Germany’s Alexander Zverev is the newly crowned men’s singles champion at the French Open, securing his first title on the red clay of Roland-Garros over the weekend. Only 13 more to go for him to equal Rafael Nadal’s French Open wins.
Rafa’s 14 titles at Roland-Garros is the single most astounding statistic in a career that saw the Spanish star win each of tennis’ Grand Slams at least twice (his dominance in Paris stands as one of the most extraordinary achievements in all of sport). But as Netflix‘s new four-part documentary Rafa reveals, Nadal’s professional career almost came to an end after he won his first Roland-Garros in 2005.
The King of Clay joins the latest edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to discuss the series that could bring Rafa glory in another arena – the Emmys. Nadal explains why he agreed to the project, which provides intimate access to his life on and off the court as he tried, against formidable odds, to secure one more French Open crown at the age of 38. And he shares what it took to overcome a medical diagnosis as a teenager that would have sidelined just about any other player.
We spoke with Rafa in Madrid where we were also joined by series director Zach Heinzerling, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker known for Cutie and the Boxer. Heinzerling says the “romantic” nature of tennis – where singles matches pit two people against each other in what can turn into a titanic struggle of wills – allowed him to go big with his storytelling approach. No struggles were more titanic for Rafa than his epic faceoffs against Roger Federer and against another GOAT, Novak Djokovic (both Fed and Novak appear in the series). Of all his amazing wins, Nadal tells of which of his victories he considers his greatest.
Interesting side note – the series from Skydance Sports is executive produced by David Ellison, CEO of Paramount Skydance and the man who is currently trying to buy Warner Bros Discovery. In the intro to the Doc Talk episode, we get into the connection between Nadal and the Ellisons – son David and his father Larry.
That’s on the new episode of Doc Talk hosted by John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, Shirley) and Matt Carey, Deadline’s senior documentary editor. The pod is a production of Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studios.
Listen to the episode above or on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart and Apple.
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