Serena, Rafa And tennis’s tryst with nostalgia

In recent weeks, tennis has been on a journey down nostalgia lane. On grass courts in London and Berlin, a familiar figure has been showing up for doubles matches. A four-part Netflix documentary about another familiar figure has moved audiences immeasurably across the world. Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal – holders of a permanent place in the uppermost echelons of the sport — have gently found their way back into the spotlight, and tennis fans have relished rekindling the connection.

Serena is now 44 years old and mother of two. Watching her play at her peak was a visceral, electrifying experience. When she left the sport in 2022, Serena impishly described her decision as “evolving away from tennis”, explaining she had never been fond of the word “retirement”. Four years since that wordplay, she has chosen to “evolve back”, for another taste of the world that made her one of modern sport’s most iconic figures. She has played two matches so far, with different partners, winning one and losing another. For Serena though, it is no longer about counting the wins and losses.

“I don’t need to win,” she explained. “I’ve won more than most people have in their whole lives. For me, that is not important. It is important that I keep reminding myself of that because I don’t have anything to prove, or anything to lose. It’s really about my kids getting to see me play.”


While Serena’s comeback has been on the courts, Nadal’s return has been via a cinematic route. “Rafa” is a searing journey into his inner world, where he repeatedly disobeys his creaking, aching body. Raw, unfiltered and beautifully crafted, the series forces the casual, everyday fan to reckon with what the sheer dint of will can accomplish. In a particularly revealing moment, Nadal, when asked to describe himself, makes a remarkable confession: “People think I am a winner. No. I am a competitor”

Having watched his ferocity over the years, fervent tennis followers have been enraptured by the discovery of the human behind the seemingly relentless machine. One reviewer described the documentary as being about “identity rather than greatness or retirement”, while another succinctly noted: “His fervent commitment to the game of tennis, seemingly to the exclusion of almost all else, makes him fascinating as a case study for ambition and monomania.”

In essence, the series peeled away layers of a man who performed under intense public scrutiny for a couple of decades, yet kept parts of himself hidden away.

Ironically, Serena and Nadal’s return to the mainstream tennis narrative comes at the back of perhaps the most star-starved major tournament in recent memory. At the French Open, the men’s draw lost its two leading lights to injury and an early round shock defeat, and the women’s field witnessed seeds and favourites capitulate like proverbial nine pins.

Two new champions emerged at the end of the chaos – on the men’s side, an almost veteran fulfilling a long-standing ambition, and on the women’s side, a cherubic teenager, destined for more glory in the years ahead. In the absence of the magnet of star power, the essential oxygen of any sport, the limelight on Serena and Nadal has kept tennis firmly entrenched in the sporting conversation.

So, what happens next? While Nadal, having delivered the gift of this glorious piece of storytelling to the world, returns to his preferred quieter life, Serena continues to “evolve back” into the sport. In exactly a week from now at Wimbledon, acceding to the wishes of her 8-year-old daughter, she will partner her decorated sibling Venus, older by a couple of years and charting her own comeback story in recent months. Together, they have won the doubles title on these hallowed courts six times; and are sure to be among the biggest calling cards of the tournament.

The latest installment of tennis’ tryst with nostalgia is about to be served!