My love for watching tennis started in my 20s. The interest was mild to start with, but grew as Nadal succeeded again and again. I’ve watched tennis in Wimbledon (junior matches though), the final of the US Open where Djokovic competed with Federer, and 2 days of the Maharashtra open tennis in 2018 and 2019.
This year, three of my favourite tennis players retired. It’s almost an end of an era for me as a tennis fan, after years of cheering for them. I thought back about why I liked them and why I cheered for them, and realised that its not just their game, but other characteristics that appealed to me. The more I watched the game, the more nuanced these reasons became. Here are my thoughts on all 3 —
Rafael Nadal
This is an obvious choice, and anyone who started watching tennis around 2008 or 2009 would relate to it. Till around 2013 or 14 I only followed Nadal, and got interested in tennis as a sport only post that. He was the embodiment of what we want in a sportsman — hard hitting, aggressive, with the ultimate never give-up spirit, but also adaptive and intelligent enough to evolve. In those ways he was a lot like Dhoni. But what added to the charm was the way he carried himself off the court, a perfect gentleman, and also the way he came back from injuries, showing not just fighting spirit on the court, but also long term tenacity to come back from setbacks.
While everyone has loads and loads of favourite Rafa fanboy moments, my favourite moment is from quite late in his career, from 2022 Wimbledon. After winning 2 Grand Slams and injuring his abdomen in the Wimbledon quarters, he just kept fighting throughout the match, adapting his game to include slices, drop shots, placement, and won through sheer determination and tennis IQ.
Dominic Thiem
Most people don’t even know who this person is, or may know him as the answer to the trivia question of ‘Who won the US Open 2020?’.
What impressed me to start with was his shotmaking, his movement, and the super stylish one-handed backhand. But looking back, his most impressive feature was not his shot making or even his competitiveness.
Tennis is a game of habit, and too many players give up when they’re not able to achieve the kind of results they want early in their career. Thiem came in to the picture when the Big 3 (and also Murray and Wawrinka) were at their peak, he kept losing to them but kept going, and finally started beating them. Even when he lost to them he just kept improving, and finally beat both Rafa and Novak once each in semi finals of a slam, both going into 5 sets. He was the first player born in the 90s to win a Grand Slam. He unfortunately could not recover from his wrist injury, but still has a special place in my list of tennis heroes.
Diego Schwartzman
I know this will be a surprise even those who watch tennis. Who is this guy? Has he even won a tournament?
Well, out of male players with a height of 5'8 and below, he has had the best rank in the last 18 years, won the most matches, and the most tournaments. He has also beaten Rafa, Dominic Thiem, reached top-10, and has been a very hard competitor his entire career.
Out of all the above, he is the most inspirational. That is because he found a way. He is the epitome of the phrase ‘Figure Things Out’, or ‘Get Shit Done’. Even with the immense disadvantages with height, he found a way to get coaches and people to take him seriously when he was a kid, and opponents to take him seriously when he was an adult. He was able to beat top players who were sometimes 15 inches taller than him, just because he found ways to compete. He reminds me of the movie Moneyball, where a team found a way to compete despite low budgets by thinking differently from the other teams. Schwartzman hit amazing backhands and forehands, great touch, had a very good return of serve, and found a way to make his serve work for him. With all of this, scored epic wins against some of the best, competed hard, and broke into the top 10.
Tennis has moved forward, and there are 2 new champions on the block. While they may or may not beat the records of the last generation, their skill set is definitely better. It is fun seeing them compete. But you always remember the champions who drew you to the game when you started following it seriously.
