Rafael Nadal is a great Spanish tennis player. Two-time Olympic champion. 11-time winner of the French Open. The first racket of the world in singles. A successful athlete and an exemplary family man.
Rafael Nadal is a Spanish tennis player, two-time Olympic champion in singles in Beijing and in doubles in Rio de Janeiro with Marc Lopez. The first racket of the world in singles. He won 17 victories in Grand Slam tournaments, including reaching the final of the French Open 11 times and winning it.
Biography
Raphael was born on June 3, 1986 in the Spanish city of Manacor. His father is a businessman, restaurant owner and insurance company. Mother is a housewife and president of the foundation named after him. Raphael has a younger sister.
Nadal is a fan of the Mallorca football team and also owns a 10% stake in it. He is also a fan of the Real Madrid football club. Rafael's love for football was instilled by his uncle, the famous football player Miguel Angel Nadal, who played for the football clubs Mallorca and Barcelona.
The second uncle, Antonio Nadal, helped Rafael pave the way into the world of tennis, being his coach. When Raphael was 4 years old, he gave him the first racket.
His biography is fascinating, a famous football player could turn out from Raphael. Until the age of 12, Nadal successfully combined football and tennis. However, due to the fact that classes took up all their free time, school performance declined. Rafael's father, Sebastian, insisted that Nadal Jr. choose one sport and be able to successfully get an education. The choice was made in favor of tennis.
The beginning of a sports career
Nadal is known for endurance and athleticism, although this was not seen as a child. Uncle Tony made him run from 500 to 5000 meters every day so that Rafael would not fall off his feet after 20 minutes of playing on the court.
He is called the "King of Ground" for his successful performance on clay.
At the age of 8 he won a regional tennis tournament. At the age of 12, he won European titles in his age group. When Nadal was 14 years old, the Spanish Tennis Federation invited him to move to Barcelona and continue training. However, the family turned down this offer, and Uncle Tony said that you can train in your hometown to become a good athlete.
At the age of 15, Nadal became a professional tennis player. At 16 he reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon youth tournament. And at 18 he helped the Spanish national team win the Davis Cup.
Achieving Success
The 2005-2006 season was successful for Nadal. He won 24 matches in a row. A victory in the French Open and subsequent victories elevated him to second place in the rankings by the end of the season, despite the injury he sustained.
The peak of his career came in 2008. Victory in the French Open, Wimbledon raised him to the first line of the ranking. The same year brought Raphael gold at the Beijing Olympics in singles.
2009 was not a very successful year for Nadal due to injury, but this did not prevent him from staying on the second line of the ranking.
In 2010, Rafael again became the first racket in singles. He lost this championship to Novak Djokovic in 2011.
The next peak of his career was in 2013, when Nadal took part in 17 tournaments, reached the final in 14 and won 10 victories.
2016 brought Nadal the second Olympic gold medal for the Games in Rio de Janeiro in doubles. And in 2018, he won the French Open for the 11th time, which is a record. He finished the season on the first line of the world rankings.
Personal life
Since 2005, Rafael Nadal has been dating the Spanish woman Hisca Perella, whom they have known since school. Until 2010, this novel was kept secret from the press. The girl does not like publicity and glamor. She is not a frequent visitor to matches with Nadal's participation, as she has a permanent job in the insurance industry.
Rafael himself, despite his popularity and merits, calls himself an ordinary person who tries to behave correctly on and off the court. His personal life was shaped by the environment in which he grew up. However, he says that he is not a perfect child.
