We already knew this, but Rafa really isn’t human

Rafa’s dad was ready to throw in the towel. But this is no ordinary competitor.

The most successful men’s Grand Slam champion of all time has provided us some fresh insight into what separates him from almost everyone else on planet earth.

Heading into Wimbledon, some fans were questioning how much fuel the 22-time Slam champ still had in him. He’s been battling through his chronic foot injury, coming off a gruelling seven-match French Open campaign – which he ultimately won, of course. That was his 14th Roland-Garros title.

But in the last fortnight at the All England Club, he’s also developed an abdominal injury, which really intensified in his Quarter Final affair with USA’s Taylor Fritz.

The 36-year-old has an abnormally high pain threshold, so it was worrisome to see him call for a medical time-out in the second set. While Nadal was receiving treatment, the broadcast picked up an eye-opening moment, where the Spaniard’s parents were encouraging him to retire from the match.

Sebastian Nadal telling his son Rafael to quit? #Wimbledon #Nadal pic.twitter.com/L0LiJQQttY

— Simon Häring (@_shaering) July 6, 2022

He did not follow the advice, of course. Nadal dug deep to take the second set and square things up. Twice in the match he came from a set back, eventually winning in five; 3-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10-4). The match went the full distance and the wounded ‘raging bull’ successfully ground it out.

And his post-match comments were telling.

“For a lot of moments I was thinking I would not be able to finish the match,” Nadal said in the post-match press conference.

“They (his parents) told me that I need to retire the match, yeah. Even if I had the idea for such a long time, on the other hand, I did it a couple of times in my tennis career, it’s something that I hate to do.

“So I just keep (sic) trying and that’s it. I am used to have things (injuries) and I am used to hold pain and to play with problems.

There’s unfortunately now a real possibility he will have to withdraw from his Semi Final showdown with Nick Kyrgios, who’s through to the final four of a Grand Slam for the first time.

“I don’t know honestly, I can’t give you a clear answer at the moment,” Nadal said.

“Tomorrow I’m going to have some more tests.”

“I need to check everything the proper way now and there is something even more important than winning Wimbledon and that is the health. So let’s see how things go.”

It’s impossible to know how Rafa’s body will pull up from his five-setter with Fritz. But there’s no doubt he’ll leave no stone unturned to will himself onto Court 1 for the Kyrgios clash.

He’s one of the all time toughest competitors in world sport and that’s an understatement.