Open. Wasn’t in any tournament on any court, clay or hard or grass, from June to February.
Waiting for Rafa, the swashbuckler. The one who goes after a backhand like a linebacker after a running back.
Waiting for a champion, while the champion, fighting gloom, lifts weights instead of trophies.
Seven months of rehab, and a month ago, the return, on a clay court, certainly, in Chile where it had to be both rewarding and depressing – if not as depressing as all the inaction – when he lost the final to the home boy, Horacio Zeballos.
For only the third time in his career, Nadal was beaten in a clay court final, and the other defeats were to Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
But it was a step, the first step on that painful left knee. “I’m feeling better every week,” said Nadal after Chile.
Two weeks later, he was feeling fantastic. He beat the world’s fourth-ranked player, his Spanish countryman, David Ferrer, crushing him 6-0, 6-2.
“I had a fantastic tournament,” Nadal said Thursday. “Much better than when I was 100 percent in a lot of finals. One of my best matches on clay.”
Now at Indian Wells, the BNP Paribas Open, the first big event since the Australian Open – for Nadal the first big event since his stunning second-round loss at Wimbledon – the surface is hard court, the toughest on the body, the toughest on a knee.
It’s been a full year, since the Sony at Key Biscayne in March 2012, when that knee forced him to withdraw from the scheduled semifinal, since the 26-year-old Nadal played on a hard court.
“I will try my best,” said Nadal, “but I don’t expect nothing from the results here. I want to enjoy my time in competition. I am happy to be here. It is one of my favorite tournaments without a doubt. I love playing here, always.”
Indian Wells, just southeast of Palm Springs, glitz, glamour, huge mountains and, contrary to our images, maybe some rain in the next few days. The sun will return. Already, metaphorically, it has for Nadal.
“And if my knee continues right,” he said, ignoring his advice to us about the knee, “I hope to maintain the level on hard courts I had on clay.”
It was a difficult time for Nadal, away from the tour, away from the competitors, away from the energy, the success. It was a difficult time particularly missing the London Olympics, where the tennis was held at Wimbledon.
Nadal was unable to defend the singles gold he had won at Beijing. Even worse, he was prevented from carrying the Spanish flag in the opening ceremony.
"That was a sad moment for me," sighed Nadal. "These opportunities are not forever, maybe only one time in life. I lost that opportunity."
He is both a private person and a public person, a member of a close-knit family on the island of Mallorca, part of a huge gathering of international sportsmen. He relishes his time at home, boating, partying. He appreciates his time on the road.
“For sure,” he said in response to a question, “I can live without tennis, but when you cannot do what you want to do, it’s not easy. I’m a competitor.
“I know this world is not forever, tennis, and I will enjoy being a tennis player. I am lucky to work in one of my hobbies. It’s not easy to be out seven months. Tennis today is a very important part of my life.”
He speaks with a heavy accent, but his English has improved so much over the past few years, from when he needed a translator for conversations to a point he handles the idioms with the skill he handles his forehands. The interviews, as Thursday’s, have become less an obligation than an opportunity.
“I’m happy to be on a tennis court,” he said. “Happy to be competing, like I did in South America in the clay court season, like in Mexico in the clay court season. Full crowds every day, amazing crowds with me every time. Thank you very much.”
A loss to Zeballos, who ranks 39th, then in the next tournament a win over Ferrer, who ranks fourth.
What was the difference in your head between the finals, a journalist wondered of Nadal.
“In my head?” said Rafa. “My knee is the big difference. In my head, the only difference was I was able to compete close to 100 percent in Acapulco. I didn’t have that chance in Chile.”
Forget the knee? No chance.