On Thursday in Rio, Rafael Nadal won for himself, for Spain, but above all for a friend

Rafael Nadal has a habit of beginning his press conferences with an apology: “Sorry for the late,” he says with a smile, after showing up a few minutes—or sometimes more than a few minutes—past his scheduled interview time. He knows his reputation precedes him, and that it’s well earned.

Nadal is typically the last one out for the pre-match coin toss; between serves, he takes all of his allotted 25 seconds, and sometimes more. But in Rio on Thursday, Rafa had no time for tardiness. When it began, he had a jam-packed schedule, probably the busiest of his career. It started at 11 A.M., with a third-round singles match against Gilles Simon, and continued with a semifinal doubles match with partner Marc Lopez. Rafa was scheduled to finish the day with a mixed-doubles match alongside Garbiñe Muguruza.

That last one proved to be one match too many; after winning his first two, he and Muguruza withdrew from the event. Still, it was a memorably emotional Thursday for Rafa; here’s a look back at his two victories.

Singles: Nadal d. Gilles Simon 7-6 (5), 6-3

Rafa injured his left wrist in the spring, and he said this week that if this were any tournament other than the Olympics, he wouldn’t be playing. But for most of his match against Simon, he hit the ball cleanly; you wouldn’t know that before this week, he hadn’t a played an official match since the French Open in late May. I would even say that Rafa’s backhand is better now than it was when he was No. 1 in the world. Over the last two years, he has logged a lot of practice time trying to reach the Top 5 again, and it has made that wing more reliable.

Rafa has also said that, because he’s just coming back from injury, he’s not feeling the pressure of expectations; he’s just here to enjoy the Olympic experience. It's true, he has definitely given off a lot of positive energy in Rio, both in his play and his interactions with fans. And until the end of the first set today, I was willing to believe that he wasn’t feeling much pressure. But I was wrong. No matter how low your expectations may be, there's no avoiding the nerves at a once-every-four-year event like this. For Rafa, the pressure hit him when he was up 5-1 in the first-set tiebreaker.

First, he pushed an easy backhand wide to make it 5-2; then he hit a routine forehand long to make 5-3; then he hit another routine forehand long to make it 5-4; then he slugged a backhand into the net to make it 5-5. During that stretch, Rafa’s swing became noticeably shorter and nervier. But once he had given up the lead, he relaxed a bit and played two strong points. With the first set in his pocket, Rafa relaxed even more in the second.

Next up for Nadal is Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci. They’ve played five times, and Rafa hasn’t lost a set. But the pro-Bellucci crowd in Rio should make it a must-watch anyway.

Doubles: Nadal & Marc Lopez d. Daniel Nestor & Vasek Pospisil, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4)

In a less-than-Olympian piece of thinking, the Rio schedulers somehow put this semifinal on Court 3, which doesn't have Hawk-Eye. Nadal asked that it be moved, that a match of such import—the winner would play for the gold medal—shouldn’t be without replay. His concern proved to be prescient. Three close calls would go against the Canadians, none of which could be appealed. As Nestor walked off the court after it was over, he barked at the chair umpire, “I’ll shake your hand, but that was a disgrace.”

You might think that, with his dirtballer’s game, Rafa would be lost on a doubles court. You would be wrong. In this format, he’s able to magnify his strengths—pace and spin—and hide what should be his weaknesses—the serve and volley. Today, as he usually is in doubles, Nadal was the wild card, the monkey wrench, the spanner in the other team’s works.

Nadal uses his spin well on his serve in doubles. In the ad court, he can stand closer to the sideline than he can in singles. But it’s the spin, the power, and the angles he creates with his ground strokes that make the difference, and that his opponents have no way to counter. From the middle of the court, Nadal hit inside-out forehand passes that landed on the sideline, and backhand passes that landed on the other sideline. Nestor and Pospisil are quality players, but they made a lot of errors today, many of which could be attributed to the unique difficulty of dealing with Nadal’s shots.

When Lopez serves, Rafa stands close enough to the net that he's rarely forced to hit a difficult volley; he can do that because he’s quick enough to get back for virtually any lob. And while Rafa isn’t a natural low volleyer, how many low volleys have you ever seen him have to play? When it comes to volleying, Nadal knows the secret of every good pool player: Never force yourself to hit a difficult shot.

Toni Nadal has said that Nadal’s defensive-oriented singles game doesn’t necessarily go with his on-court personality; in reality, he's more aggressive-minded than that. Doubles, especially the give and take he can have with his partner, brings that out. Nadal is animated and talkative, and with Lopez, he's even willing to throw his partner an eyeroll if he doesn’t like something he says. More than with most doubles partnerships, these two seem to be comrades first, colleagues second.

And that may explain why Nadal looked even more nervous coming down the stretch than he had against Simon. Here was a chance for this 14-time Slam champ and gold medalist to help Lopez, a 34-year-old with a career-high singles ranking of 106, play for an Olympic gold medal. With the Canadians serving at 4-5, Spain reached match point, and Rafa had an easy overhead to clinch it. Instead of putting it away, though, he knocked it straight to Nestor. The Canadians eventually won the point and held serve.

But as he had against Simon, once Nadal had given up the lead, he loosened up again and played some desperately good tennis in the tiebreaker. (Maybe that’s the true mark of a champion: They’ll blow it once, but not twice.) When it was finally over, Rafa fell to his knees and celebrated as if he had won a singles Slam. Then, sitting on the sideline, he teared up, for himself and for Lopez.

This wasn't a win for individual glory, or even for Spanish glory. It was a win for something more down to earth, and more real: It was a win for friendship.