Rafael Nadal: A wholehearted player

‘RAFA’ is something unquestionable as it’s not just on court or clay but a player who has won the heart of millions and so they hail “RAFA”

Rafael Nadal Parera was born on 3 June 1986 in Manacor, a town on the island of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, Spain, to parents Ana María Parera Femenías and Sebastián Nadal Homar. Rafael began playing tennis at age four, guided by uncle, Toni Nadal, who remained his coach on the professional tour. Miguel Angle Nadal, Rafa’s other paternal uncle, was a professional footballer who represented the senior Spanish team and even played club football for RCD Mallorca and FC Barcelona.

Rafa was introduced to football by Miguel Angel at a young age and took a liking to the sport immediately. He played a lot of football in his school days and even took part in competitions. But by the time he turned eight, Toni had intensified his tennis training sessions and Rafa had to make a choice. He decided to drop football and focus on building his career as a professional tennis player.

Rafael Nadal was 15 years old when he turned professional as a tennis player. About 18-and-a-half years after that, he matched the men’s singles record for winning the most number of Grand Slam titles in the sport’s history.

Nadal’s extraordinary talent was unmissable right from the days he was winning under-12 titles in Spain. By the time he turned pro, many had predicted he was going to achieve great things. Nadal, at 18 years and six months, became the youngest player to register a singles victory in a Davis Cup final for a winning nation.

Nadal started the year 2016 by winning the Mubadala Title defeating Milos Raonic in straight sets. After that, he entered Doha, Qatar, where he reached the finals, losing to Djokovic in straight sets. This was their 47th match, after which Djokovic led their head-to-head rivalry with 24 matches won.

“We cannot compare Rafael Nadal with other players, he’s proved he’s able to do things throughout his career that others can’t” – Stan Wawrinka

Rafa wins his first grand slam in 2005 French Open beating Mariano Puerta in the fourth set. Later on he bagged the French Open in three consecutive years 2006, 2007 and 2008. Infact Nadal was tying his grand slam numbers with Djokovic at 20 until the historic moment happened on the early days of 2022 itself; exactly 30^th of January when the whole world was looking at this irreplaceable player Rafa beating Daniil Medvedev in the final and lifting his 21^st grand slam.  He now has a Double Career Slam, which is winning each of the four majors at least twice each.