Winning 8 times on clay – Did anyone ever even think it was possible? Well, Nadal has indeed proven that it is possible. If Roger Federer was a demi-God for many, Nadal is proving to be no less of a demi-God either. While Federer seems to be slowly fading away, Nadal is still going strong.

What explains the phenomenon called “Nadal”? The answer, according to Nirmal Shekar of The Hindu newspaper, is “The Art of Attention”. In this beautiful piece of sports writing, Nirmal writes about Nadal’s victory over Djokovic  “Down 4-3 and deuce, Nadal responded to the mighty Serb’s challenge with typical emotional intensity, functioning in a Zen master’s vacuum. Navigating masterfully around his own shortcomings, of which there aren’t too many, the great Spaniard found a way out of the abyss.

Courage, valour, common sense, patience and, most of all the willingness to bleed to his bones…Nadal showcased all the old-world virtues of the sporting arena as he conquered the No.1 player in the game.”

He further writes ” To do what he is doing in the age in which he is doing it, is incredible. Cyber-invasion has shortened our attention spans as never before and many of us may be suffering from attention deficit disorder to some degree.

This is precisely why patience, perseverance and deep reflection are at a premium. And so are the rewards that come with them — the joy that fills you after a whole day of reading and re-reading The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoevsky) or Albert Camus’ L’Etranger.”

Can I even dare to write better than this? No way..

Salutes to Nadal!!