Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal Parera (born June 3, 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 209 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. Nadal has won 22 Grand Slam men's singles titles, including a record 14 French Open titles. He has won 92 ATP-level singles titles, including 36 Masters titles and an Olympic gold medal, with 63 of these on clay courts. Nadal is one of three men to complete the Career Golden Slam in singles. His 81 consecutive wins on clay constitute the longest single-surface win streak in the Open Era.
Quotes
[edit]- If you are playing bad you are going to lose here, on clay, on ice, or on the beach.
- To be honest, I haven't felt at my best since this tournament began. I didn't feel good with the court or the balls. But those are excuses. You have to accept when you don't play well and somebody else does.
- After losing to James Blake at the US Open [2]
- I just wanted to see how the shorts felt again.
- After changing his famous "piratas" trousers for a more traditional look at the Madrid Masters [3]
- It's impossible to explain what I felt in that moment, just very, very happy to win this title. For me, it is a dream to play in this tournament. But to win, I never imagined something like this.
- After beating five time champion Roger Federer in the 2008 Men's Wimbledon Final
- Did you see the speed of the ball or not?
- When asked by a reporter why he spent so much time well behind the baseline against Fernando Verdasco in the Australian Open semifinals 2009 [4]
- In your career you have a lot of good moments and bad ones. The important thing is to have enough motivation to keep working all the days with humility and trying to be a better player than before. I am going to try to continue doing this." [5]
- One month and a half ago, I didn't know if I was going to be able to be back on the tour playing tennis again. And today, I am here in front of all of you having this trophy with me and you really don't know how much I fought to be here. I can't thank you enough for all the support that I received since I arrived here.
- After winning his record-breaking 21th major title at the 2022 Australian Open when he was uncertain about his future due to his injury [6]
About Nadal
[edit]- I'm Rafa's number one fan.
- Roger Federer[7]
- He's a fantastic player and he's going to be around so much longer so I'm happy with every one I get before he takes them all
- Roger Federer[8]
- I felt like what I saw was the old classic Rafa on clay hardly losing sets and matches. That's what we got from him. That's why it's going to be incredibly hard to beat him here at Wimbledon.
- Roger Federer[9]
- Everybody likes to say that Roger Federer is the Greatest Player of all time because its so nice to watch him play...but you have got to throw in Nadal's Mind as well...and That's the GREATEST OF ALL TIME!!!
- Mats Wilander in a video about Nadal's comeback in the year 2010 in which he won three consecutive grand slams.
- "He has never broken a racket in anger. It would be showing a lack of respect to people who actually have to buy the equipment to play the sport."
- Uncle Toni Nadal on nephew Rafael.[10]
- "He is like a beast, an animal, on the court. He's very strong and he's very well prepared."
- Guillermo Coria after losing to Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo. [11]
- "Almagro … is a guy that's won like 11, 12, clay court titles, won them all on clay. The guy's very, very good clay-court player.I don't think he's ever played better than he played - and he still can't win a set. Like how discouraging it is to play Nadal on this surface.Ah, God, I have seen him a thousand times. I just watch this guy and it's hard to even know where to begin to pick one thing.The way he's improved his game, like his serve, the parts of his game where he can move forward, his volley, the defensive ability he's got to track down balls and just make you play extra shots.And the way he sort of slides into balls and puts away a shot - shots that seem like impossible when I was playing - it was unheard of."
- John McEnroe talking about Rafa before the 2012 Roland Garros Men's singles final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal [12]
