An unexpected gauntlet has been smacked on the table. But are Roger and Rafa prepared to back up the challenge? Are they even in the mental space where doing so is viable?
“The last problem is the Slam count,” Federer said after he racked up No. 18 in Australia a few weeks ago. “Honestly, it doesn't matter.”
For his part, Nadal isn’t focusing on winning that elusive 15th Grand Slam title.
“At this moment in my career, more than all these kind of things is being healthy enough to work the way I need to work, the fight the way I want to fight,” Nadal told reporters at the Australian Open. “I need to fight. I'm going to keep trying to do [that] and to work the same way.”
Those sentiments are easy to understand. After all, Federer is going on 36 years of age, and he’s coming back from knee surgery. It was minor surgery, but a sure sign of mortality—as were the two medical timeouts he took late in the Australian Open. It wasn’t an easy decision to take those breaks; he’s proud of his old-school bona fides.
Nadal will turn 31 during his beloved French Open—if he’s in Paris to celebrate it, as is his custom. Last year, Nadal had to break with tradition because a wrist injury forced him to withdraw from the tournament before playing his third-round match. In the two previous rounds, he lost a grand total of just nine games in six sets.
Nadal’s fate seems to hang in the balance constantly, hostage to a body that may betray him in unexpected ways at unpredictable times.
But here they are and, like it or not, the ball is in their court. Their life would arguably be easier, if less exciting, had they produced more routine comebacks—say, lasting two or three rounds, maybe a quarter or even a semi. Their riveting performances re-energized the game but also elevated expectations. On the plus side, they aren’t the only ones who will be feeling more pressure as the heart of the tennis season approaches. Djokovic, Murray and company now have reason to be afraid, very afraid.