by Richard Hinds
May 20, 2024
Still 14 days shy of his 19th birthday, Rafael Nadal and his long shorts have either revolutionised or ruined tennis fashion - depending on your tastes. He has won six tournaments, just one less than another prodigy, Lleyton Hewitt, achieved as a teenager. And he has prevailed in the longest final played in the modern game's history.
Yet, for all that, perhaps the baby-faced "Rafa's" most remarkable feat will be to stroll onto the courts of Roland Garros next week as favourite - in the eyes of many good judges - to win the French Open men's singles at his first attempt.
To win a grand slam on debut is not unprecedented. Gustavo Kuerten did it at Roland Garros in 1997. Nor is it unusual for a teenage phenomenon to win a major. Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, Michael Chang and Pete Sampras are among those who have.
Nadal is only making his first appearance at Roland Garros because injury forced him to abort two previous campaigns. By rights, he should have played his initial French Open as a pimple-faced apprentice.
Yet, at a time when it seemed Roger Federer had set himself apart from his rivals and the talent and depth of claycourt specialists has never been greater, to be considered the man to beat by your rivals at your first French Open remains an extraordinary compliment. Almost as extraordinary as the impression the baby-faced Nadal has made during a dirt-court blitz that has this year netted five titles, the past three in succession, and hardened the feeling he will become the next king of clay.
Due to the intense scrutiny under which Nadal has played since his early teens, few secrets to his success are left. The left-hander's piercing forehand, thumping double-fisted backhand, sometimes vulnerable serve and blistering pace that can make Speedy Gonzalez look about as mobile as Kim Beazley, had been dissected by some potential rivals even before he made his professional debut as a 15-year-old at a Future Event in Madrid.
Beyond his unorthodox attire, there is not much mystery about the man himself. Other than a supposed flirtation with the obscure Russian player Maria Kirilenko, there are as yet no starlets or supermodels in his entourage. Despite mounting endorsements and prizemoney, his tastes are not said to be particularly flamboyant. Similarly, Nadal's journey to the top has been remarkably straightforward, more a testament to his superior sporting genes than the pitfalls and travails from which great sporting melodramas are made.
The son of a wealthy businessman from Majorca, the only real battle fought by the family was between two of his uncles - Miguel Angel Nadal, a famed footballer with Barcelona and the Spanish national team, and Toni Nadal, a tennis coach.
Until he was 12, Rafa leaned towards a football career. But, when forced to choose between the two sports by his father, who was concerned playing both would affect his son's education, he picked tennis. Uncle Toni remains his coach. Perhaps as a consequence of his father's discipline, Nadal is confident rather than cocky, yet clearly at home on the big stage. "Every time he walks on court, it looks like there's no other place he would rather be," American veteran Todd Martin observed at his first sight of the youngster. "That's a great gift."
While Nadal's natural talent and confidence have had experts in Europe, particularly, predicting for several years that he would win the French Open, it is another asset that cannot be taught - a tenacious will to win - that has been most impressive throughout his dominant claycourt season.
The most compelling demonstration was an exhausting five-hour and 15-minute 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) victory over Argentine Guillermo Coria at the Italian Open, the longest recorded final in ATP history and a brutal test of strength and nerve. The victory was even more meritorious given Nadal was suffering from a blistered forefinger that would force him to withdraw from the Hamburg Masters a week later.
One man who would not have been particularly surprised by Nadal's performances is another streetfighter, Hewitt, who has beaten the Spaniard in tight struggles at the past two Australian opens - this year in five draining sets. "He loves going out there, playing big matches," Hewitt said at the time. "That's something that I really respect in a young guy like him, the way he handles the situation."
If the pressure of expectation in Paris is not great enough, the field breathing down his neck should tighten the collar on Nadal's sleeveless shirt.
While clay is considered Federer's worst surface, the world No.1 has still won four tournaments on it, including last week's Masters Series tournament in Hamburg. Defeat at the Australian Open may have quickly ended talk of a grand slam, but it will doubtless have sharpened the Swiss's focus on Paris.
Then there is the supporting cast: claycourt supremos Coria and Gaston Gaudio, the combative David Nalbandian, 2003 French champion Juan Carlos Ferrero, Nadal's fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya and French prodigy Richard Gasquet. Just for starters. Merely reciting the list leaves you breathless, let alone the prospect of having to grind them down one after the other in five-setters on their favoured red dirt.
No wonder Nadal is attempting to downplay his chances. "I'm playing pretty good right now but you never know which player will be the best [at the French]," he said on his website. "Obviously, it's very important for me, it's a grand slam and I haven't been able to play in it before. All I want to do is go there, play 100 per cent and win a few matches."
Even if Nadal wins the French, there will be those who want him to perform well on different surfaces before proclaiming the birth of a new superstar. Even so, while he has won each of six titles on clay, Nadal's effort in taking Federer to five sets on a hardcourt in the Masters Series event in Miami this year suggested he was not merely a dirt-baller.
John McEnroe is one observer who suggests Nadal will be a major threat - perhaps even at Wimbledon. "He's going to be one of the greatest players," he said. "He's going to end the year as one of the top guys already. It just remains to be seen how quickly he will learn to play on grass and the faster surfaces."
Nadal's pedigree, his will to win and his incredible speed, suggest only one answer: pretty quickly.
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