The saint of suffering is in the final. He swatted aside Matteo Berrettini in four sets and then shed a tear. Such valiant effort demanded naked emotion. No hurt foot, no rival, no circumstance has held him back, but then it's written into his being. He can't, he said, go against his competitive spirit because "it's in my personal DNA".
Rafael Nadal evidently has a simple one-word anthem. "More". Whatever the day, whatever the challenge, he'll offer you a greater degree of himself.
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