Davis Cup: Nadal’s grandmother and the last dance at the Manacor Academy

It is seven in the afternoon and a cold, humid wind sweeps the outskirts of Manacor. The gusty air sneaks in through the half-open window of a bar that is experiencing a particularly emotional day. It is the US Open, the restaurant located on the first floor of the headquarters of Rafa Nadal in Mallorca: its famous academy.

There, on a nondescript Tuesday afternoon, about 150 people have gathered to watch what may be the local hero’s last dance. They have arrived spirited and confident, with their litany of let’s go in the mouth, that evocation of a golden time.

The elegant bar, covered with posters of the North American Grand Slam that Rafa won four times, has been decorated for the occasion with Spanish flags. Outside, on the courts of the tennis school, the boys from the academy are with their classes and the sharp sound of their blows sounds when Nadal loses a point and there is silence.

“We only feel gratitude”

Because tennis has been advancing like the afternoon that sneaks through the window: the icy current of November has been cooling the atmosphere and the hero’s autumn has little by little slashed the illusion of the parish. “It doesn’t matter, we only feel gratitude for everything he has made us live, for the legacy he leaves us, for everything he has gained and made us enjoy all these years,” he explains. Tonian employee of the Rafa Nadal Academy for six years, from Manacori who grew up playing tennis in the same local club where Rafa took his first shots.

He says it on the verge of emotion, as he becomes aware of what he has just seen. “It was most likely the last individual professional match of his career,” he reflects with his gaze into infinity, leaving room for the hope of seeing him in a hypothetical doubles in this Davis Cup. “The value of what he has done is unique and those of us who know him can say that his human quality is enormous.” Near your table, Marga cries. He is almost 70 years old and has spent half his life following Rafa, whom he adores as a tennis player “and as a person.”

The game has had its ups and downs. The Spanish tennis player never gives up and has managed to get fans out of their seats on occasion. Like when, impetuous, he went up to the net at the start of the second set, perhaps the most celebrated moment of the afternoon along with his attempted comeback and the break of the serve. Botic from the Zandschulpa moment in which the public has been inflamed and has clenched its fist emulating its idol.

“He has fought as always”

“There was a moment when it seemed like a comeback was coming,” explains one of the waiters, who in eight years has seen all kinds of glorious evenings in this same bar. Never with so many people as on this night with the aroma of farewell. “He has tried and fought as always, but it was not possible.” Many would have liked another final dance, “disputing for a trophy.” But “it is what it is,” says the local public, employees, friends, fans, tennis people.

At a table in the front row, the match was experienced with special emotion. Isabel HomarRafa’s grandmother, has come to the academy bar to see her grandson. Visibly moved, at 93 years old she applauded vigorously at the end of the match. She has finished an infusion and has pride in her eyes, satisfied with everything her grandson has given to tennis.

When the game is over, he chats with other family members. He shakes his head slightly, as if sportingly accepting the natural course of events, the inexorable passage of time. “But he had very good points,” one of his companions comments. The grandmother nods without further remarks, as if in a loving concession to the compliment. A grandmother does not dispute the value of her grandson.

Rafa’s game ends in Manacor. The bar empties suddenly and the night closes. Outside, the boys who dream of being Nadal continue training on the courts. They keep hitting hard. He plays on TV Carlos Alcarazbut only 10 people stay to see it. Because it’s gotten dark, because it’s cold. And because it wasn’t just tennis that they had gone there to see.