You could not have choreographed a better ending.
Deep in the third set, with exactly three hours gone, Rafael Nadal unleashed a trio of crosscourt forehands, each a little wider and more devastating than the last.
As he connected with the third, all the familiar ingredients were in place: the immaculate balance, the violent torque, the flashing, whiplash follow-through. Everyone in the Estadio Manolo Santana knew what was coming, not least Pedro Cachin, who could only watch and applaud as the ball fizzed past at an acute angle.
Fist clenched, three points from victory, Nadal whirled around, casting a determined look towards his family, seated just a few feet away. For the past 16 months, through all the interminable hours of rehabilitation from the hip and abdominal injuries that have brought him to the brink of retirement, the dream of living such moments has sustained him. Now it was happening: the primal roar of the adoring home crowd in his ears; another fine run at an event that has meant so much to him; his 18-month-old son Rafael, cradled in the arms of his wife, Xisca, looking on.
Forced to reserve his maximum efforts for the moments of greatest need, to hold back where once he would have pushed, Nadal is not, for the time being, all that he once was. He may never be again, as he has openly acknowledged. But in that instant, we saw a glimpse of the true Nadal: the king of clay; the winner of five Madrid Open titles; the 14-time champion of Roland Garros. And it is for the unalloyed joy of such moments that he has returned. Other issues can wait – at least until Tuesday morning, when he will get a clearer sense of the toll exacted on his battered 37-year-old body by an epic 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3 victory over the 91st-ranked Cachin.
It is a position Nadal has found himself in all too often in his injury-plagued career, most recently at the turn of the year in Brisbane, when he returned after almost 12 months on the sidelines only to suffer a fresh setback in a quarter-final loss to Jordan Thompson. Three matches into his latest comeback, and for all the encouragement offered by a straight-sets win over world No 11 Alex de Minaur in the previous round, Nadal is taking nothing for granted.
“Now I don’t feel that something went wrong on my body, but I need to wait until tomorrow, being 100% honest,” said Nadal, who will try to do it all over again against Jiri Lehecka, the big-hitting Czech world No 31, on Tuesday night.
“In Brisbane, after the match with Jordan Thompson, I felt something there, but I hoped in the press conference, I had the faith, that nothing wrong happened.
“Then, when I woke up the day after, my feelings were [different]. So I needed to do all the process, the MRI, and it showed I have a small tear there.
“I don’t have that negative feeling now, like I had in that moment, but nobody knows what can happen during the night and how I wake up tomorrow morning.
“And that’s the truth, no? I’m not saying that because I’m trying to protect myself, I am talking with my heart and saying exactly the feelings that I have right now.”
While the focus will naturally fall on Nadal’s physical condition, the outcome was determined, as tennis matches almost always are, by the mind rather than the body.
Facing one of the all-time greats in his own backyard, Cachin struggled to look beyond the man and the moment, starting nervously and then faltering repeatedly when opportunity beckoned. Twice the 29-year-old served for the second set only to be undone by a combination of double faults, narrowly missed lines and poor shot selection. Then, in the ensuing tiebreak, Cachin forged ahead three times only to be reeled in on each occasion.
To his credit, the Argentine eventually converted his third set point with a brilliant crosscourt return. But with Nadal’s physical limitations beginning to show, Cachin was making heavy weather of things. Admittedly, he showed impressive resolve to claw back a break early in the decider. But did he truly believe he could defeat Nadal? His touching request for a keepsake when the pair shook hands afterwards perhaps offered a clue.
“You made my dream come true for me, thank you,” said Cachin. “It’s not how the protocol is, but can I get your shirt, towel or something?”
“Yes, I’ll give it to you, of course,” Nadal replied. “Good luck with everything.”
It was a heart-warming moment, but it came only after Nadal had displayed the steel of a man for whom the game no longer holds any secrets. He played within himself to control the early stages. He fought every inch of the way when Cachin belatedly showed up. And when it most mattered, he found the conviction of a champion.
Whether he can reprise those heroics less than 24 hours later remains to be seen. Lehecka’s heavy ball-striking is of a different order to anything Nadal has faced in his three matches so far. But that, as he pointed out, was a question for another day.
“Let’s wait for tomorrow,” said Nadal. “I hope nothing happens, and I hope to be on court tomorrow.”
All of Spain, and the vast majority of the wider tennis world, will share that hope.