By Pat Cash
Times Online
May 29, 2024
FINALLY the embarrassment isn�t quite so severe. After four years of trying to deal with the fact that I was beaten by a local kid I believed had almost been pulled out of the crowd to play me, it�s now clear that he is on the verge of joining the exclusive band of teenage Grand Slam victors.
The kid was Rafael Nadal, and although I was not happy at allowing my reputation to be sullied by a 14-year-old, I can remember being hugely impressed by his natural aptitude and precocious attitude. He was a born winner, and I predict that he will be French Open champion a week from today.
In May 2001 I was supposed to play Boris Becker in the final of a seniors� event at the Santa Ponsa Country Club on the southwestern coast of Majorca, but as has often happened, he maintained that an injury meant he couldn�t play. But there was a paying crowd, so I reluctantly agreed to play the island�s most promising youngster.
Clay has never been my playing surface of choice, but I had notched up a couple of wins in the tournament and believed, even at 36, my game and court craft would see off a boy who was barely a year old when I won Wimbledon in 1987. I wasn�t keen on playing a complete unknown, because there was the nagging worry of having to face my peers in the locker room if it went wrong, but I shrugged off such negative thoughts as a basic impossibility. How wrong could I be.
Nadal came bounding out like this was his big chance and the crowd immediately responded to the exuberance of youth. If you think Lleyton Hewitt is pumped up on court, you should have seen Nadal. Fist pumps, posturing, shouted celebrations. If I heard the yell �vamos� once, I heard it 100 times. Even four years ago, his game had so many astounding qualities. The physique had not developed and he looked like a child, but there was a maturity when he was under pressure and he showed an intensity beyond his years on every shot.
I won the first set, he took the second. He had been sending the most amazing winners flying past my racket, but in the first-to-12 champion�s tie-break, there he was at the net, diving to make seemingly impossible volleys and bouncing up to brandish yet another celebratory fist.
Part of me thought he was disrespectful, but once I got over my initial anger at being beaten by a child, I realised I had just encountered a talent that could win tennis�s greatest prizes. The next day I phoned several of my sponsors and told them to invest in this boy. I�m sure they now regret their hesitancy.
For a while after that there was not much to see of Nadal because he hardly played the junior circuit, believing there was nothing to gain from pitting his skills against kids of his own age. When you consider the way he proved himself immensely stronger and more accomplished than Richard Gasquet, just 16 days his junior, it is easy to understand the thinking.
A year after our match, Nadal registered his first win on the ATP tour, in Palma. Eleven months later he beat French Open champion Albert Costa at Monte Carlo. A couple of unfortunate injuries interrupted his progress, but victory against Roger Federer last year in Miami, followed by that heroic display of patriotism to overcome Andy Roddick in December�s Davis Cup final, established Nadal as a force.
I believe he induces more pre-match fear in opponents than any other player, Federer included. He has an imposing presence on the court and whereas Federer is almost as undemonstrative as Bjorn Borg used to be, Nadal believes in letting others player know how emphatically he feels they have been outplayed. He produces such enormous racket speed that it�s impossible to read where the ball is heading and his extreme western grip allows him to impart heavy topspin. In addition the increased muscle has enabled his serve to develop as a true weapon and his speed of foot suggests he will be able to operate on the quicker surfaces.
However, it is that determination he showed so memorably in our match in Majorca which sets him apart. He forces the other guy to collapse, as Friday�s win over Gasquet proved. Opponents are frightened of Rafael Nadal, but he seems to fear nothing. When he raises that trophy I can take consolation that I was beaten by a future king of clay.
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