Rafael Nadal and Tiger Woods took small but significant steps into writing the last chapters of historic careers

By now you’ve surely seen the photograph of Tiger Woods, wrapping up his final round at the just-completed Masters, shaking hands with an unidentified person—a figure shielded by a tree so much that you only see an outstretched arm.

(Spoiler alert: it’s the venerable Verne Lundquist, a commentator whose iconic voice helped define CBS’ Masters broadcasts for the past 40 years.)

Naturally, the Internet was not going to let this photograph slide, not with its incredible meme potential:

It got me thinking about another meme, one that would have also been appropriate given recent events: the good ol’ .jpg of Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man. For the purposes of this conversation, one Spidey is Tiger, and the other is Rafael Nadal.

Rafa made his long-awaited return to the tour Tuesday in Barcelona. In surprising fashion—if “surprising” can be said for a 12-time tournament winner—he dispatched world No. 62 Flavio Cobolli with ease, 6-2, 6-3.

Like Nadal, Woods returned to competitive play for the first time in months. His appearances, like Rafa’s, are more infrequent than ever. They are always accompanied with massive fanfare. Each player has transcended their sport, bringing in fans who would have never have otherwise paid mind to golf or tennis.

We don’t know the next time either first-ballot Hall of Famer will play again. Each time we watch Tiger or Rafa swing, it could the last time they do so at a given tournament—if not their careers.

Perhaps most importantly, their legions of fans want to see each champion go out on his own terms. Both have dealt with serious (and in Woods’ case, life-threatening) injuries throughout their careers. Each has been humbled to degrees many thought were beneath them. Woods just posted the highest 72-hole score in his career, and his worst single round at a major, at Augusta National; Nadal hasn’t played a semifinal in nearly two years, unable to stay healthy or maintain form for extended periods of time.

But just when you thought they were down, they returned. The past six days, and however long Rafa remains in Barcelona, were not just a rewind for sports fans, but a relief. The same could surely be said for Woods, who set a Masters record by making his 24th consecutive cut, and Nadal, who won on his beloved clay for the first time in 681 days.

“I know Nadal very well,” 1992 Masters champion Fred Couples once said. “This guy works, he's an animal, but he's not going to beat these guys if he says, ‘You know, I'm just going to practice for 40 minutes.’ Tiger's got the same—when you're the No. 1 player, you want to stay there, and you just can't rest.”

Like Tiger at Augusta, Rafa began an event synonymous with himself in impressive fashion. Barcelona isn’t the tennis equivalent of the Masters; Roland Garros is the obvious comp. That said, Nadal returned to action on a court named Pista Rafa Nadal.

“It’s going to be so hard to take our eyes off him, the next couple of hours,” said Tennis Channel’s Jason Goodall, cup of coffee in hand, Tuesday morning.

Very true—not only because of Rafa’s star attraction, but because his match was broadcast in two places: Tennis Channel, as well as its second network, T2. YouTube TV, among a host of other streaming services, let viewers peek in on Nadal vs. Cobolli (called by Brett Haber and Paul Annacone on Tennis Channel) with additional commentary from Goodall, ATP doubles player Nick Monroe and Second Serve host Geoffrey Chizever.

Then, as Nadal progressed through the first set, Chris Eubanks entered the chat.

“It’s something that we’ve been waiting on for a while,” said the 42^nd-ranked American, calling into the show from his home. “When [Rafa] pulled out of Australia, something in my head said, I don’t know if he plays before the clay.

“It has a shot of energy for a lot of the players in the locker room.”

There may be no Roland Garros draw more anticipated than this year’s: barring something unexpected, Nadal will be unseeded in Paris. Unseeded feels like a clay-court curse word toward the Spaniard, given his absurd history on the terre battue, but it’s actually possible that we get Nadal vs. Djokovic, or Nadal vs. Alcaraz in the first round.

But what if Roland Garros chose to seed Rafa? That’s also possible—if highly unlikley—said Goodall on Second Serve. The question of where Nadal should be seeded was then put to Eubanks.

“Top 16 for sure,” he said. “You gotta try to space him out against the Top 16 guys. If you’re ‘gonna put him at [No.] 25, you might as well leave him unseeded.”

Only inside the Top 16 for a 14-time champion? Yes, affirmed Eubanks, citing the array of high-quality players currently atop the men’s game.

“A bit tough to go Top 8, considering the form of other players.”

Where Nadal and Woods go from this week is anyone’s guess. For Rafa, the next big goal is Roland Garros. For Tiger, it’s Valhalla, Pinehurt and Royal Troon, sites of golf’s remaining majors.

“Just keep lifting, keep the motor going, keep the body moving, keep getting stronger, keep progressing,” said Woods, sounding a bit like a relentless Rafa, after posting rounds of 82 and 77 last weekend. “Hopefully the practice sessions will keep getting longer.”

Nadal’s week isn’t over, of course. He’ll face a much tougher challenge in 11^th-ranked Alex de Minaur, in a match that will again be seen on two screens Wednesday.

On the main screen today, Annacone was asked if Nadal could beat de Minaur at this level—“No,” the esteemed coach replied, adding that Nadal would need to level up for this step-up in competition.

It sounds like Annacone expects Nadal’s eventual signoff from Barcelona to sound something like Tiger’s from Augusta.

“It was a good week all around,” a red-clad Woods said on Sunday. “I think that coming in here, not having played a full tournament in a very long time, it was a good fight [on Thursday and Friday]. Unfortunately yesterday it didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted it to.”