It takes more than sheer persistence to beat Nadal—just ask De Minaur

LONDON—Four years ago, in the fourth round of Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal came up against a 19-year-old Australian and was ushered out of the tournament. Today, he faced a player of the same age, from the same country. The ascending Aussie then was Nick Kyrgios, at the time ranked 144 in the world. Today, it was 80th-ranked Alex de Minaur.

Since Nadal is now four years older, the task of taking on a promising teen should theoretically be harder. But this was hardly the case. Begin with an intriguing but quintessential tennis style contrast between Kyrgios and de Minaur. You needn’t know a thing about tennis to recognize Kyrgios’ physical prowess. That day in 2014 when he beat Nadal, for example, Kygrios fired 37 aces.

Yet as we’ve often seen, what Kyrgios frequently lacks is precisely what de Minaur possesses: tenacity. Clearly, de Minaur patterned much of his technique and competitive approach after the last Aussie to be number one in the world, Lleyton Hewitt—from the sharp, crisp backhand to the flat forehand to the rather rigid but willful service motion. Most of all, like Hewitt, de Minaur is engaged. Watch de Minaur play for only five minutes and you will see that he will never look back in remorse for his lack of effort. It’s an asset that will do him well throughout his career and likely beyond.

Then there was the matter of opposition, of de Minaur, in the third round of a Slam for the first time, taking on tennis’ all-time king of effort. Nadal’s kingdom differs from that of Roger Federer. An insurgent vanquished by King Roger becomes a witness to genius, delicately cured, stuffed, mounted.

But to go up against King Rafa is to enter a combat zone. You must participate. There will be blood—plenty from him, likely more from you.

Said de Minaur, “it's just incredible his physicality. That's probably what shocked me the most, you know. First time I have been on a court with him and just his presence, as well. Obviously you watch him on TV, and you can't really appreciate how hard he hits every single ball and how much intensity and just brute force goes into every one of his ground strokes.”

WATCH—Match point from Nadal's win over De Minaur:

The 153 points that comprised this match began and ended in similar fashion. On the opener, pressed by a de Minaur chip-charge approach of a return, Nadal lifted a lob that the Aussie ran down and lobbed back—seemingly struck awkward enough to cause Nadal difficulty on his backhand volley. No way: Nadal carved an angled backhand volley winner.

Match point—Nadal’s third—saw the Spaniard play a delicate half-volley forehand drop shot down the line. Ever alert, de Minaur ran in and rifled a crosscourt pass—and there was Nadal, stabbing a backhand volley into the open court to close out a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory that lasted two minutes past two hours.

A major plot point came with de Minaur serving at 1-2 in the first set. Over the course of a six-deuce game that lasted more than ten minutes, he fought off four break points. But on the fourth, Nadal wore down de Minaur with a barrage of forehands to go up 3-1. Twenty minutes in, the now well-bloodied de Minaur had seen even more viscerally what he was up against.

Said de Minaur, “I felt like he was able to just, you know, loosen up and start playing more freely, and he started, you know, dictating way more. It was an uphill battle from there.”

Nadal went on to take the first two sets in 67 minutes. One wonders how Kyrgios would have competed at this stage. There wasn’t a blink from de Minaur. But alas, his only weapon was persistence—not the best way to deter someone who’s demonstrated that quality better than anyone in tennis history. Matters weren’t helped in the third when, serving at 2-3, de Minaur only got in one first serve in eight points, surrendering what proved the fatal break.

With the greatest Australian of them all, Rod Laver, watching from the Royal Box, de Minaur did his country proud. Often he extended rallies, penetrating well with his backhand, countering nicely off the forehand.

Said Nadal, “he's very energetic player, very quick. I think he likes to play in this surface. His style of game probably works well for this surface in the future.”

But it wasn’t the kind of style likely to derail Nadal at Wimbledon. It’s the slashers—such as Kygrios back in ’14 and big-serving lefty Gilles Muller last year—who make life difficult for Nadal at SW19. This year’s exceptionally warm weather has made Wimbledon quite Nadal-friendly. In temperatures north of 80 degrees, with the court playing firmly, Nadal has been in fine form the entire first week.

WATCH—Nadal Wimbledon Day 6 Desk interview:

Said Nadal, “I prefer these kind of conditions because the life is happier with the sun there than when is raining all the day.”

The win over de Minaur put Nadal in the round of 16 at Wimbledon for only the third time in the last six years. This is a far cry from his glory days at the All England Club, when from ’06-’11, Nadal won the title twice and was runner-up three other times.

These recent lean years at SW 19 have often seen Nadal in agony, dragged out on his shield. But now he is fresh, the court is playing favorably and the historic angle of two kings clashing yet again—it’s been 10 years since Nadal beat Federer in the incredible 2008 final—is quite savory. Then again, Nadal sees it differently.

Asked his thoughts on the possibility of meeting Federer in the finals, Nadal said, with a smile, “If I am in the final, I prefer to face an easier opponent. I am not stupid.”

Strokes of Genius is a world-class documentary capturing the historic 13-year rivalry between tennis icons Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. It is timed for release as the anticipation crests with Roger as returning champion, 10 years after their famed 2008 Wimbledon championship – an epic match so close and so reflective of their competitive balance that, in the end, the true winner was the sport itself.

WATCH: NOW AVAILABLE AT THE ITUNES STORE