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Lunch » Tags » Athletes » Reviews » Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal

251 Ratings: 2.0

Spanish professional tennis player

Rafael Nadal Parera (IPA: [rafaˈel naˈðal]) (born June 3, 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player who has been ranked World No. 1 since August 18, 2008. He has won six Grand Slam singles titles and the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles. He … see full wiki

Tags: Sports, Athletes, Tennis, Tennis Players, Nadal, Rafael Nadal

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The greatest grinder in the history of tennis?

Apr 22, 2009

by ari1974

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Great tennis players never fit into a single mold -- they each have a distinctive style and personality within which they excel. Over the last year, Nadal has established himself not just as one of the greatest clay court players in the history of the sport, but also as potentially one of the greatest players on any surface. He has done so through his own unique mix of incredible physical and mental intensity. That combination has made him almost unbeatable on the slower clay courts, where you can watch him slowly wear down his opponents. Many great tennis players were known for elevating their game at critical times. Nadal plays with that same end of game, match point intensity, for the entire duration of the match.

Quite a few questions remain for Nadal, regarding both his personality and his game. The key question in terms of his career is how long his knees can survive the amazing physical intensity of his game. It is not at all clear that he will continue to be able to play hardcourt matches, which wear down the knees, for the long term. It is potentially in his best interest to focus exclusively on clay and grass courts, sacrificing the top ranking but stretching out his career by years. However, if he doesn't ever win the U.S. Open, the one remaining major to elude him, it will put a damper on his legacy within the history of the sport.

Other questions involve how Nadal will react to his stay as the number one player -- will he managed to stay humble despite his rise to the top of the rankings? This seems very likely given that he is surrounded by a strong family that doesn't keep him in the artificial cocoon of a lot of tennis player entourages. He is famous for hanging out with other players on tour, and his accessibility and humility.

I'm thrilled to be watching tennis in an era that has personalities and styles as interesting as Federer, Murray, and Nadal. I"m looking forward to the answers to the remaining questions about Nadal's legacy within the sport.

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Laur32 June 01, 2010

I love Nadal. I first started watching tennis with Andre Agassi in his later, more humble years and watched Nadal play and was fascinated. His energy and passion is infinite. I enjoy watching him over players, such as Federer (who is perceived as the better player), because Nadal puts on a show. I hope he can conquer the issues with his knees because when I watched him get knocked out the running for his fifth consecutive title at Roland Garros last year it was painful. I know he is doing much better this time around and I would love to see him in the finals winning the tournament!

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