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Rafael Nadal: The man with Two Faces
Stuttgarter Zeitung
July 21st, 2005
Translation by Moondancer
Without mercy on the tennis court, love-worthy and shy in private.
Stuttgart � In a hurry, Rafael Nadal changes his sweaty armless shirt for a red sweatshirt and very briefly shows his naked upper body, which actually does not look as exciting and not as packed with muscles as you might think when looking at his pictures. �Sorry�, the boy says with a shy smile when he sits down at the table to get ready for a round of questions. �Sorry� he says again, when he shuts down his phone; �sorry� he also says each time he can�t find the right word in English.
Rafael Nadal often says �sorry�, as if he wants and needs to apologise that his behaviour, when he�s not using a tennis racket and ball, is not as sharp and polished as is often the case with other professionals. His smile however is honest and infectious, while his legs are incessantly bouncing.
�Hey Rafa� says somebody, �that was an easy match today, wasn�t it?�. The result of his match against Hugo Armando (USA) in the second round in �Weissenhof� in the Stuttgart tournament was 6-1; 6-2, but to call that easy?
�No, no� he replies, �there is no such thing as an easy game. Every match has difficult periods when it's easy to loose your rhythm."
On the tennis court, he seldom gives the impression of really being in danger of losing his rhythm. Just like a steamroller, the 19-year old lefty flogs the ball in such a way that his opponents are crushed by his game. Out of impossible situations, he�s able to catch the ball and make the point anyway. On the court, he has �presence�, like Boris Becker used to have and to whom he�s often compared. Rafael himself can�t do much with this comparison: �I wasn�t even born when he won Wimbledon for the first time�.
The winner against Armando was Nadal�s thirtieth victory in a row on clay. His triumph in the French Open in June in Paris is the highpoint of his career so far, one which he has started in 2001. Nadal is motivated to the very ends of his pitch- black hair and he knows that he still has to learn quite a few things. �I�m young� he says, �so much is still in front of me. If I could, I would love to win every tournament in this world."
The �Boy King� works hard to achieve his goals. For instance, he sometimes loves to run for hours in the streaming rain up and down the mountains on his home Island Mallorca.
�When he then returns home�, says his coach/uncle Toni with noticeable pride in his voice, �he looks as dirty as a great football player after an important match�.
No sacrifice is too big for fans. It takes Nadal a long time to get from the tennis court to the television interview, because he doesn�t want to ignore one request for an autograph. �I simply can not go past these kids�, he says. �For me, it�s an opportunity to thank them for the support they�re giving me�.
When the local �matador� Andreas Beck (who has the same age as Rafael) visited a children�s hospital in Stuttgart this week, spontaneously Nadal joined him. �I asked if I could come along. I wanted very much �these ill kids� "
- right at this point, Nadal is searching for another word in English -
�Sorry�, the king of kids says and he gives a shy smile.
�You want to give these kids a bit of joy� suggest the translator.
�Yes�, says Nadal, �Yes, that�s what I wanted. I wanted to give them joy�.
If he stays just the same like he is now, the master of clay will give joy to many more people.
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