Steve tignor rafael nadal biography

It had been a while since we had seen each other, injuries and pandemics aside, and that approach, halfway between warmth and irony, was very Nadalian, it carried his stamp. And it was a good way of greeting each other without saying much more. I am fortunate to have been able to speak in Spanish with Nadal, our shared mother tongue, and in German with Roger Federer, also his mother tongue.

A certain type of dialogues that, when the back and forth takes place in English, the lingua franca in the world of tennis, are lost.

Steve tignor rafael nadal biography: The Spaniard showed how

This is not the case in this book. There were many nuances in the early hours of 14 Septembera vibrant early morning. But it was half past one in the morning, I was in the middle row of seats of a white van in a dark parking lot in Queens, New York. I never cease to be shaken: at the moment of triumph or defeat there is a lot of light, even too much, there is too much light, there are thousands of spectators and tens or hundreds of millions of television viewers.

Everyone is watching the star. But sooner or later, that star is left alone and in the dark. And so he was, practically alone. And in the dark, no doubt. So it was that we opted each one trying to sort out his own particular whirlwind of the last few hours — his incomparable, mine merely journalistic — and I was also respectful of a young man who had come from four hours of battle on the concrete, a long press conference and several interviews with accredited journalists at the tournament.

An intense working day of almost ten hours. That, and the barrier that I always impose on myself: that of a distant proximity to the distant proximity to the protagonists. Too far away you get cold, but too close you get burnt. In that brief minute we spent alone in the van, I was privileged, the envy of almost anyone : I was alone with Nadal, the man who had just won the US Openthe number one who could already say that he had lifted the trophies of the four major tournaments, the young man who was a legend on a par with Fred Perry, Rod Laver, Donald Budge, Roy Emerson, Andre Agassi and Roger Federer.

And since that night, so has Nadal. Later, Novak Djokovic would join them. What was I doing there with Nadal? The van was the scene of his last interview that nighta place as unusual as it was ideal, because as we crossed the empty motorway on our way to a calm Manhattan empty freeway on our way to a calm Manhattan, both of us already very loquacious and re-energised, Nadal gave me one of the best interviews I ever did with him.

If for a good interview you need a good interviewer, but also a predisposed interviewee, Nadal was the ideal counterpart that night. So much so that he neutralised the obstacle still represented by that headrest, through the side of which I had slipped my tape recorder. And for the next twenty minutes, with the white van cutting through the darkness of the night, the man who was already one of the greatest tennis players of all time kept the tape recorder up to his mouth.

In the end, and before I was dropped off in the corner of my hotel, we ended up talking about football. After all, two months earlier, Nadal and I had been to Johannesburg, at Soccer City Stadium — him as a fan, me working — the one in which Spain had won the World Cup for the first time in its history. After all, Argentina, my country, had surprisingly beaten Spain in a friendly match in Buenos Aires a few days earlier.

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Nadal beat Stan Wawrinka in straight sets to win a record steve tignor rafael nadal biography French Open title. This marked his first Grand Slam title since Nadal also climbed to second on the all-time major singles titles listwith 15, placing him one ahead of Pete Sampras. This marked the first time that Nadal had captured two Grand Slam tournaments in a year since Nadal extended his winning streak by winning the China Openbeating Nick Kyrgios in straight sets in the final.

He became year-end No. He became the first player aged over 30 to finish as year-end No. On 16 February, Nadal dropped to the No. Nadal was then sidelined with an injury. He regained the No. After recovering from injury, Nadal helped secure the Spain Davis Cup team a victory over Germany in the quarterfinal. He beat Philipp Kohlschreiber and Alexander Zverev.

Nadal won his 11th Monte Carlo title without losing a set beating Kei Nishikori in the final, a then-record-breaking 31st Masters title. At Madridhe beat Diego Schwartzman in straight sets, to extend his record to 50 consecutive sets won on clay and broke John McEnroe 's record of 49 straight sets won on a single surface. Federer overtook him as world No.

At Rome, Nadal won his 8th title beating Alexander Zverev in three sets, to reach fourth place overtaking McEnroe on the men's singles titles in the Open Era leaderboard with Nadal dropped only one set at the event, beating Dominic Thiem in the final in three sets. In the semi-finals he faced rival Novak Djokovic. The match lasted 5 hours 17 minutes, spread over two days, the second-longest Wimbledon semi-final ever.

Djokovic won in the fifth set 10—8. He won the Rogers Cupa record-extending 33rd Masters title [ ] and his first Masters title on hard court since In his semi-final against Juan Martin del PotroNadal retired after losing the second set 6—2 due to knee pain. He withdrew from the Paris Masters due to an abdominal injury. As a result Novak Djokovic replaced him as world No.

At Australian OpenNadal progressed to his fifth Australian Open final without losing a set, then won only eight games against Novak Djokovicwhich was Nadal's first straight-sets defeat in a major final. At Monte Carlohe lost in the semi-finals to Fabio Fognini in straight sets. At Madridhe lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in steve tignor rafael nadal biography sets in the semi-finals.

At the French OpenNadal beat Kei Nishikori and Roger Federer their first meeting at the tournament since en route to the final, dropping only one set en route. Nadal won in four sets against Thiem to claim his record-extending twelfth French Open title. At Wimbledon he reached the semi-finals, where he faced Federer for the first time at Wimbledon since the final and lost in four sets.

This victory marked the first time he defended a title on a surface other than clay. This was Nadal's fifth time as the year-end No. He became at the time the oldest person to finish as the year-end No. Nadal extended his winning streak in Davis Cup singles matches to 29 29—1 record overallwithout dropping a set or having his serve broken; [ ] [ ] [ ] he also won the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.

In the fourth round, he defeated Nick Kyrgios in four sets and lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Dominic Thiem in four sets. Nadal won his 13th French Openbeating Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the final, only losing seven games. In doing so, he won his 20th Grand Slam title, equalling Roger Federer's men's singles record.

On 9 NovemberNadal reached his th back to back week as one of the ten highest placed players on the ATP rankings and surpassed the record held by Jimmy Connors. At the Australian OpenNadal lost in the quarterfinals to world No. He won a record-extending tenth Italian Open title, [ ] saving two match points against Denis Shapovalov before beating Novak Djokovic in the final.

At the French Openhe beat Jannik Sinner and Diego Schwartzman before losing in the semis to eventual champion Djokovic in four sets, in only his third-ever loss at the French Open and his first loss in the semi-finals. After several weeks out with a left foot injury that had flared up at the French Open, Nadal returned to action at the Citi Open.

His ranking fell to No. He won his second Australian Open title, 21st major title and 90th ATP title beating Daniil Medvedev in a five-set finalcoming back from two sets down. At the Mexican OpenNadal won the title without dropping a set, including a win over new world No. He extended his winning streak to 15 matches, his best ever start to a season.

At Indian Wells he beat Nick Kyrgios and Carlos Alcaraz to reach his fourth final of the year and extend his winning streak to 20 matches. At Romehe beat John Isner in straight sets, but lost to Denis Shapovalov in three sets despite leading by a set and a break. At the French OpenNadal recorded his th win defeating Jordan Thompson in the first round, becoming the player with most wins at a single major.

He beat Corentin Moutet in round two his th win in majors. Nadal met Djokovic for the 59th time in the quarterfinals [ ] and won in four sets to advance to his 15th French Open semi-final. In the final, he defeated Casper Ruud in three sets to win his 14th French Open title and 22nd major title overall and reached world No. After treating his foot injury, Nadal returned to Wimbledon for the first time in three years.

Steve tignor rafael nadal biography: Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3

He beat Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinal, but aggravated an abdominal injury, and had to withdraw from the tournament. He lost in round four to Frances Tiafoehis only loss at a major inand his earliest major defeat since the Wimbledon Championships. Nadal finished the year ranked No. Nadal was the defending champion at the Australian Openbut lost in straight sets to Mackenzie McDonald in the second round.

Nadal withdrew from Indian Wells and Miami to recover from his Australian Open injury and didn't play on tour again in Following a second-round loss to Alex de Minaur at the Barcelona OpenNadal reached the fourth round at the Madrid Opendefeating de Minaur en route. He lost in round two at the Italian Open. Nadal then competed in the Summer Olympicswhere he served as a torch bearer during the opening ceremony.

In singleshe lost in the second round to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in their record 60th professional meeting. In the doubles with Alcaraz, he reached the quarterfinals. Someone I have admired, whom I have rivaled and also with whom I have shared many beautiful things on and off the court. A part of my life left with him. Roger Federer and Nadal played each other from toand their rivalry was a steve tignor rafael nadal biography part of both men's careers.

They are the only pair of men to be consistently ranked in the Top 2 for four years continuously from July to August Nadal and Federer faced each other 40 times, with Nadal leading 24—16 overall and 10—4 in Grand Slam matches. Nadal had a winning record on clay 14—2 and outdoor hard courts 8—6while Federer led on indoor hard courts 5—1 and grass 3—1.

Four of these matches were five-set matches and Wimbledon, and Australian Openand the Wimbledon final has been lauded as the greatest match ever. Novak Djokovic and Nadal met 60 times, more than any other pair in the Open Era. Nadal led 11—7 at Grand Slam events but trailed 29—31 overall. Nadal led on clay 20—9while Djokovic led on hard courts 20—7and they were tied 2—2 on grass.

They also played in a record 14 ATP Masters finals. Many of their matches are considered among the greatest in tennis history by analysts, such as Madrid Masters semifinal, [ ] Miami Masters final, [ ] [ ] the Australian Open final, [ ] the French Open semifinal, [ ] Wimbledon semifinal, [ ] and the French Open semifinal. Nadal is, without a doubt, the best athlete in the history of Spain.

Spain has to pay him a tribute for many, many years. Nadal is the king of Roland Garros and of world tennis. He has achieved a record that is very difficult to beat. Nadal won the second-most major men's singles titles 22 in tennis history and the second-most "Big" titles 59 since He appeared in the Top 10 of the ATP rankings consecutively from April to March — a record spanning weeks.

He stands alone in the Open Era as the player with the most clay court titles 63consisting of an all-time record 14 French Open titles, 12 Barcelona Open titles, 11 Monte-Carlo Masters titles, and 10 Italian Open titles. His 14 French Open titles are a record at any single tournamentand he holds the open era records for the longest single-surface win streak in matches 81 on clay and in sets 50 on clay.

Nadal holds the men's all-time records for the most majors won without losing a set 4the most match wins at a single major at the French Openand the highest match-winning percentage at clay court majors Nadal's dominance on clay is reflected by his honorific title as the "King of Clay", [ c ] and he is widely regarded as the greatest clay-court player in history.

Nadal is one of three men, along with Agassi and Djokovic, to win the Olympic gold medal as well as the four majors in singles in his career, a feat known as a Career Golden Slam. He is the only male player in history to complete the Career Grand Slam and win an Olympic gold medal in both singles and doubles. He was ranked as one of the world's highest-paid athletes by Forbes magazine in and named among the most influential people in the world by Time magazine in Informer world No.

But he is on his way to become, who knows, maybe the greatest". I believe we have pushed each other to become better players". Nadal played an instrumental role in the sport's revival, ushering in the Golden Age of tennis, which saw increased interest and higher revenues across tennis venues globally. The Djokovic—Nadal and Federer—Nadal rivalries are widely considered by players, coaches, and pundits to be among the greatest rivalries in sports history.

Nadal generally played an aggressive, behind-the- baseline game based on heavy topspin groundstrokes, consistency and shrewd court coverage; an aggressive counterpuncher. Known for his athleticism and speed around the court in his 20s, Nadal was an excellent defender [ ] who hit well on the run, constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions.

He also played very fine dropshots, which worked well because his heavy topspin often forced opponents to the back of the court. Nadal employed a semi-western grip forehand, often with a "lasso-whip" follow-through, where his left arm hit through the ball and finished above his left shoulder. San Francisco tennis researcher John Yandell used a high-speed video camera and special software to count the average number of revolutions of a tennis ball hit full force by Nadal.

Yandell concluded:. The first guys we did were Sampras and Agassi. They were hitting forehands that in general were spinning about 1, to 1, revolutions per minute. Federer is hitting with an amazing amount of spin, too, right?

Steve tignor rafael nadal biography: 3, Rafael Nadal. BySteve

Well, we measured one forehand Nadal hit at 4, His average was 3, While Nadal's shots tended to land short of the baseline, the characteristically high bounces his forehands achieved tended to mitigate the advantage an opponent would normally gain from capitalizing on a short ball. Nadal's serve was considered a weak point in his game, although his high number of first-serve points won and break points saved allowed him to consistently compete for and win major titles on faster surfaces.

Before the US Open, he altered his service motion. Nadal, a clay court maestro, was also successful on hard courts. However, Nadal himself admitted that playing a lot on them is tiring and takes a physical toll on ATP Tour players, so he repeatedly requested for a reevaluated tour schedule featuring fewer hard court tournaments and increasing the weeks of rest.

Early in his career some questioned his longevity in the sport, citing his build and playing style as conducive to injury. You just watch him play, the kid is relentless". Freezing cold water. I do this before every match. It's the point before the point of no return. Under the cold shower I enter a new space in which I feel my power and resilience grow.

I'm a different man when I emerge. I'm activated. I'm in "the flow" Nothing else exists but the battle ahead. Despite his success, his uncle Toni ensured that Nadal remained as normal, modest, and down to earth as possible and believed these qualities had a tremendous impact on his results and motivation. Nadal was also noted for his visceral delight in competing, whether he won or lost.

Nadal was known for his on-court rituals including specific bodily movements and the positioning of items courtside. There was a pattern to the way he approached a serve. He usually took three balls, examined them, discarded one, shook the strands of hair that were not corralled by his headband out of his eyes, and then served. Nadal's first and most important coach was his uncle Toni Nadalwho coached him from to aged 4 to Along with working on the mental and physical sides, he ensured that his nephew developed a good technical, all-round aggressive game, became competent at the net, and developed his forehand into a weapon.

Aged 12, Nadal began attending the Balearic Islands training centre 50 kilometers away from Manacor in Palma.