“Sinner is very good and he is Italian. But Nadal is the history of tennis”. Contained in this simple analysis, expressed with absolute frankness by Delia, a fourteen-year-old traveling from Naples to the Foro Italico, is the synthesis of what took place on the central court and surrounding areas today at the Italian Internazionali, where Rafael Nadal he got the better of the Belgian in three tiring sets Zizou Bergs, 14 years younger than him. The blue Jannik was absent due to his well-known hip problems, the people of the Forum desperately looking for a favorite have shifted all their passion onto Rafa, electing him as an idol to be kept on the court and in tennis life at all costs (including the inelegant applause on the opponent’s mistakes) despite his body having to deal with Muller-Weiss syndrome which fell on his foot and with a mix of pain in his hip, abdominal muscles and back. Although every match of this Roman edition could be his last appearance at the Forum, with his retirement getting ever closer.
“Thank you Rafa, the only king of Rome” read the banner waved in the stands by a group of kids and in the foreground of the giant screen that welcomed Nadal’s entry onto the court while the speaker listed his exploits, 209 weeks as number one, 22 Slam titles, 10 editions of the Internationals won. His appearance was almost magical: because although Rafa played for the first time in Rome twenty years ago (he only missed last year’s edition) and his son Rafa Junior was in the stands today in his mother’s arms, for the spectators in search of dreams the one who entered the field with the orange jacket to the rhythm of the music with the usual jumps and kicks and who ordered the bottles of water on the field with the usual meticulousness, was, despite everything, the number one Rafa boy of the world and not the 305th in the ranking who is dented, yes, but who still enjoys playing tennis a lot.
After all, such devotion had already been seen on the eve of the match, first in training at the Foro with Zverev and then yesterday at the Piazza del Popolo field where the Spaniard’s performance was canceled by the rain, which however did not stop Nadal or crowd of fans looking for autographs and photos, “some even climbed trees to see him”. Tiziana Pikler, an expert journalist from Prima Comunicazione and above all an absolute devotee of Nadal, tells Agi. Obviously she was also there in Piazza del Popolo in the rain: “I met him in 2000 at his first Davis final and since then between the pitch and TV I will have lost a maximum of three matches.” Now, aware of “the end” near, she confesses that every time she sees it she “tears fall at the thought”. But in the meantime today he rejoiced, like the whole Forum: “He is a great man, someone who decided to fight his pain until the end and on the field he has always been a great gentleman” points out Elisa, a fifty-year-old who came from Florence to see his idol, while the hope of a small group of Roman kids armed with yellow balls placed in front of the exit of the Centrale where Rafa would pass at the end of the match was to be able to get their idol’s autograph: “We don’t have tickets for the Central” they explained very sadly.
Those who made it enjoyed the show between hopes and tremors: with Rafa losing the first set after leading 3 to 1, and then putting his feet on the court and taking the second and third sets despite the race in forward on Bergs’ rebounds is no longer what it once was: “Run Rafa!” they cheer him on from the stands where the chant “Olè, olè, olè, Rafaaa, Rafaaa” (or Nadaaal, Nadaal..) rises several times, peppered with many “Vamos”. After 2 hours and 54 minutes of play Rafa saved himself, taking the third with a 6/4. King Rafa is still alive and after this match we all still feel as young as he did twenty years ago. “It was a great emotion to play again here at the Foro, I thank the support of the public who gave me wonderful sensations” says Rafa interviewed on the sidelines by Diego Nargiso. His mind is already on the next very difficult, if not closed, match against the number 9 in the world, the Polish Hurkacs. But he feels ready despite the almost three hours on the pitch today: “I have to play better“. A true champion, an absolute champion. The king of Rome must not abdicate.