One gold medal, one No. 1 ranking in tennis

BEIJING – Rafael Nadal began his afternoon by taking the tennis court with a bounce in his step. Actually, a lot of bounces in both his steps. He looked like a prizefighter who forgot his robe and left his entourage in the limo.

Nadal finished the afternoon – by then it was evening – on his back, a delightfully overdramatic display of mock exhaustion and genuine exultation.

In between, the Spaniard made a case for why he might be the best all-around athlete at the 2008 Olympic Summer Games.

Quickness? Check.

Agility? Check.

Strength? Check.

Creativity in a crisis? Check.

A healthy, upbeat confidence, combined with the recognition that improvement is always possible?

Check, check.

OK, so Nadal won only one gold medal in Beijing, while Michael Phelps won eight. Nadal won’t figure in any discussion about the greatest performances in Olympic history.

Phelps swims, Phelps wins, but Nadal is responsible for the more versatile highlight video. One moment he’s rushing the net to save a point; the next moment he’s sustaining a volley with his back to the ball; still another moment he’s blasting away with his double-fisted backhand.

Nadal came to Beijing on a roll, and he’s leaving on a roll. Today, all things considered, is a good time to be Rafael Nadal.

“I am having an unbelievable year,” Nadal told reporters Sunday night after his straight-set, gold-medal victory over Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez.

“Nowhere in my best dreams,” Nadal said, “could I imagine what I did this year.”

Not until Nadal won the gold medal for Spain was he able to take a deep breath and admire the scope of his achievements this summer: A fourth straight French Open title. His first Wimbledon championship. Seven different tournament victories. Over his past 38 matches, a 37-1 record.

Today, the latest international tennis rankings will be released, and Nadal – for more than three years the No. 2 player in the world, behind Roger Federer – will switch places with his archrival.

A gold medal Sunday, a world No. 1 ranking Monday. What next for Rafael Nadal? Advancing tennis to the third world?

Uh, sort of.

A reporter from an English language newspaper in Bangladesh asked Nadal if the thought the world’s No. 1 ranking entails some responsibility to expose tennis to such an underdeveloped nation as, well, Bangladesh.

Said Nadal: “If Bangladesh wants to do something for me …”

There were some giggles in the audience, as if Nadal had gone Big Time Autograph on everybody.

Then he explained himself with an apology.

“Well, you know my English is not perfect, so is difficult to express something like this for me, no? I say, if I can help with something to do with Bangladesh, the people just have to tell me and it’s gonna be a pleasure for me always.”

The reporter who asked the question noted later: “Nadal can do wonders for tennis. He is very popular in our country. He’s very popular everywhere.”

With his sleeveless tennis shirts, his headband and key-junction fist pumping, Nadal has an “It Factor” that’s off the charts for a tennis star. To make the most of his Olympic experience, he stayed in the athletes village.

This recalls a time, as recently as eight years ago, when the Summer Games just didn’t seem hip enough to draw the tennis elite.

Now the Olympics have Nadal, and it doesn’t get any more legitimate than the champion turning No. 1 in the world the morning after his gold-medal match.

“But I don’t have time to celebrate,” said the 22-year-old Nadal, who must regroup for the upcoming U.S. Open at Forest Hills, N.Y. “I play in New York in one week, so I want to enjoy these two days probably, but later I have to be focused on New York. So probably after New York, after the Davis Cup, I’m going to have a good time for celebrate, no?”

When Nadal sat down in the press interview room, he removed his gold medal, glanced at it, and placed it in front of him.

Wearing a medal attached to a ribbon over your neck, for hours at a time, can be heavier than anybody realizes.