By Tom Tebbutt, Special to The Globe and Mail
May 21, 2024
PARIS -- Spanish tennis sensation Rafael Nadal had never been on the red clay of Roland Garros before Thursday night, when he arrived to practise with Ivo Karlovic of Croatia.
Sitting down to tie his shoes before starting, Nadal looked up at the remarkably clear video screen above the Court Suzanne Lenglen that was replaying images of Roger Federer's shocking 2003 first-round loss to Luis Horna of Peru.
The footage might serve as a caution for the 18-year-old Mallorcan, who comes into the French Open riding a 17-match winning streak on clay. It has made him the hot favourite for the Grand Slam event beginning Monday.
After starting the year ranked No. 51, Nadal has moved up to No. 5 with five tournament titles, among them Masters Series wins on clay in Monte Carlo and Rome. Not since Andre Agassi won six titles in 1988 has a teenager won that many times in a year, and it is still not halfway through 2005.
Nadal missed Roland Garros last year because of an ankle stress fracture and in 2003 because of an elbow injury.
He didn't play the junior event in Paris because, quite simply, he was so good so young that he was out on the men's tour. His only junior Grand Slam was Wimbledon in 2002, when he lost to the now-obscure Talal Ouahabi of Morocco in the semi-finals.
At 15, Nadal defeated Ramon Delgado of Paraguay to become only the ninth player in the open era (since 1968) to win a main tour match before his 16th birthday. A year later, Nadal beat fellow Mallorcan and mentor, 1998 French Open champion Carlos Moya, in Hamburg.
This year, Federer and Nadal have had shared an uncannily similar domination of the tour. At the Australian Open, Federer lost a five-set marathon to eventual winner Marat Safin in the semi-finals, while Nadal went out in five hard-fought sets to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt in the round of 16.
Since then, Federer has won five tournaments, as has Nadal. Their paths intersected only once -- Federer's memorable 2-6, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-1 victory in the Nasdaq-100 Open final in Miami.
"Two things impress me about Rafael," 1982 French Open semi-finalist Jose Higueras of Spain said yesterday, "he's a great competitor and you don't usually see that in someone so young. And second, his physique. He's very strong for his age and a very good athlete."
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound Nadal has had a grown man's body for several years.
"Me at 18, looking at Nadal at 18," Agassi joked recently, "from the neck down, you would think that one person was 26 and the other was 12."
Rafa, as Nadal is known, comes by his athleticism naturally. His uncle Miguel Angel Nadal, known as the Beast of Barcelona, won five league soccer championships with FC Barcelona and three times represented Spain in the World Cup.
Another uncle, Toni, who introduced him to tennis at age five, was a good nationally-ranked player and is now his coach.
Nadal's parents were mindful of keeping their son's accent on school and a normal life. Unlike Moya, who left Mallorca at 14 to train in Barcelona, the Nadals kept Rafael at home and their son still loves just to hang out and go fishing in his hometown of Manacor.
On the court, his ability to hit explosive winners is matched only by his extraordinary quickness for a big man. He is sometimes compared to 1995 French Open champion Thomas Muster of Austria, also a left-hander. They practised together four times two weeks ago, during the Masters Series-Rome tournament, where Muster was in the senior event.
"He's pretty similar to Muster," Higueras said. "He can defend great like Muster used to but he's also got the ability to change the pace and hit the ball early when the occasion presents itself."
Ball-striking aside, Nadal has a taste for battle.
"I remember in the first round of Davis Cup last year on carpet in the Czech Republic," said Gabriel Urpi, a former player and at one time a coach of three-time French Open women's champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario.
"He won the deciding [fifth match] against [Radek] Stepanek, who is a good indoor player and carpet is the worst surface for Rafael. He just wanted to play that match. It was amazing in someone that young [17]. He's not afraid of any situation."
He also makes an impression in the fashion department. Nike believes so strongly in his potential that it has given him a special look, outfitting him with orange-glow sleeveless shirts and capri pants.
On Thursday night, midway through his practice session, Nadal took a break and, sitting courtside, again looked up at the video screen. This time it was showing Gustavo Kuerten drawing a heart in the red clay and falling backward into it as he celebrated his 2001 Roland Garros victory.
That could also be an omen for Nadal -- and he smiled as he watched.
**Please do not reproduce without giving credit to the original source and VamosRafael.com.**
Return to VamosRafael.com.
Return to VamosRafael.com Articles
.
