Versi�n Espa�ol

PALMA.- The first contact of Rafael Nadal (Manacor, 1986) with the Davis Cup was in 2000, when his good results in the inferior categories made him the one responsible for bearing the flag in the final that had Spain win its first Salad Bowl in history. Before that he had already won European and world team Championships. That responsability in the Palau Sant Jordi has been substituted in hardly four years by disputing the fifth point against the Czech Republic and by making him and Robreado today's stake as the doubles team. And the seasons have passed with dazzling speed for the Majorcan who now surprises planet tennis.

He started to play at four years of age and with eight he won his first title, but still tennis was not his priority in his sportive career, as he was alternating with football/soccer, a discipline in which he played in the front, in spite of his uncle Miguel Angel's references, who played the center of the Real Mallorca. His uncle played many years for the Barca, but could not prevent his cousin's conversion into a Real Madrid supporter.

With the passing of the years and the lessons from his uncle Toni, he started to be a big favorite in all the regional tests, although they were in superior categories than those corresponding to his age. At twelve, after winning the National and the European Championship, he left the king's sport to dedicate himself to tennis and since then his career has become a constant struggle with the records of precocity. Football is his big passion and those in the know said he wasn't bad at all, seeing that he took home the trophies for the best goal-maker. But his conditions demanded a change.

His uncle, Toni Nadal, has taken it upon himself to steer Rafael's career ever since he picked up his first racket. Besides, he and the rest of the family took it upon them to make the new pearl of Spanish tennis know to keep his feet on the ground. The modesty the Majorcan shows started to get forged when he won the Spanish Junior Championship and his uncle showed him a list with the last 20 winners of the title, where the only ones he recognized were Sergo Bruguera and Alex Corretja, a situation that made him understand how many get lost in their way to the top.

The mermaid's songs to abandon the island began to multiply, but the Nadal family estimated that to stay in his place of birth Manacor was the best option and they preferred the instalations of the sports hall Pr�ncipes de Espa�a of the Balear capital, in spite of their defending nowadays the colours of the Royal Barcelona Tennis Club. Always when the maelstrom of the competition allows, he regresses to Majorca to continue his preparation, which he does, when their agenda's coincide, with Carlos Moy�.

His father, Sebastian, explains how he could never understand how a boy as nervous as Rafael can be so fond of fishing. He never misses an opportunity to go out with the boat of a friend or pass some hours at the rocks of Portocristo hoping for a good catch, while he loves speed in all the other things he does. Sebastian says he has never given him trouble and that he was always more nervous before a football match than before going out to the court, where his unrest reflects in his constant fidgeting with his pants.

He goes out with his friends like any boy his age, but always with the responsability inherent to his obligations. With a maturity improper to his age, he knows what he wants and his discipline will soon bring him on the road to the top ten.

From a cadet he went to rubbing elbows with the pro's, thereby almost skipping his going through the juniors, for the most part because of his studies, as his parents gave priority to finishing his Obligatory Secundary Education. Now he already left his books for the first degree of Graduation, they for certain were lost somewhere in the trips where his parents insisted that he study for his exams.

He debuted in the ATP in the Majorca Open in 2001, and did so with a victory over Ram�n Delgado, where he became one of the nine players to have done so before reaching 15 years of age. One year later, he won six futures with a win-loss balance of 37-3, posting 20 wins in a row, and ceding only one set in 17 matches. But he fully blossomed in 2003, when he became, after Michael Chang, the youngest player to get into the top 100, and, after Becker, the youngest player to advance to the third round in Wimbledon, where he entered after having starred in Monte Carlo, won two challengers, and reach the semifinals in Umag, where he won his first tournamnet pairing up with L�pez Mor�n. This season has seen him win, with Robredo, another doubles title in Chennai and he reached the finals in the Open Auckland tournament before succeeding Spain's classification for the next round in Davis Cup, where he will be present without doubt.