Rod Laver perfectly sums up Rafael Nadal's career

Rafael Nadal wasn't gifted with Roger Federer's serve and volley game. Or the Swiss great's scorching forehand.

He didn't possess Novak Djokovic's athletic gifts — wingspan, strength, quickness — or even his precision or accuracy.

The Spaniard had flaws in his game. He "struggled" for every point with his long-winded rallies and defensive shotmaking, banking on his endurance to carry him home. Due to his slow reflexes, he began standing 10 feet behind the baseline on his ROS at the very onset of his career, especially against rocket servers like Andy Roddick. His MO was to keep the ball "spinning" and alive at all costs, grinding out opponents until he found the desired angle to fire outrageous winners such as his hallmark inside-out forehand.

It became evident that Nadal's game was more suited to slow clay courts, and his back-to-back losses to Federer in the 2006 and 2007 Wimbledon finals forced him to go to the lab. He would add a drop shot and a more adept service game to his arsenal, amazingly even approaching the net after avoiding it like a plague for years. 

However, he would invariably ditch those new tools and resort to the finest weapon in his armory — endurance — in the heat of the battle. And nobody could match his stamina, regardless of how much of an advantage they had on him in other facets of the game.

Nadal's arduous path makes him the most inspiring success story of the Big 3 and perhaps the most relatable to regular mortals like us. As much as young players try to emulate his on-court brilliance, they are more taken by his commitment to the grind.

His peers revere him all the more for that exact reason. Tennis great Rod Laver summed up Nadal's career with the most perfect words after the Spaniard called it quits on Thursday.