Respect

If sport is the truest form of achievement and competition then Rafael Nadal is its paean. His toughest competitor is his own self and his closest aide is his own mind.

Mental toughness. Think Mohammad Ali. Think Michael Jordan. Think Rafael Nadal. He has given a new level to this quality.

I discount a lot of the hype right now, as nowadays news travels faster that you can say 'championship point' and opinions are formed and discarded in a snap. Not like the days my dad describes when players would have to travel by sea to compete in world championships. When it took months, even years for the news of somebody's greatness to travel and travel far. He is right when he says that today's greats are announced even before their greatness announces itself. Take Lionel Messi. It took Maradona a World Cup, a divine goal and the ultimate divine intervention (read Hand of god) to be declared the best in the world. Messi has got that by just playing for his club.

Not our Rafa. You ask him.

"The talk about if I am better or worse than Roger is stupid, because the titles say he's much better than me. That's true at that moment. I think that will be true all my life."

Or his Coach 'Uncle' Toni Nadal.

“Is Rafael the best? No, he is far away. The best of all time are Laver, Federer, (Bjorn) Borg. Then Sampras. We are very happy with nine Grand Slams and 18 Masters (titles) but after one month or in 15 days, we have problems again because tennis is relentless."

Tennis is relentless, but so is the toughest competitor on the circuit- Rafael Nadal.

Relentlessly improving his game. Relentlessly trying to stay fit. Relentlessly trying to get that one last shot in, and making his opponent play the winner three times over. That is Nadal for you.

He has got competition back into the tennis circuit which had started feeling like Roger Federer's personal fiefdom. When players used to dread being on the other side of the net from Federer, Nadal, barely 19, taught the world how it is done. Beating Federer, that is. Of course, he followed it by winning the championship on the punishing clays of Roland Garros.

He taught the world how to improve, to grow, continuously. How to adapt. If there is a chameleon in tennis, it has to be Nadal. He went from being the king of clay to a grass-hopping winner at Wimbledon with so much class that we almost forgot that it was 42 years since a Spaniard had done that. And he did that again for good measure.

He taught us how not to give up. Not on the court. Not in life. Even when everyone else has given up on you. When you go from being the next-best-thing to a so-called has-been after an injury plagued, emotionally draining, drought of an year. He showed us how to come again and win back to back grand slams on three different surfaces.

He also taught us how to be a champion. A great one. The one that a mother would take her kid to and tell them to be like him. The one who actually cares how he behaves because the kids are watching and taking his example. The one who knows that with great power comes great responsibility. And then gives it his all to live up to it.

May be it his upbringing. May be it is the way his Uncle Toni has nurtured him. But it is hard to see such qualities in men his age who are half as successful. He has the accolades, the records, the money, the fans, the girlfriend. But most importantly, he has got the attitude of a true winner. A born champion. Focus on the court. Humility off it. Focus. Humility. That is his mantra, and he is in no mind to change it.

He does have it all, doesn't he? Even with all his imperfections. But, the one thing that has made me an even more ardent follower of Nadal is not the way he wins but the way he loses. With his head held high. Because he he gives it his all. Because he knows he has given it his all. You can take the win away from him, but not the fight.

When the US Open organizers claim that it is the best tennis tournament in the world, you cannot but laugh at their insolence. Of course, it is Wimbledon, the mecca of beautiful, serve-and-volley tennis. And then, you think of the red clays of Roland Garros, made pious by the young man who's five tremendous wins are the ultimate tribute to the championship which has eluded the best of the best, even Pistol Pete Sampras. US Open was another frontier Rafa had to reach. Else the world would have made less sense.

You see, he has what is most important. Respect. For the game. For the opponent. For himself.