DELAYED GRATIFICATION

Sunday was a wash.  Monday was full of fits and starts.  Finally, Rafa reigned supreme.  Relentless and unyielding on the court, humble and gracious off the court, Rafael Nadal is the worthiest of U.S. Open champions. His trophy case now complete with all four Grand Slam titles, his legacy permanently etched in the record books, Nadal is officially one of the all-time greats.  And he's only 24.  Much more to come from the Man from Mallorca who refuses to plateau.  Connors says he plays like he's broke.  After literally pocketing another check for $1.7 million, he's far from it.  But his brand of perpetual motion defies logic. Already the best, somehow he keeps getting better.  

Found this poignant poem by Cilla Reid on Peter Bodo's blog:

BREAKING NEW

On a DecoTurf court in a fabulous city,
Where life is a mixture of flashy and gritty,
A young man from Spain beat a Serbian lad
In a battle where both gave it all that they had.

The trophy is Rafa’s and it’s well deserved.
His game was inspired, and oh, how he served!
Nadal was relentless, like waves in a storm,
But Novak kept coming and would not conform.

In his semi with Roger, Novak made us all proud,
With his heart on his sleeve, he won back the crowd.
He stood on that baseline and dictated play,
But Rafa refused to be beaten today.

My first glimpse of Nadal was in France at their Slam,
And I watched him, mouth open, saying, “Hot Damn!”
His slides were amazing; his speed was a wonder, 
His footwork impressive; his ground strokes like thunder.

When he lifted that trophy in Paris and smiled,
My heart it just melted and I was beguiled
By his charm and his spunk and his guns and his gets,
He lit up the place; he was hard to forget.

Then he captured more titles on hard, clay and grass,
And he challenged the best with his game and his class.
He brought us the bolo; he redefined spin;
And his volleys improved to the skeptics’ chagrin.

Now he sleeps in the best of the finest hotels,
But he’ll never play poker—he has too many tells.
He picks at his shorts, he tugs at his locks,
He lines up his bottles and ignores all the clocks.

In tennis we’ve witnessed something so rare
In Roger and Rafa and the grand slams they share.
We wonder if there will be more to their story,
But for now, let’s just sit back and bask in their glory.

Let’s celebrate Rafa, who brought us his best.
He’s a jewel of a person and we are all blessed
With his courage and candor and beautiful smile,
We all hope that he will stay with us awhile.

Kudos to Rafa and Uncle Toni and everyone in the Nadal camp.  Vamos on a job well done.