“Patience is not passive waiting. Patience is active acceptance of the process required to attain your goals and dreams.”
If somebody has to go through 7 months of layoff – normally there will always be people who will doubt your comeback and also doubts might creep in your mind about your own abilities. But not Rafael Nadal – the player who undoubtedly possess nerves of steel and has abundance of determination to offset any layoff effects.
Rafael Nadal went on to win his eighth French Open title at the age of 27 today. Since his comeback, he has won 7 out of 9 titles that he has played and defeated Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and David Federer 20th time each in the last month.
Obviously when one looks at his comeback performance, it will be hard for people to realize that this same player was out for 7 months. It is the same Rafael Nadal who dominated tennis in 2010 with three grand slam titles and not surprisingly, at that time also he was coming off after an injury layoff.
During his off months, if someone has followed Nadal on Facebook, they will know how much hard work has been put by the Spaniard for his comeback. Almost every day, a new picture was posted by Nadal and his team showing the rehab work that he was going through. Finally all those 7 months of hard work and effort paid off when he won his first hard court title at Indian Wells in March since Tokyo' 2010.
One obviously wonders, what is about the great champions that separates them from the rest? Nadal is a great example because he showed to us today exactly what is that separates him from the rest. It’s the will and attitude to keep on fighting till the end. Every moment he steps on the court, he steps out with a new found hunger and gives his 100 percent in every point, no matter even if he is playing the match against a qualifier or the best. Layoffs, breaks, injuries in the case of champions like Nadal make them even more hungry and determined to focus on their games and return with a vengeance to make up for the time lost.
One obviously wonders, what is about the great champions that separates them from the rest? Nadal is a great example because he showed to us today exactly what is that separates him from the rest. It’s the will and attitude to keep on fighting till the end. Every moment he steps on the court, he steps out with a new found hunger and gives his 100 percent in every point, no matter even if he is playing the match against a qualifier or the best. Layoffs, breaks, injuries in the case of champions like Nadal make them even more hungry and determined to focus on their games and return with a vengeance to make up for the time lost.
Rafael Nadal is an example for all of us to see how great work ethics and attitude can make you a great champion and probably the toughest competitor in your arena. Normal tendencies of human being is to retreat back in a depressive zone in the face of adversity and give up the hope of trying again. Champions like him on the other hand revel in these opportunities and make sure that they make full use of the setbacks to bounce back stronger and better than before.
One might not be an huge fan of Nadal but his performance today showed to me how great a champion he is and how inspiring he can be. That’s what life is all about, forget about whom you like or not , look at the person and study his amazing qualities, the qualities that are very rare to find and truly speaking it won’t hurt to learn from a great champion.
Hats off to Rafael Nadal who showed to the world that it doesn't matter if you have been on or off the field for 7 months, what matters is whether you have the heart, attitude and work ethic to comeback stronger, healthier and better than your past.
I will end with this quote:
“He who has patience and work ethic can always end up with what he will”.
Also: How Rafael Nadal made his not so ardent fan bow down in respect?
For any questions, you can mail me at apekshaha@gmail.com
For any questions, you can mail me at apekshaha@gmail.com