The Ones Who Make Us Uncomfortable: Rafael Nadal and now Hans Troyer

When I was in high school, I became fascinated with the world of professional tennis. My parents were avid watchers of the sport, and my dad was a respectable player in his own right.. until he eventually retired to pickleball. Some of my earliest memories are of going to the 4th of July parade and then rushing home to watch Wimbledon.

I grew up during the Agassi/Sampras rivalry (we were Agassi people), and I felt a sense of pride in understanding the unique scoring system, the odd nomenclature, and the drama of the tiebreak rounds. I loved the grueling “best of 5 sets” for the men’s majors- probably an indication that I would eventually be drawn to endurance sports. I like the hours spent in competition- a war of attrition. 

During the end of my middle-school years, there seemed to be a symbolic turnover in the sport. A “changing of the guard”-or an “end of an era,” as we like to say. Sampras had already retired, and Agassi was beginning his departure. 

There were new Americans seemingly eager to step into the spotlight: Marty Fish, James Blake, and my new favorite- Andy Roddick. I became an ardent Roddick fan. He was easy on the eyes (I was a boy-band obsessed teenage girl with braces and frizzy hair), and he had a serve that could seemingly put an end to the back-and-forth rally structure of tennis. I watched tennis obsessively during this time. I watched all the majors, the preliminary tournaments leading up to the majors, and I was glued to the Davis Cup.

The 2004 Davis Cup, in particular, is locked into my memory. This tournament ended with Roddick representing the U.S. in the finals against Spain. Roddick was at the peak of his career and was assigned to play a new young Spanish player named Rafael Nadal. I wasn’t worried- this kid wasn’t even ranked in the top 50 and Roddick won the first set (although it was closer than I would have liked).... But then something happened.

The Spaniard with the floppy hair began the second set with a confidence and energy that was a bit surprising for an 18-year-old playing against the #2 player in the world. After each point, he would jump around, almost in a childlike manner. At the time, it felt a bit “over the top” to me. I was getting increasingly agitated as it became clear that Roddick was going to lose and the Davis Cup was not going to the Americans. I was in a funk for days after this defeat. Probably a mix of hormones was at play, but it was also one of the first times I remember thinking that this anguish is what it means to be a true fan. 

Of course, this was only the beginning of Rafael Nadal and his journey within the sport of professional tennis.

To be honest, I was not a fan of Nadal for much of his career. Not just because Nadal beat my teenage crush, but because he challenged the sport in a completely different way. He was wearing capri pants and cut-off shirts. This was not Wimbledon attire! Yes, Agassi had some wild moments, but at least the once rebellious-teen seemed to have reeled it-in and now showed his dominance with a quiet discipline and a bit of sheepish self-loathing that I found endearing. Agassi had earned my praise, Nadal had not. 

There were other things about Nadal’s style of play that was different. For example, he seemed to be utilizing every part of the system to his advantage. He would use excessive energy in some moments, then take control back in others…slowing things down, taking his time between points to an extreme degree. He would then slide around like crazy and show dominance with both hands. He made the tennis court look small. He was scrappy, unpredictable, and he wasn’t yet polished. Basically, Nadal had an ostentatious style that was soaked in confidence. It made me uncomfortable to watch. This was different from the American-style of play I grew up with. 

However, as we all know, Rafael Nadal went on to prove himself as one of the greatest tennis players of all time, winning 22 Grand Slam titles.

Now, as an adult (with a more level temperment), I can look at an athlete like Nadal and not only admire his skill, but appreciate what he did for the sport. He made it his own. He showed a different way to win…a way that was uniquely his. He inspired international players all over the world and a new generation to try the sport. 

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Nadal is not the only athlete who has disrupted a sport’s culture and approach to the game. We’ve seen this before with athletes like Tiger Woods, Simone Biles, and Michael Phelps. They didn’t just dominate their sports, but they changed the way we thought about what was possible within them.

I would argue we are seeing something similar happen right now with a young ultra runner named Hans Troyer.

Ultra running is still considered a niche sport when compared to something like tennis, but it is growing. Every now and then, attention is directed to one of these races and your average American sports-fan gets a glimpse into the incredible athleticism required to even complete one of these events.

We saw this happen when Rachel Entrekin won the Cocodona 250, finishing ahead of the entire field. Suddenly, people who had experience running the timed mile in school, or even those who have lined up for a marathon, were forced to try to conceptualize how someone could run for such a long period of time at such incredible paces…over mountains. And the fact that a girl beat all the men!? This was something completely different. 

David Roche also gained attention when he crushed the Leadville course record in 2024 and 2025, showing that it is possible to run splits during a 100-mile effort that most people (myself included) couldn’t sustain for 10 minutes.

If you are new to the sport, one of the biggest races of the year is Western States, which took place last weekend. The race happens in the Sierra Nevada mountains and includes more than 18,000 feet of climbing and over 22,000 feet of descent (which many would argue is the more brutal part). Athletes can qualify by earning a “golden ticket” through a high finish at a qualifying race, or they can enter through the lottery system. Once on the course, everyone has 30 hours to finish.

One of the athletes many people were watching this year was a young runner named Hans Troyer.

Hans seemingly came out of nowhere. For a period of time, he lived in a van in Georgia, ate discounted bread, and confidently called his shot on Strava against some of the best runners in the sport. At the time, this seemed fairly ridiculous. Kind of like when my son tells me he could “take down Messi” (he is 7).

But similar to what happened with Nadal, Hans seemed to have a belief in himself that others couldn’t quite understand yet. He had a confidence that appeared premature- until it wasn’t.

Over the past few years, we learned quickly that his talent was very real and that his approach to the sport was uniquely his own. Hans went on to win the JFK 50 and Black Canyon 100K, which are two extremely competitive races in the ultra running world.

And similar to how I initially felt about Nadal, not everyone has embraced Hans with immediate warmth.

Ultra runners can often come across as extremely serious. There is almost a tortured-artist quality to the sport (perhaps because there is something inherently existential about voluntarily putting yourself through that level of suffering). Then Hans entered the scene with YouTube shorts of himself playing Fortnite, hanging out with his dog named Sushi, and creating his own catchphrases like “Stay Young & Fit” and “These are the times.”

This new vibe was different. It kind of felt like a newcomer again wearing those capri pants and bringing forth endless child-like energy. 

Many of the athletes who have historically found success in ultra running have put in years of work before reaching the highest levels of the sport. There is a comforting narrative that endurance sports reward time, patience, and experience. You earn your place through years of suffering and consistency. Then Hans showed up and challenged that idea.

He challenged what it means to “look” like an ultra runner. He challenged what it means to earn respect in the sport. And, just like Nadal, that disruption made some people uncomfortable. But that is exactly why athletes like Hans matter.

The sports we love do not evolve because everyone follows the same path. They evolve because someone comes along and shows us another way. They open pathways for others, expand our understanding of what is possible, and ultimately challenge all of us to get better.

But when athletes like Hans take big swings, they also create the possibility of falling in a big way.

Hans did not go on to win Western States last weekend. In fact, he ended up having to DNF (did not finish). He pushed himself to a limit that many of us will never experience and, when things started to unravel, he tried to fight and hold-on. His blaze out front for the majority of the race was mind-boggling which made his eventual crash just as dramatic.

Doing something new means entering uncharted territory. That is the inevitable cost of trying to do something great. After all, even Rafael Nadal has lost to players (in straight sets) ranked outside the top 100. Even the greatest athletes in the world have moments where the risk they take does not pay off. It is all part of the process. 

When someone is truly pushing the boundaries, failure is going to look different. It is going to look bigger. It is going to look uncomfortable. It is going to look like something we have never seen before, because it hasn’t happened before. And there is a certain beauty in that level of sport.

I think most of us know Hans will be back. Just like Nadal, the story is not defined by one match, one race, or one moment. The willingness to take risks, to challenge expectations, and to keep moving forward is what separates athletes who simply compete from those who change their sport.

Making people uncomfortable is often a sign that something is shifting.

I work with several professional athletes who have asked me what to “do” with someone like Hans. How do you respond to an athlete who is changing the landscape of a sport you love?

My advice to them is simple: if Hans is Nadal, then we need a Federer and a Djokovic too. Bring your own style. Bring your own approach. Do not try to become someone else. Let athletes like Hans challenge you, inspire you, and raise the level of the sport around them.

I cannot wait to see this next generation transform ultra running- to see it continue to grow, evolve, and move from the shadows into the spotlight.