"It Only Takes Everything"

19 November 2024

60s

The dying of the light.

After an extraordinary career when, at times, it's felt as though he's being held together by bandages and stick plasters, it seems that Rafa Nadal is finally ready to call it a day, and this valedictory commercial directed by Martin de Thurah is a fitting way for Nike to bid farewell to an absolute icon of sport.

When both players were at the peak of their powers, Nadal's rivalry with Roger Federer provided tennis with a spectacle that will likely remain unsurpassed. They were so beautifully matched in terms of skill and, just as importantly, they never once allowed their determination to succeed eclipse their sense of fair play and respect for one another.

While Novak Djokovic's accumulation of Grand Slam entitles him to be considered the greatest men's player of all time, he was not a participant in the greatest rivalry in his sport... as this is plainly in the hands of Federer and Nadal, and, now that the Spaniard has followed his foe into retirement, tennis will feel their loss all the more.

Martin de Thurah's tribute is, like the player at its centre, gritty and earthy with every contributor at the top of their game.

UK

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