January 6, 2025
by Arun Janardhan
mid-day.com

Chennai: The year 2003 was to Spain's Rafael Nadal what 2002 was to Thai Paradorn Srichaphan. He jumped from a champions race position of 235 to 67, set a few age records, defeated a few aged players and was generally considered to have come of age, enough to be touted as the dark horse for the Tata Open tennis tournament here.

He is 17, idolises and practices with fellow Spaniard and former world No 1 Carlos Moya and beats him in May for his best win.

And has a childish enthusiasm that shows when he jumps the net and breaks his arm weeks before the French Open, a haven for any Spaniard who has ever touched a racquet and stepped on clay.

"Moya is my mentor, I practice with him but he gives me no advice on how to play other players," he says after each question is repeated. "He asked me to play here, told me it's a good tournament. We flew in together," he adds.

The adoration obviously means beating his guru must have been special for Nadal. "It was complicated as he is a friend but it was a good win for me."

The elbow injury before Rolland Garros was a blow that the Spaniard rectified by performing extra special at Wimbledon, extra extra special by Spanish standards for players there are known to adapt better to slower surfaces. He became the youngest player since Boris Becker in 1984 at 16 to advance to the third round.

"I play more on clay but did well there too," was his not-much-of-an-answer to the question. Maybe the grass connection can be better understood by his uncle connection.

Though coached by Toni Nadal, another kin of a similar kind, Miguel Angel Nadal played football on the grassy turfs of Barcelona. Despite the temptation, Rafael made his decision to pick tennis over football early, by the time he was 12.

"I have been coached by my uncle since I was four-and-a-half. It was easy choosing tennis because I was better at it." That decision seems to have been worth its while if his progress is any indication but after Nadal plays Thierry Ascione of France today in the first round, he will realise whether it was worth the while getting into that flight with Moya. [Ed note: Rafael lost that singles match, but he won the Chennai doubles title with Tommy Robredo, so the flight appears to have been worth it!]