Weekend Winners: Nadal's hard-court renaissance continues; Swiatek, Rublev make statements in Doha and Dubai

Is 35 the new 20 in tennis?

In 2017, a 35-year-old Roger Federer bounced back from a season-ending injury, unveiled a new and more freely struck backhand, won the Australian Open, and eventually reclaimed the No. 1 ranking for the first time in six years.

In 2022, a 35-year-old Rafael Nadal looks like he’s on his way to following in his great rival’s footsteps. The Spaniard has bounced back from a season-ending injury, unveiled a new commitment to net-rushing, won the Australian Open, and opened his year with 15 straight wins on hard court, which has never been his favorite surface.

“The way I’ve started the season is a dream,” Nadal said a few days ago, and he kept the good vibes flowing in festive Acapulco. Rafa won five matches without dropping a set, beat new No. 1 Daniil Medvedev for the second time in two months, and found his way past a “tricky” Cameron Norrie, 6-4, 6-4, in the final. At one stage during his last two matches, he saved 16 consecutive break points.

“It has always been a very special place,” Nadal said of Acapulco, where he has won now two titles on clay and two on hard courts. “The energy that the people of Mexico bring to me is very unique.”

“I went through some very difficult moments during the [final] that I was able to save, and then I took advantage when I had the chances,” he said of his win over Norrie. “I can’t be happier.”

Against Medvedev and Norrie, Rafa tied together every aspect of his revamped hard-court game. He mixed in his drop shot more freely than he typically has in the past. He used his serve as a cornerstone to everything he did; in the final he made 79 percent of his first serves and won 71 percent of those points. And he came in behind it on big points.

Over the years, I’ve thought of Nadal as something akin to a pool player at the net: He was successful because he never left himself a difficult volley to hit. But in Acapulco, he dug out low returns, stuck high volleys in the corners, made stabs winners and half-volley pickups, and generally showed off the hand skills that have gone underrated through the years. He also slammed home every overhead perfectly, but that’s nothing new for him. Overall, Rafa seemed to be enjoying the chance, after nearly 20 years on tour, to explore different, improvisational ways to win points, and take his attack three-dimensional.

Nadal won his 91st title in Acapulco, and, just as impressively, his 25th on hard courts. He joins Ivan Lendl as the only two men in the Open era to win 25 events on clay and hard courts. Just when we thought Novak Djokovic would begin to run away from Rafa and Roger in their statistical tri-valry, it’s Nadal who has taken back the initiative for the moment, and made himself the player to beat as the tour swings into Indian Wells.

But Djokovic shouldn’t worry: He’ll turn 35 soon, too.

Few, if any, sports offer as many individual perspectives on international affairs and conflicts as tennis. This week, like they do every week, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Poles, Latvians, Estonians, Romanians and players from many other European nations will greet each other in locker rooms, share practice courts, and possibly join together to form a doubles team or two. The difference will be that, for the first time in years, there will be war on the continent.

We saw two different, but ultimately united, perspectives on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from two champions this weekend.

Before winning his second title in two weeks in Dubai, Moscow native Andrey Rublev went viral when he wrote “No war, please” on a camera lens after his semifinal. The 24-year-old went on to write on Twitter, “Now it’s not about tennis. It’s not about sport. It’s about having peace all over the world. We need to support each other.” Coming from a young person from Russia, those words sounded brave, moving, and meaningful.

In Doha, Iga Swiatek spoke from the perspective of a nation that stands frighteningly close to the theater of war right now. After her run to the title at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, the native of Poland wrote on Instagram:

“In the current situation it’s just not right to talk about my sports success…I don’t have words to describe what is happening in Ukarine. I can’t imagine the Ukrainian’s suffering, the whole families’ pain…I would like to express my solidarity with our friends from Ukraine. And if sport can connect us even if a bit today and give us a tiny bit of joy in these tough moments, I’m grateful for that.”

Medvedev, who teamed with Rublev to win the Davis Cup for Russia three short months ago, didn’t win a title this weekend, but the ATP’s new No. 1 did do a good job of summing up the global viewpoint that so many professional tennis players learn to take as they cross-cross the planet for 11 months a year, and make friends in every nation:

“By being a tennis player, I want to promote peace all over the world,” Medvedev said. “We play in so many different countries. I’ve been in so many countries as a junior and as a pro. It’s not easy to hear all this news. I’m all for peace."