How Rafael Nadal Spent His Off-Season

Here's another fun Rafael Nadal article.   He's such an unusual character - so tenacious and brimming with confidence on court and yet so normal off it.   I was expecting him to have developed a big head by now.

I suppose it comes from his never having left home.

From The Times: Nadal works on in quest for world domination

Rafael Nadal will visit both sets of grandparents on Christmas Day, much as he would most days when he is in Manacor, his Majorcan home from home, for the essence of the second-best tennis player in the world is that he acts like it only when he is on a court, and there he has never been content with second best. At home, and at rest, Nadal is a son and grandson to savour.

When it is put to Sebastián, his father, that it is not usual that his son has remained normal when so much is at stake — he has earned nearly $9 million (about £4.6 million) in prize-money alone — the look one gets is of incredulity. “What is normal is the way he is, no?” Nadal Sr says...

Nadal describes Christmas as “one of the nicest moments of the year” and, yes, as a child he believed in Santa Claus. “I love the story of the three kings coming with their gifts to the baby king — it is the sign of new life, of new belief,” he says. He has presented his father with a beautiful car, one that Sebastián considered too extravagant for his taste...

In the locker-rooms of the world, before he goes out to perform, it is all anyone can do to keep him from taking great lumps of concrete from the walls. Whereas the world No l from Switzerland is the epitome of calm detachment, Nadal cannot rest, his familiar bounding warm-up routine, more Frazier than Federer, is not a show; it is how he is.

He reckons that he has “not stopped playing tennis” since his defeat by Federer in the semi-finals of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai last month was followed by an exhibition match in Seoul, South Korea, where they captivated a sellout crowd.

“I am practising hard, playing real physical tennis,” Nadal says. “I am trying to serve a little better, to use more aggressivity, trying to hit more winners off my forehand and to step into the court more and playing not so much from the baseline. I have spent a lot of the last few weeks on this aspect.

Comments

[Peacemaster]

An interesting article. I hope the poor fellow is not risking an early burn-out again from all the intense preparation to dethrone The Man In Whose Veins Ice Water Flows. As has been said often, it is yet to be seen if his all-out style is sustainable for a long career.

[lisen]

Or you could look at it the other way. There's no way his style is sustainable for a long career so he might as well make the most of what he's got now.

[Kelly]

Nadal's nature of playing chase the ball and hit it back is wearing him down, it may be good to make the opponent hit the extra ball, but its just hurting him in the long run.

[Shely]

I wish he was coming to my house for Christmas.