There is an anecdote in Rafa, the new documentary that drops on Netflix today, which is repeated from The Warrior, Christopher Clarey’s book that came out last year. The story is, however, much more charming when narrated by the people involved.
When Rafael Nadal, the winner of 22 Grand Slam singles tennis titles, was seven years old, he played a match against an 11-year-old. His uncle Toni, also his coach, reassured Nadal that if he starts to trail in the match, Toni would make it rain so that the match gets abandoned. Young Rafa believed his uncle could actually create rain.
As it turns out, after lagging initially, Nadal began to recover, when it really started to pour. He rushed to the changing room to tell his uncle to stop the rain because he thought he could win the match.
The story repeated itself years later, when in the 2008 Wimbledon final, considered one of the greatest matches ever played, Nadal and Roger Federer were locked on two sets each when it began to rain. When Toni met Nadal in the dressing room, the 22-year-old player told his uncle, “You can stop the rain. I am not going to lose.”
This is one of the few light moments in a four-episode series that is a lot about Nadal’s battles with his body (though there are several heart-tugging scenes with his toddler son).
Competing against his own body, often facing crippling injuries, Nadal survived and thrived through his sheer ability to suffer, work relentlessly and endure. The docu spotlights how, against expectations, he kept coming back from long injury layoffs and extended his career to over two decades when at one point it looked like his career might be over at age 20.
“You can’t be a great champion if you don’t do difficult things,” says his coach Carlos Moya in the film.
Rafa tells a mostly grim story about toil and pain. It’s about the boundaries Nadal pushed—driven by a relentless, ruthless Toni—which led him to be the player he became. It’s a lot about anguish, about “exploring limits”, about numerous MRIs, and seemingly less about the joy of sport.
“This is the never-ending story. I am the most perforated player in the history of our sport,” Nadal said in 2024 after yet another injury. He has perforations in his intestines, which may be due to the sheer number of painkillers he consumed. But the player justifies his decisions on matters of health, calling the line between what’s right and wrong really thin.
He admits he might have “ended up with 10 or 12 Grand Slam [titles] less” had he not taken extreme measures to keep playing.
Produced by Skydance Sports, Rafa follows the 2024 film Federer: Twelve Final Days in chronicling the last playing days of a fading champion. However, Rafa focusses on an entire year—2024—Nadal’s last as a professional competitor. It swings between the past and 2024 to retrace a remarkable career that got him 14 French Open titles, a statistic that’s unlikely to be bettered.
The film, focussing mainly on Nadal’s family (father Sebastian, uncle Toni) and coaching staff (Moya, physiotherapist Rafael Maymo, among others) shows the evolution of a champion, especially the physical and emotional toll of his career. Federer and Djokovic, Nadal’s greatest rivals, are the only other tennis players to make an appearance in the film.
The Spaniard first came into the international spotlight when the 18-year-old beat the then second-ranked Andy Roddick in a Davis Cup final between Spain and the US in 2004. (Nadal’s career, ironically, ended with a Davis Cup match in 2024.) Next year, a day after turning 19, he won his maiden title at Roland Garros.
The next year, a foot injury unearthed a broken navicular bone and Muller Weiss syndrome. It meant that pain would be a constant sensation in his life. “Tennis became a race against time. How long can I last with this foot? Always thought this could be my last year,” he says in Rafa.
The documentary, with each episode about an hour long, gives a little extra attention to some of Nadal’s most memorable matches and moments. There are the 2007 and 2008 Wimbledon finals and the 2009 Australian Open final (all against Federer); Nadal’s return to number one in 2013 after beating Djokovic in the US Open final; and winning the 2017 and 2022 French Opens, the latter with pain-killer injections that left his feet numb.
He calls the decision to retire the equivalent of surrendering, so fierce was his competitive spirit and desire to play.
With Nadal’s head of communications Benito Perez-Barbadillo, as an executive producer, Rafa follows the formula of Beckham, the 2023 series produced by the footballer David Beckham. Unlike Twelve Final Days, which is a bit self-laudatory, and Beckham, which is self-deprecating, Rafa is unforgiving, soulful, often sad.
It’s a series about a major sports star shown largely from his perspective, with the right mix of emotion, vulnerability, and insider information. Director Zach Heinzerling gives it a taut pace and an easy narrative flow with plenty of misty-eyed moments.
Most notably, there is a lot of tennis, good tennis, which makes the timing of Rafa just right. The ongoing French Open (May 24 to June 7) is a reminder of Nadal’s absence. And Rafa is a reminder of why we miss him.
Rafa is available to stream on Netflix
