Wear and tear always made Rafael Nadal the least likely of tennis’ titanic trinity to win their two decades-long championship of major championships, and yet by Monday morning, he could lead it by two. | ANALYSIS by GregBaum
Rafael Nadal is a man of routines, rituals and superstitions. Maybe one of them is to think that by playing every match as if it is his last, he makes sure it isn’t.
But Federer ran out of wins four years ago and at nearly 41, surely not even he realistically thinks he has another major in him . Twenty it will remain. Mind over body: Rafael Nadal can’t remember the last time he played without pain, but he’s still winning.He has retired from at least nine tour-level matches and withdrawn altogether from nine majors. Hurt early in the 2014 Australian Open final, he played the match out so that Stan Wawrinka was not left to win his first major by default. In 2011, he limped to defeat by David Ferrer in a semi-final.As recently as last month, Nadal said he could not remember playing without pain.
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