The fading star of Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal lost to Fabio Fognini in the third round of the US Open. Newspapers tomorrow will use words such as "crashed out", "upset" and "shock loss" to describe Nadal's defeat. Rafa, as he is popularly known, gave away a two-set lead to lose to an opponent who had already beaten him twice this year, that too on his preferred surface - clay. If Nadal's win-loss ratio in 2015 is anything to go by - 42-14 - the words are rather harsh ways to summarise the efforts of a player who hasn't been the same physically since he returned from an injury-marred 2014.
Sports fans always find it hard to see a popular star lose the aura of invincibility. So used to we are seeing a player shine at all occasions and maintain the almost unreal standards, that we tend to forget that sport is ultimately a physical discipline. A body has its limitations; it ensures that nothing lasts forever. What makes the gradual fall of Rafa - form and subsequently rankings - this year particularly hard to watch is how one can also see the emotional breakdown of a player. The athlete has to reluctantly acknowledge that his body no longer enables him to execute his game plan. The weapons which were once foolproof are no longer so. His adversaries have decoded his strengths. Rafa now suddenly finds himself as one of the many on the circuit.
Rafa is 29. He made his mark as a 19-year-old who would go on to become the formidable opponent to challenge Federer's supremacy. It would give tennis one of its best rivalries. Those matches also demonstrated their disparate styles. Federer's play was described as "balletic", an athlete who was more an artiste, striking shots which such grace and poise that they were appealing to the eye. Rafa was the extreme opposite. He toiled, he sweat, he occasionally grunted, he always frustrated his opponents chasing down balls from corner to another, coercing errors out of them or turning defence to offence. That approach won him 14 grand slams including nine French Open titles but it also took a toll on his body. Over the years unlike his peers, he has been broken by injuries - foot, knee, back and wrist - with the knee especially giving him most trouble.
In 2015, Rafa lost in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and Roland Garros to Tomas Berdych and Novak Djokovic respectively. There was the second round "shock loss" to Dustin Brown at Wimbledon. But the loss to Fognini is particularly hard to swallow because it seals the deal that Nadal - at least for now - is not a member of the esteemed Big Four club. Federer at 34 is still going strong. World No 1 Novak Djokovic, a year younger than Rafa, is having one of the best seasons since 2011 when he lost just six matches. Andy Murray has always been in the mix. Rafa, meanwhile, has seen his place been taken by Stanislas Wawrinka.
On Friday night, the offence wasn't there. The balls were retrieved but not returned with the same force and depth. The precision was missing. This was not a Rafa that audiences have grown up rooting for. Rafa put up a brave face as he waved farewell to the fans in Arthur Ashe Stadium who had stayed back post midnight to catch the tough encounter. He signed autographs. It was once he had evaded the public eye and began walking to the dressing room with his head down one saw a man dejected. It's at moments like that makes sport, for all its promise of entertainment, a hard-to-watch real-life drama. One realises that even the greatest are feeble. That there is no way to defeat fate.