Rafael Nadal began his career as the ruler of relatively small provinces, the terre battue of Roland Garros and the red clay of his native Spain. Just out of his teens, though, he audaciously announced his intention to expand his fiefdom to the grasses of London, where Roger Federer's Wimbledon reign was considered invincible.Most thought Nadal, well, delusional. But true to his determined vision, he dethroned Federer, supplanted him as leader of men's tennis and promptly announced that next on his list of desired conquests was Flushing Meadows.
Today he gobbled that up, too. I guess we should have believed him when he spoke.
When he spake?
Though Nadal has demonstrated himself to be ruthless on court, lording over his subjects and summarily banishing them en route to nine major championships and 42 titles, off court he's anything but imperious. His conqueror persona seems like a character he plays in competition.
With his violently torqued topspin forehand, Nadal's game is thoroughly modern. His demeanor, though, is decidedly Old World.
Away from the rigid geometrical confines of a tennis court, Nadal is a gracious and modest young man, with impeccable manners and respect not only for his rivals but pretty much everyone he comes into contact with: journalists, ballboys, tournament directors, drivers.
If you think this is a kid who was raised right, you're correct. He may have been taught to be a great tennis player, but he wasn't necessarily groomed to conquer the tennis world.
Nadal is famously family-centric. This multimillionaire Mallorcan still lives in his inland boyhood town, Manacor, in a John Boy Walton-like townhouse with each segment of his extended family on a different floor. His coach is his unpaid uncle. The divorce of Nadal's parents, which came as he turned 23, was every bit as debilitating as the patella tendonitis that marred his 2009 season.
Nadal carries his own bags and, despite his fortune and worldwide fame, doesn't expect to be granted extraordinary privileges. His parents and Uncle Toni have taught him how privileged he already is.
As a tennis player, Nadal doesn't assume his very complete game is unassailable. He believes he can continually improve. That's why just two days before the beginning of the 2010 US Open - the title he professed to covet more than any other - Nadal was tinkering with his service action, slightly altering the grip. That audaciousness and willingness to adapt, which immediately garnered him another 10 to 12 mph on his serve and about a 10 percent improvement in points won on serve, is a major reason Nadal is the champion he is.
"I go to practice every day not to practice; I go to practice every day to try to learn something and to keep improving my level," Nadal said after his throttling of Mikhail Youzhny in the semifinal.
Nadal may be alone at the top, but he is happy to share the spotlight. He rarely misses an opportunity to extol Federer as the "best of the history." Even as he rules in their head-to-head matchups, in Nadal's mind, Roger is the greatest ever, and the Spaniard is merely pleased to share the stage with him.
There's a video clip, famous because it is thought to reveal a shocking side of Federer, from the aftermath of their epic battle in Melbourne in 2009. But it may be more revealing about Nadal.
At the close of their spectacular, five-set Australian Open final, Federer broke down in tears, unable to make it through his runner-up acceptance speech before a stunned crowd. It was a supremely awkward moment. The camera panned to Federer's speechless wife, Mirka, and then to Nadal, the victor waiting to accept the trophy.
As Federer tearfully retreated from the podium, Nadal stepped forward to give him a reprieve. But instead of grabbing the mic and celebrating another victory in a major, Nadal, then just 22, instinctively approached Federer and threw an arm around his rival's neck, putting the Swiss in a friendly headlock. Nadal whispered words of encouragement in his ear, and Federer found a way to compose himself.
Nadal wasn't about to allow his friend suffer an embarrassment of that order. It was a striking moment, an act of generosity from the young mensch, Nadal. And it went to the core of the immense respect and friendship he shares with his comrade and fellow champion.
On court after his semifinal victory on Saturday, on a brilliant blue-skied day that eerily recalled another Sept. 11, Nadal made a point of addressing the lingering pain of that day. He later acknowledged his annual pilgrimages to Ground Zero - something most of the public and press were never privy to. In a time of famously self-centered athletes with limited interests, for years Nadal ventured to lower Manhattan each time he came to New York, but he never invited publicity. He went because he wanted to pay his respects.
Nadal surely didn't envision those visits as part of staking his claim to New York real estate. But at just 24, a shockingly young age to possess a career Grand Slam, Nadal has quietly paid his dues.
After what we've been privileged to witness over the past six years or so, who would've expected anything different?
Article Courtesy: usopen.org
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