The Agony and Ecstasy of Rafael Nadal

On Sunday morning, Rafael Nadal withdrew from the 2024 Australian Open, which begins this weekend in Melbourne. His decision came as a blow but not exactly a shock. Two days earlier, the 22-time Grand Slam champion, now 37 years old and ranked No. 672 in the world, had lost in the quarterfinals of the Brisbane International to Australia’s Jordan Thompson after dropping three match points and ducking off court in the third set for a medical time-out. Nadal said later that he had sustained a muscle microtear — a different injury than the one that had forced him off the court for an entire year until last week. For two fleeting rounds of tennis, Nadal had improbably appeared to be in Nadal form. But his loss and subsequent withdrawal yielded a disappointing, if temporary, conclusion to his comeback tour and another reminder that even the most resilient body eventually hits its limits.