In just three days, top seeded Rafael Nadal will don his familiar white bandana, and upon hearing his name announced, he will approach center court and graciously shake the umpire’s and his opponent’s hand, wishing him good luck with heartfelt sincerity. Then the show begins: he starts hopping up and down, preparing his body for action like a boxer, his lips curl and on his face he wears a snarl. And his eyes go blank as his mind disappears into a deep focus. He sprints to his end of the court, and with the first point of the first match, he begins the quest to defend his 2008 Wimbledon title.
And he will come out flying. Why? Because in Rafa’s world, every point is played as if it were the most crucial point of the match. Cynthia Gormely, writer for the New York Times has written an article on Nadal’s ascent to number one, and through her research she speaks with a number of people close to Nadal, including the only man who has ever coached him, his uncle Toni. In explanation of his unyielding
ferocity, he says,
“From the time Rafael was little, he’d win that first point of the match, which nobody ever pays much attention to, and he’d yell, ‘Vamos!’ All pumped up. Let’s go! And you play like you train. As he grew up, he got used to training as though each point were the last one.”
Throughout Nadal’s life, uncle Toni has been much more than just his tennis coach, he has been a mentor, not only a consultant for matters of sport, but of how to live life the right way, how to be a good person. Toni doesn’t have rules that must be obeyed, he has simply let Rafa learn the correct way to conduct himself. Asked if he has ever instructed Nadal not to smash and break a tennis racket during a match, Toni responds,
“He knows he can’t throw a racket. He just knows. As far as I’m concerned, it’s shameful when he orders a meal and doesn’t finish it. Understand? Same thing with rackets. These rackets cost money.” Such strong character and values, Toni believes, will foster the ability to be the best. “If that player is brought up courteous, brought up as a respectful person, he’s got a better chance to reach the championship… because it’s going to be easier for him to accomplish the hard work.”
Uncle Toni began this process with Nadal 20 years ago, when the young lad was only 3, but don’t be fooled into thinking that any three year old given a racket and life lessons can achieve such greatness. Toni had no preconceived designs on creating a champion out of Rafa.
“He was at the club one day, and I handed him a racket, we had some little ones, and then tossed a ball at him.” Upon seeing the ball impressively returned over the net, Toni thought to himself, “ ‘O.K., this is not normal.’ His feet, especially, the way he’d move himself into good hitting position when I tossed balls at him. This is a rare thing in a child.”
Tennis was not Nadal’s only sport growing up – in fact, it was soccer that was his primary passion, and it was perhaps in soccer where the first signs of his fighting instinct were first seen. Another of Nadal’s uncles, his father’s youngest brother, Miguel Angel, played soccer for the Spanish national team, and he recalls how Nadal used to play the game of “keep away” or “pig in the middle”: “He liked being the middle. We’d all do our tricky maneuvers to try to get the ball past him. Any one of a hundred little kids, you do those kinds of moves on him, he’ll start crying. But Rafa, no. He’d keep fighting to get the ball.”
Combining a killer instinct, strong character values, and perhaps an even more impressive skill-set is what makes up the magnificent game that Rafael Nadal displays on court today. And make no mistake, his game is just as overwhelming as his will. According to Gormely’s article, three years ago a San Francisco based tennis researcher, John Yandell, conducted a number of tests on different players to determine how much ball spin they generate off the face of their rackets. Speaking about Nadal’s forehand, he said,
“We’ve measured the spin rates on the forehands of quite a few of the top players, including Nadal, (Roger) Federer, (Pete) Sampras and Andre Agassi. The first guys we did were Sampras and Agassi. They were hitting forehands that in general were spinning about 1,800 to 1,900 revolutions per minute. Federer is hitting with an amazing amount of spin, too, right? 2,700 revolutions per minute. Well, we measured one forehand Nadal hit at 4,900. His average was 3,200.”
All of this spin translates directly into why Nadal has established himself as the greatest clay-court tennis player of all time. On the sport’s grippiest surface, where the bounce off a spinning ball is exaggerated immensely, a cross-court forehand drive from Nadal bounds off the ground with a higher trajectory than that with which it landed, ending up well above the strike zone of most right-hander’s backhands. Not only are opponents pinned far behind the baseline in the mere attempt to return this shot, it is almost futile to try to generate any sort of power or direction off it, which usually results in a short backhand return. It is this high spin forehand that can set up a point in one shot, as Nadal can switch instantly to the offensive even if he just hit five defensive shots in a row. Now imagine you’re Roger Federer, stationed well behind the baseline, expecting that forehand to come hurtling, and Rafa hits a slice or a drop shot. Because of where you were standing to combat that forehand, you have to sprint an extra five feet just to get to the ball near the net, which, due to the grippy clay, has not travelled towards you at all, and has bounced only two inches off the ground.
Although historically the slickest surface in tennis, the grass courts at Wimbledon have been changed in the last seven years or so. These days, the strength and density of the grass is so robust that players say it is second to only in clay in terms of grip. A fact that surely played into Federer’s 2008 demise at the hands of Nadal. Although he won all his five Wimbledon championships on the newly slowed court, he was not ready to battle Nadal, who had finally learnt how to play on the speedy hard courts, making the medium speed Wimbledon a natural transition to take the defending champion’s crown.
Upon receiving his winner’s trophy at the 2009 Australian Open, the last time Federer and Nadal faced off in a Grand Slam match, Nadal said to his opponent, “You are a great champion. You are one of the best of history.” Such soft spoken appreciation for Federer’s reign came mere moments after a performance that would later reduce Federer to tears.
Following a surprising early exit from the French Open, mere weeks ago, Nadal has some uncertainty heading into Wimbledon. Recently diagnosed with tendonitis in both knees, he announced that he would be resting them in order to make himself ready to defend his title.
And with that the fiery pitt-bull with the line-backer’s build prepares for the upcoming fortnight. According to French tennis commentator Phillippe Bouin,
“Every tennis lover would like, someday, to play like Federer, but every man wants to be Rafael Nadal. Which is different.”
While most men understand that they will never be able to command the court like Nadal, striving to be as good a person is just as tall an order.
Note: All quotes from Uncle Toni, Miguel Angel, John Yandell, and Phillippe Bouin were taken directly from Cynthia Gormely’s article. The assertions and viewpoints voiced here are inspired by her piece, but not necessarily shared by her. If you would like to read her article, click here.
And he will come out flying. Why? Because in Rafa’s world, every point is played as if it were the most crucial point of the match. Cynthia Gormely, writer for the New York Times has written an article on Nadal’s ascent to number one, and through her research she speaks with a number of people close to Nadal, including the only man who has ever coached him, his uncle Toni. In explanation of his unyielding
ferocity, he says,“From the time Rafael was little, he’d win that first point of the match, which nobody ever pays much attention to, and he’d yell, ‘Vamos!’ All pumped up. Let’s go! And you play like you train. As he grew up, he got used to training as though each point were the last one.”
Throughout Nadal’s life, uncle Toni has been much more than just his tennis coach, he has been a mentor, not only a consultant for matters of sport, but of how to live life the right way, how to be a good person. Toni doesn’t have rules that must be obeyed, he has simply let Rafa learn the correct way to conduct himself. Asked if he has ever instructed Nadal not to smash and break a tennis racket during a match, Toni responds,
“He knows he can’t throw a racket. He just knows. As far as I’m concerned, it’s shameful when he orders a meal and doesn’t finish it. Understand? Same thing with rackets. These rackets cost money.” Such strong character and values, Toni believes, will foster the ability to be the best. “If that player is brought up courteous, brought up as a respectful person, he’s got a better chance to reach the championship… because it’s going to be easier for him to accomplish the hard work.”
Uncle Toni began this process with Nadal 20 years ago, when the young lad was only 3, but don’t be fooled into thinking that any three year old given a racket and life lessons can achieve such greatness. Toni had no preconceived designs on creating a champion out of Rafa.
“He was at the club one day, and I handed him a racket, we had some little ones, and then tossed a ball at him.” Upon seeing the ball impressively returned over the net, Toni thought to himself, “ ‘O.K., this is not normal.’ His feet, especially, the way he’d move himself into good hitting position when I tossed balls at him. This is a rare thing in a child.”
Tennis was not Nadal’s only sport growing up – in fact, it was soccer that was his primary passion, and it was perhaps in soccer where the first signs of his fighting instinct were first seen. Another of Nadal’s uncles, his father’s youngest brother, Miguel Angel, played soccer for the Spanish national team, and he recalls how Nadal used to play the game of “keep away” or “pig in the middle”: “He liked being the middle. We’d all do our tricky maneuvers to try to get the ball past him. Any one of a hundred little kids, you do those kinds of moves on him, he’ll start crying. But Rafa, no. He’d keep fighting to get the ball.”
Combining a killer instinct, strong character values, and perhaps an even more impressive skill-set is what makes up the magnificent game that Rafael Nadal displays on court today. And make no mistake, his game is just as overwhelming as his will. According to Gormely’s article, three years ago a San Francisco based tennis researcher, John Yandell, conducted a number of tests on different players to determine how much ball spin they generate off the face of their rackets. Speaking about Nadal’s forehand, he said,
“We’ve measured the spin rates on the forehands of quite a few of the top players, including Nadal, (Roger) Federer, (Pete) Sampras and Andre Agassi. The first guys we did were Sampras and Agassi. They were hitting forehands that in general were spinning about 1,800 to 1,900 revolutions per minute. Federer is hitting with an amazing amount of spin, too, right? 2,700 revolutions per minute. Well, we measured one forehand Nadal hit at 4,900. His average was 3,200.”
All of this spin translates directly into why Nadal has established himself as the greatest clay-court tennis player of all time. On the sport’s grippiest surface, where the bounce off a spinning ball is exaggerated immensely, a cross-court forehand drive from Nadal bounds off the ground with a higher trajectory than that with which it landed, ending up well above the strike zone of most right-hander’s backhands. Not only are opponents pinned far behind the baseline in the mere attempt to return this shot, it is almost futile to try to generate any sort of power or direction off it, which usually results in a short backhand return. It is this high spin forehand that can set up a point in one shot, as Nadal can switch instantly to the offensive even if he just hit five defensive shots in a row. Now imagine you’re Roger Federer, stationed well behind the baseline, expecting that forehand to come hurtling, and Rafa hits a slice or a drop shot. Because of where you were standing to combat that forehand, you have to sprint an extra five feet just to get to the ball near the net, which, due to the grippy clay, has not travelled towards you at all, and has bounced only two inches off the ground.
Although historically the slickest surface in tennis, the grass courts at Wimbledon have been changed in the last seven years or so. These days, the strength and density of the grass is so robust that players say it is second to only in clay in terms of grip. A fact that surely played into Federer’s 2008 demise at the hands of Nadal. Although he won all his five Wimbledon championships on the newly slowed court, he was not ready to battle Nadal, who had finally learnt how to play on the speedy hard courts, making the medium speed Wimbledon a natural transition to take the defending champion’s crown.
Upon receiving his winner’s trophy at the 2009 Australian Open, the last time Federer and Nadal faced off in a Grand Slam match, Nadal said to his opponent, “You are a great champion. You are one of the best of history.” Such soft spoken appreciation for Federer’s reign came mere moments after a performance that would later reduce Federer to tears.
Following a surprising early exit from the French Open, mere weeks ago, Nadal has some uncertainty heading into Wimbledon. Recently diagnosed with tendonitis in both knees, he announced that he would be resting them in order to make himself ready to defend his title.
And with that the fiery pitt-bull with the line-backer’s build prepares for the upcoming fortnight. According to French tennis commentator Phillippe Bouin,
“Every tennis lover would like, someday, to play like Federer, but every man wants to be Rafael Nadal. Which is different.”
While most men understand that they will never be able to command the court like Nadal, striving to be as good a person is just as tall an order.
Note: All quotes from Uncle Toni, Miguel Angel, John Yandell, and Phillippe Bouin were taken directly from Cynthia Gormely’s article. The assertions and viewpoints voiced here are inspired by her piece, but not necessarily shared by her. If you would like to read her article, click here.
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