LONDON – Rafael Nadal does not have many fans in the United States because he does not promote himself the way Federer or Djokovic do. That is the opinion of Zach Heinzerling, director of ‘Rafa’, the Netflix docuseries that delves into the inner world of the 14-time Roland Garros champion.
His personality—that spirit of fighting against adversity while avoiding arrogance—clashes directly with the traditional American sports hero archetype. “There’s something about that mentality that’s like the anti-Jordan — the inverse of the common American way — that I found really interesting,” Heinzerling noted in an interview with CLAY at Wimbledon, just hours after learning that ‘Rafa’ had been nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.
“A lot of Americans will say that Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete of all time. Well, Michael Jordan lived with this form of confidence — he always thought, ‘I’m gonna win,’ and that confidence led him to being better. Nadal has kind of the opposite approach: ‘I don’t think I’m gonna win. I actually think I might lose, and I’m going to give a lot of respect to my opponent and assume that he’s gonna play well so that I raise my game,'” Heinzerling said.
“In the US, no one really knows Rafa. They know him because he won a lot of tournaments, the US Open four times… but there aren’t many Rafa fans because it’s hard to get to know him — he doesn’t really speak English that well,” he added during the conversation.
Interview with Zach Heinzerling, director of Netflix’s Nadal documentary
— Lionel Messi said he was watching the documentary and suddenly everyone in Argentina got super interested on it.
— RAFA immediately went into the top 10 of Argentina’s top watched shows on Netflix. I think that nowadays, the best promotion you can get for anything is a famous person posting or talking about it, because the documentary on Netflix is all word-of-mouth. It’s all people talking about it. And so when Messi referred to the documentary during the World Cup, he said that him and his team had been watching it, and they were inspired by it, it made huge effect. That little clip went viral, and every news outlet was talking about how Messi was watching RAFA and how Messi feels like he’s similar to Rafa in a lot of ways. And the impact of that was way bigger than any advertisement or trailer or marketing that Netflix could have done. Honestly, I thought that because Europe is so big in Argentina anyway, it would naturally already be in the top 10. But there’s a lot of good shows out there, there’s a lot of competition. The fact that Messi watched it is a big indicator of the cultural impact the series has — not only on critics and the mass public, but also on other important athletes and celebrities who are paying attention. It was probably the biggest publicity that we got releasing the series.
— Have you got any other comments from other top athletes saying something similar?
— Sinner said that he was inspired by watching it. Sabalenka, at Wimbledon, said that she had been inspired by watching how much effort, consistency, passion and fight Rafa has — it’s very infectious for other athletes. Other famous people in the United States have posted about it: Amy Schumer, John Krasinski, Jerry Seinfeld. In the US, because the series is in Spanish, it’s very rare that a non-English language series would do well there. Rafa did actually very well in the US. The series was nominated for an Emmy Award for best documentary series, which is the first time in history that a non-English primary language series has ever been nominated for an Emmy. People don’t want to watch with subtitles — they turn on whatever English-speaking series is available. The fact that a Spanish-language series has done well in the US is very rare, and exciting news.
— Rafa was fighting for Grand Slams titles and now he’s chasing an Emmy.
— He’ll be proud and excited, but Rafa doesn’t care that much about… He wanted to make sure that the series was a level of quality he could stand by and that it represented him honestly. And he was happy with the way it came out. I think he wanted to be seen globally, because people in Spain know Rafa, but he’s not as worldly or global of a celebrity. Unlike Federer and Novak, who are constantly travelling and promoting themselves, Rafa’s more private and humble. So I don’t think he cares as much about awards as maybe other celebrity athletes would. But I’m sure he’s happy.
— Why he wanted to do this documentary?
— Because Rafa shows himself most honestly through his actions more than his words. You can watch an interview with Rafa and he can talk and tell you stories, but you have to see the way he interacts with his family, with fans, the way he plays the game. If you watch that — which you can only do in a documentary — it’s so much more powerful and meaningful than a book or an article. He understood that if people were going to understand who he was and what he represents, he needed to do the documentary.
— Was it easy to convice him?
— He really didn’t want to do it. He said no forever and ever and ever. Thanks a lot to his team for convincing him that, because you’re still playing, it’s better to do the documentary while you’re in action — people can see the struggle, the ups and downs of the season. If it had all been told about the past, it would be a lot of talking heads telling you stories. But I think the most impactful parts are where you see him in everyday life — with his kid, with his wife, his parents, joking around with his team. That’s the Rafa people don’t get to see. And that’s more important for his legacy than the awards, than the trophies. Obviously, the numbers say what they say, but what makes Rafa different is his ethos, his personality, what he stands for, his integrity — and that kind of thing you can only get from watching.
— What did he learn through all this process of sharing the most intimate part of his life? What did you learn?
— Let me tell you a story. I asked him this question in a Q&A in front of an audience, and he couldn’t answer it — he has a really hard time watching himself on screen. He doesn’t know how to react or how to engage with the story of himself. He never really said he learned anything necessarily about himself. But the thing that he and his family did learn is something revealed about his foot, the Müller-Weiss syndrome: they always thought it was just genetic, that he was born with it. But actually, the combination of that genetic disorder with consistent trauma from playing tennis and football as a very young kid caused him to develop that disease. If he had not played for hours and hours as a young child, he may not have developed it. That’s a new piece of information.
— How was for you to work with Nadal at such a deep and intimate level?
— He works in this kind of zen way — he’s like a samurai. Because you know that he has so much loyalty to his team and his family, and there’s this real inner circle, the trust that you have to build and the standard that you have to hold yourself to — as high as his — it makes you want to be a better person being around him. Everyone around him is sort of infected by this pride, humility and class. And that’s something that’s hard to find in the celebrity world.
— Had you followed Rafa closely before you started working with him?
— I wasn’t even a fan of Rafa’s when I started. I liked tennis, but in the US, no one really knows Rafa. They know him because he won a lot of tournaments, the US Open four times… but there aren’t many Rafa fans because it’s hard to get to know him — he doesn’t really speak English that well. But as soon as you’re around him, there’s something about him that makes you sympathize immediately and root for him.
— What aspects of his mentality surprised you?
— He’s this eternal underdog with so much charm and warmth. A lot of Americans will say that Michael Jordan is the greatest athlete of all time. Well, Michael Jordan lived with this form of confidence — he always thought, I’m gonna win, and that confidence led him to being better. Nadal has kind of the opposite approach: I don’t think I’m gonna win. I actually think I might lose, and I’m going to give a lot of respect to my opponent and assume that he’s gonna play well so that I raise my game. There’s something about that mentality that’s like the anti-Jordan — the inverse of the common American way — that I found really interesting. And for me personally, I connected more with that kind of mentality. Not to assume that I’m better and to use that cockiness as a drive, but to assume the opposite and understand that if I can improve myself and try my hardest, maybe I’ll have a chance. That mentality is very seductive, and everybody that worked on the project was enamored by his way of being, the zen of Rafa. He’s different, he’s likeable.
— Is the documentary creating a new and fresh base of Rafa fans?
— I think so. In the US, for sure. So many people have said, I didn’t know anything about Rafa, I didn’t know anything about tennis. But I think it’s hard for people to watch because he’s suffered a lot. And the idea that you should have to suffer when playing sports, it’s not a popular opinion today. Willingly put yourself through that — with all the painkillers — it just seems antiquated. He lives almost in the gladiator era, the Roman times, where you would have a gladiator perform in the arena. That mentality is just so strange. But somehow Rafa is a timeless character. Somebody said this after a screening — they used the word Homeric. Homer wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey, these stories of epic gods and characters that take on surreal personalities and fight against David-and-Goliath situations. There’s a romanticism to Rafa’s story that is Homeric. His foot is very Sisyphean — Rafa’s left foot was his Achilles heel.
— There’s a lot of Greek literature in Nadal’s story.
— There’s a mysticism, a mythology to Rafa that makes him larger than life in my mind. And I think that takes him out of the tennis world and makes him this kind of heroic figure in history. What other rivalry in sports is as dynamic as Federer and Nadal? You can’t do the same with Jordan and Bird because they had teams — how many championships would Jordan have won without Pippen? Messi and Ronaldo — it’s not really a rivalry because they’re not really playing against each other, they are both in attack, Ronaldo’s team now sucks… The battle between personalities that that rivalry demonstrates is hard to replicate. And the Wimbledon matches in 2006-2008 are so iconic because of the differences in their personalities. Rafa is the warrior and Federer is the artist. People outside of tennis can see that, they can relate to it, and you become either a Rafa fan or a Federer fan. I think the series brings that to a new audience and generation — a lot like The Last Dance with Michael Jordan. I was around during some of those championships, but the nostalgia for that was so massive, and we’d almost forgotten about it. And then when you watch it again, it takes on a new meaning and context.
— You mentioned that suffering is not a popular idea today. On social media, some say playing through that kind of pain sends the wrong message.
— It’s just what happened and my role is to tell the story. The story of Rafa has to be told including his body, because that’s an essential dramatic aspect of his career — Rafa didn’t play 15 Grand Slams between 2005 and 2022 because of injuries. So if he had played in those 15 Grand Slams, how many might he have won? I don’t know. If we talk about numbers and Grand Slam wins, you have to talk about injuries. And Rafa’s personality is all about overcoming adversity. So what’s the adversity? It’s the other player — it’s Federer, it’s Novak. But also, it’s yourself. So many athletes have texted me saying that dealing with pain and adversity is the most impressive thing about him, because otherwise, what are you watching? You’re just watching somebody win a lot. For me, that’s less interesting, less dramatic. I like the messiness because it feels more real. Federer — nobody can replicate Federer, so how do you relate to that? You can watch it and appreciate its beauty, but I’m much more interested in watching something that feels raw, feels realistic, where you’re learning something. To me, it’s not a debate. When you tell the history of Rafa, history includes Tony. It includes his foot. It includes painkillers. It includes winning 22 Grand Slams. You have to tell the whole story.
