1 Nadal’s reverse finish results from his extreme grip and steep swing plane, which produces heavily arced forehands that can exceed 90 m.p.h. in speed and 3,000 r.p.m. in spin.

But Nadal, who now has a 67-1 record at Roland Garros, has problems with his forehand, the weapon that has crushed his rivals for more than a decade of domination on the slow surface.

— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) May 18, 2023 Nadal never seemed to dwell on a winning point or a losing point, playing each ball on its merits and each match with the same ferocious intensity.

As Nadal began to struggle, not with his previously troublesome knees but with a chronic foot problem that he had been able to manage throughout his career, it seemed the end was nigh late in 2021.

Nadal celebrates his 2008 Wimbledon win over Roger Federer (Lewis Whyld/POOL Wire) He quickly showed, though, that anyone putting him into a box marked ‘clay specialist’ was sorely mistaken.