Within the span of a single month, Rafael Nadal won 17 consecutive matches, beat four top 10 players (including two wins over Novak Djokovic), captured two Masters Series 1000 titles in Montreal and Cincinnati, and topped it off with his second career title at the US Open.

Nadal’s meteoric hard court ascendancy wasn’t expected this season after his injury layoff, but it wasn’t uncharacteristic either. Following his opening round loss at Wimbledon to Steve Darcis, Nadal’s level of play coming into August was essentially unknown.

But like receiving an unwelcoming uppercut in a boxing match that knocks you to the ground leaving you unable to recover, Nadal delivered his most vicious blows to the entirety of the tennis world in Montreal, Cincinnati, and New York.

The Spaniard contested in several heavyweight bouts throughout these three tournaments, and there were moments when the 27-year-old’s resolve was put to the test. But each time, regardless of the setback, he recovered and came out on top.

One of the best examples of Nadal’s recent mental resilience came in the US Open final against Djokovic. Nadal went down a break 2-4 in the second set after ending up on the short end of an absolutely brutal 54-shot rally. The Serb’s enthusiasm and energy level was peaking and the crowd was decisively on his side, looking for a drawn out battle.

In the following game, a game most mortals would have hastily conceded, Nadal sought immediate vengeance. With this goal in mind, Nadal broke serve and effectively usurped the momentum right back as if it had never been out of his grasp.

This level of mental faculty exhibited from Nadal is truly special. His mind is an impenetrable fortress immune to budging even under the most mentally taxing of situations. 

And what makes Nadal even less pleasant to deal with on court is his capacity to crush the confidence of his adversaries even before the first ball is struck.

Nadal’s opponents know he is coming. They know the patterns he is going to use. There is very little uncertainty as far as Nadal’s game plan goes. Lefty sidespin serves, heavy cross court topspin forehands, and consistent targeting of the backhand side are three of Nadal’s most predictable, yet potent plays. And the problem his opponents face is that they know full and well he isn’t going to throw them a ton of different looks, yet they are unable to stop what they can see coming a mile away.

Playing against Nadal is like waiting out a hurricane. You can make all the preparations you want—boarding your windows, stocking up on food and water, buying a generator—but once the storm hits, the sequence of events are out of your hands and you can only hope for the best.

One aspect of Nadal’s game that seem to be extremely overlooked is the high percentage nature of his game, notably his forehand. Never has a player been able to find such an ideal intersection of aggression and high percentage tennis on a single shot than as on Nadal’s forehand.

The amount of topspin he generates is unprecedented. For this reason, Nadal’s forehand is a viable offensive weapon while simultaneously being an extremely high percentage shot.

There are two key functions of the crafty topspin. The first function is that it provides him with plenty margin of error as he drives up the back of the ball to create the spin necessary to bring the ball up and down well over the height of the net. 

Once Nadal’s ball clears the net and hits the ground, it bounces and proceeds to catapult well out of his opponent’s strike zone, making it a tool of offensive aggression.

With all of this said, the aspect Nadal’s game that is most impressive is that there are really no simple answers when it comes to breaking him down.

Playing consistent offense against Nadal, widely accepted as being necessary to beat him, is so tough. It cannot be stressed enough how difficult it is to play successful attacking tennis against Nadal. If you are engaged in a neutral rally, his balls are so deep and so topspin-infused that trying to be aggressive is ultimately a losing proposition. And if you are engaged in a rally where Nadal is on the defensive, hitting through him is like trying to kick a soccer ball into a trash can with Shaquille O’Neal guarding it—there just seems to be no way through. And of course, if Nadal is on the offensive, it’s pretty much lights out.

One could sit here for hours listing all of the remarkable and unthinkable things Nadal does on a tennis court. For now, we’ll leave you with one last thought.

When Rafael Nadal is done playing tennis, he may very well go down as the greatest tennis player to have ever picked up a racket (which in and of itself, is a whole other discussion). But what he will certainly go down as is the smartest and most mentally resilient tennis player to ever step foot on a tennis court.