Taking down the reigning Wimbledon singles champion in the opening round of the Olympics. That’s what Rafael Nadal’s Spanish teammate had to do. A rather steep challenge, right? Well, it happened in Tokyo when she beat 2021 Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty in the opener, and after Sara Sorribes Tormo clinched the opening set 6-4 in Paris, it seemed like it would be déjà vu… only for her hopes to come crashing down in what the audience can view as a tie-break heartbreak. Dreams of glory were ruthlessly cast aside for the 27-year-old, with the other side of sports coming to the fore.

It happened just minutes before the illustrious 22-time Grand Slam champion Nadal took to the court, unofficially making it his task to provide Spanish redemption on Chatrier. Glory for the Czechs and redemption for the Spanish aside, the ‘Fortius’ of the Olympics motto was on display in abundance. But once the athletes shook hands and left the court, reality sank in for the World No. 71.

Once off court, the distraught Tormo shook hands with a media person and turned away from the camera. The 27-year-old Olympian buried her face in her shirt, crying for a few seconds. And then she placed her fingers on her eyelids, still trying to rub off the dawning disbelief at what just went down on the court. The media person placed his arm on her shoulder to offer his commiserations and whispered something to her.

As Sorribes Tormo took her hands away from her eyes, she stared at the camera, wide-eyed and dejected, said a few words, and took a handkerchief from a person nearby. She then wiped her eyes, took a deep breath to compose herself, and proceeded with the post-match interview. How long can one stay strong, especially considering the hard-earned privilege of every Olympic appearance? Tormo’s fighting spirit was visible for just shy of three hours as she made a two-time Grand Slam winner earn her place in round 2.

The contest between the Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejčíková and Sara Sorribes Tormo could be seen as a classic David vs. Goliath bout, considering their spots in the world rankings. Rafael Nadal’s teammate took the opener 6-4 on the back of her three breaks of serve to her opponent’s two. Her perseverance was visible even in set 2, although the record book will show it as 0-6. Three games reached deuce, with the fifth and sixth games requiring two and five deuces, respectively.

Having surrendered seven successive games and then made a statement with a hold to love, when Krejcikova broke in the sixth, the Spaniard hit right back to get proceedings back on serve. She had to serve to stay in the Olympics on two occasions and conceded a solitary point while winning 8. And there it remained until the tie-break, where she surrendered two mini-breaks and did not recover. 

Immediately after Sara Sorribes Tormo’s heartbreak, Rafael Nadal beat Márton Fucsovics in a hard-fought three-setter to achieve two things. 1. Provide Spanish tennis fans with some Olympic Sunday jubilation. 2. Set up a 60th clash against arch-rival Novak Djokovic. While Spain will root for their idol, they can even get behind Sorribes Tormo. How? Well, her time on the red dirt in the red uniform is not done.

A silver lining from her heartbreak is that she has earned valuable on-court time to help her quest for a first medal, maybe two, and turn despair into personal and national glory within a week.