Rafa

This excellent, intimate series takes the viewer on an emotional journey. Even if you don’t follow tennis, at the end of this, you come away with an understanding of what it takes to play the game at the highest level and how this particular man faced the challenges. You come away with respect for Rafa and how he handled his career.

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Something important about this documentary is that it doesn’t hold back on any area of his life or keep certain people or relationships out of the story.

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I recently watched the documentaries Sly (on Sylvester Stallone) and Being Eddie (on Eddie Murphy). I didn’t bother reviewing those because they were created to celebrate only the careers of those men; large swathes of their personal life were omitted as if these men and their careers exist in a vacuum. The viewer is lead to believe that their lives have been a series of one positive experience after the next and if they did face a challenge they overcame themselves. It’s absurd.

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Rafa, instead, told his entire story: the good, the bad and the ugly. Interspersed with highlights of many tournaments, Rafa, his wife, and various members of his team share the many ups and downs, the fears, the comebacks, the injuries, and the successes. His wife and family were included in the narrative, as they should be, because no man is an island.

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It says a lot about Rafa’s character that he chose to share so much of his life and who he is in this excellent series. I enjoyed it.

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