How Nadal reclaimed the top spot

There have been moments, in recent years, when Rafael Nadal questioned whether “his battered body” could still cope with the demands of tennis, said Stuart Fraser in The Times. In 2016, when he withdrew from the French Open with an injury, it was hard not to wonder if he was entering the twilight of his career. But since January, the Spanish player has “come back from the brink”. First he reached the final of the Australian Open; then, in June, he won a tenth French Open title – the “crowning moment” of his year. And this week, Nadal leapfrogged Andy Murray to return to the top of the rankings for the first time in three years.

Nadal’s injury problems are well known, said Vicki Hodges in The Daily Telegraph. What’s less appreciated, however, is the way he has lacked confidence. In 2015, he admitted that he was struggling with nerves. Yet over the following year he managed to regain his “matador spirit”, to the point where he was “puffing his chest out in new-found belief”. He has benefitted, too, from bringing in Carlos Moyá, a former player, as his coach. Moyá has refined Nadal’s game: with an improved backhand and faster second serve, he is now less dependent on his “lethal” forehand. Crucially, Nadal has also profited from his rivals’ “temporary decline in form and fitness” – particularly Novak Djokovic and Murray. Having suffered so many setbacks, he is now the one “taking advantage of others’ misfortune”.