Yet the warrior-like instincts kicked in and we were all reminded that Nadal, as long as he is standing, remains a physical and psychological force of nature on a tennis court.
Rafael Nadal will become the first man to win 21 Grand Slam titles if he defeats the Russian in Melbourne.
Factbox on Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Alexander Zverev
Nadal appeared close to retiring mid-match on Wednesday on Centre Court but he found the will to beat Fritz
The sight of immaculately-dressed line judges standing or crouching at the side and back of the grass courts has been a feature at the Grand Slam for 147 years.
How Nadal surpassed the haul of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.
Images from Day 3 of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.
Rafael Nadal is the oldest title winner in the history of the clay-court tournament.
Nadal fought from two sets down to defeat Medvedev in a five-set thriller at Rod Laver Arena.
Nadal has won the Australian and the French Open back-to-back and has the chance to become the first man to win all four majors in the same year
Alcaraz also found a surprising source of joy and mental training on the green: golf!
Nadal to make injury return at Madrid Open
'What a heart, what a mindset, what guts, what everything, what a REFERENCE you are! I'm at your feet!'
Novak Djokovic's journey to the podium was fuelled by unwavering determination and the unwavering support of his young daughter, Tara.
Images from Day 6 at the French Open, at Roland Garros, in Paris, on Friday.
Zverev twisted his ankle as he tried to retrieve a shot in the 12th game of the second set
Daniil Medvedev said he was enjoying his growing rivalry with world number one Jannik Sinner despite coming out on the wrong end of the scoreline
Images from Day 1 of the 2023 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on Monday.
A summary of Thursday's action at the US Open.
Novak Djokovic, who won Wimbledon to take his major singles titles to 21, has opted not to be vaccinated against COVID-19. He said on Thursday he could not fly to New York for the year's final Grand Slam.
Nadal took to social media to share the exciting news
Jabeur advances to first WTA 100 final in Madrid in style.
They were each handed a torch in the Jardin des Tuileries after several top sporting names, including French soccer great Zinedine Zidane, Spain's 14-times French Open tennis champion Rafael Nadal, American 23-times Grand Slam winner Serena Williams and Romanian gymnastics great Nadia Comaneci.
India's top-ranked tennis player Sumit Nagal was ousted by Pedro Cachin of Argentina in the pre-quarter-finals of the Braunschweig ATP Challenger, in Braunschweig, Germany, on Wednesday.
Denis Shapovalov said his Australian Open quarter-final opponent Rafael Nadal "100%" receives preferential treatment from officials and benefited from favouritism during the Spaniard's five-set victory on Tuesday.
Images from the French Open quarter-final between Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros on Tuesday.
Nadal was able to see the funny side and kept on laughing.
Nadal has traditionally started his French Open campaigns with at least one claycourt title under his belt but this year got to the French capital empty-handed.
World No 1 Djokovic on Sunday won his sixth Wimbledon title. With this win, Djokovic now has 20 Grand Slams to his name and he is now equal with Swiss tennis maestro Roger Federer and Nadal.
Rafael Nadal beat new world number one Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-3 in a rematch of their Australian Open clash to storm into the final of the ATP 500 event in Acapulco on Friday.
Nadal said he did not expect to go all the way at Melbourne Park
Frances Tiafoe said his days of flying under the radar were over
A defiant Rafael Nadal won an all-Spanish clash of the generations taming teenager Carlos Alcaraz 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to stretch his winning run to 20 matches on Saturday and clinch a place in the Indian Wells final. He will take on American Taylor Fritz in Sunday's championship in the California desert where a victory would see the 35-year-old equal Novak Djokovic's record of 37 ATP Masters 1000 titles.
'He told me that (I had) a great run, and I told him again, 'bravo'.'
Nadal struggled with the problem in the build-up to the year's first Grand Slam
Top seed Rafael Nadal beat American qualifier Maxime Cressy 7-6(6), 6-3 to win the Melbourne Summer Set 1 ATP 250 event and build up momentum heading into the Australian Open.
Fierce like firestorm yet soft like marshmallow: Federer and Nadal
Nadal stretched his record of men's singles Grand Slam titles to 22
Teen sensation Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev have both said they would not want their quarter-final, also on Tuesday, to be scheduled during the night session.
Nadal had a solid start, but the 35-year-old struggled physically towards the end of the contest
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