There is already a nickname on the Spanish Davis Cup team. His companions call Rafael Nadal �Biturbo.� �It is the best nickname for him. His movement is always accelerated,� explains Juan Bautista Avenda�o, one of the three captains of the Spanish team. That nerve, which stops him from being still, is one of his virtues when he plays. �He is like a Formula 1. He has power and incredible acceleration and knows how to administer it at each moment of the game, in spite of the fact that he�s only 17 years old,� assesses the technician of the G-3.
�Rafa is very mature. He reacts like a veteran and controls his emotions well. In that aspect he reminds me of Ferrero, although Juan Carlos was never so nervous,� compared Avenda�o, who was as proud of Nadal as he was of Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo. �Rafa did something great, but I would not like it to cause me to forget Feli and Tommy. Their victory was of equal importance and on top of it all they had to bear the pressure of winning. A pressure that we did not intend to give to Rafa. We only asked him to play and entertain, nothing more,� he said.
They did not have to ask for much more. The G-3 knows that the Spanish team has a new Mallorcan pearl. His progression has been spectacular. In the two years of playing professional tennis, he has been ranked as high as number 40 in the world and has been a finalist in Umag (2003) and this year in Auckland where he won the doubles title with Robredo. In the Davis Cup, there are only two players who have made their debut at a younger age than Nadal: the Swede Bjorn Borg, when he was 15 years old, and the German, Boris Becker, who was 17 years old.
Flattering Remarks from All
�He has it all, the physique, the desires to learn, quality and maturity� he only lacks a serve. When he has that, he will be a bomb,� assures Jordi Arrese. During the Spanish team�s dinner in Brno, surrounded by his companions, coaches, directors, and fans, he was encouraged to do a speech as a novice. It did not happen. The confidence that Nadal shows when he is on the court, turns in to timidity when he is away from it. Nadal himself did not dare to speak, but instead portrayed his leap of victory before Stapanek with a fist in the air. A triumph that 1.5 million television viewers saw.
�He is a phenomenon. It is not easy to win a decisive point when you have just debuted in the competition and have lost the previous 2 matches,� examined Carlos Moya yesterday who enjoyed the triumph of his young friend almost as much as if it was his own. Ferrero also had words of compliments for the Mallorcan. �Nadal has given us the opportunity to continue aspiring for the title this year,� said the Valencian who continues to recover from his injury.
The Tranquility
Those compliments were a sample of the ones that Nadal has received since he won his match in Brno. With others you would think he had been inflated like a globe, but the Mallorcan is the first to have a clear perspective on things. �I am very happy for it all, but I have already passed that stage. Now I should concentrate on my next tournament,� he commented only yesterday after landing in Milan to train and prepare for his first match against Ivo Karlovic.
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