Top 10 things to know about Nadal, a rather strong player

1. Out of 18 participations Nadal lost only 3 games at Roland Garros

Since his participation in Roland Garros, Nadal has lost only 3 games. Two against Djoko in 2015 and 2021, and one against Robin Soderling. So that means he won 97.3% of his matches, or 112 wins in 115 games played, yes, whatever the number, it’s not disgusting.

2. Nadal is the oldest player to win Roland Garros

At 36, Nadal has become the oldest player to win Roland Garros. Given his domination on the French field, we can say that it will not be his last victory. How far will Nadal push his domination? We wonder, but we should leave a little to others too.

3. He suffers from a rare pathology that may cause him to stop playing tennis one day

This disease was talked about during this edition of Roland Garros, because Nadal declared that he suffered from it particularly, and explained that he sometimes no longer even took pleasure in playing as the pain was great. Nadal suffers from Muller-Weiss syndrome, a disease in which a bone in his left foot is not irrigated normally and “dies” gradually, and that’s not very pleasant, necessarily.

Despite his chronic pain, Nadal wanted to participate in this edition of Roland Garros, and even with one foot less the guy won, it’s scary.

4. Rafael Nadal hesitated for a while between football and tennis

Can you imagine if Nadal had preferred football? We would surely have missed one of the biggest stars in the history of tennis. In his childhood, Nadal practiced football as well as tennis, one of his uncles, Miguel Ángel Nadal, was a professional footballer who notably played for FC Barcelona, ​​RCD Mallorca but also for the Spanish national team. His other uncle Toni Nadal was a tennis enthusiast, and began training young Rafael when he was three years old.

In his adolescence, Nadal was therefore divided, a fan of Real Madrid RCD Mallorca he continued football, until being “forced” to make a choice. Having all the same a preference for tennis, Nadal chose this sport and immediately stopped all the others. The career was launched.

5. Nadal’s game has adopted a left-handed game, although in everyday life he is right-handed

If we go a little more into Nadal’s game technique (just a little, because I shouldn’t overdo it, I’m not a tennis consultant), we understand better how he hurts his opponents.

At first you should know that Nadal studies the game of his opponents to exploit their weak point, moreover he adopts a very lifted game preventing his opponents from going on the attack which allows him to defend better. Then, even if he is right-handed in life, his uncle always taught him to play with both hands, and then advised him to choose the left hand. Left-handers are more difficult to play for right-handers (who are in the majority) because the serve will not be exactly the same, and the game will change slightly, enough to destabilize his opponents.

6. Nadal’s fastest serve was flashed at 217 km/h

The serve was one of the points on which Nadal improved the most. In just under 10 years (over the period 2003 – 2010), it has gone from a service going on average at 158 ​​km/h to a service of around 190 km/h. It was at the 2010 US Open that he recorded his fastest serve to date against Feliciano López, flashed at 217 km / h. He’s a bit far from Sam Groth’s serve flashed at 263 km/h in 2012, but hey, since that doesn’t prevent him from winning all his matches, I think he doesn’t care a bit.

7. Nadal is one of the most enduring players, more than his two main rivals Djoko and Federer

As we know, Nadal is a physical guy who will push in the gym, jogging, swimming and all kinds of other things to develop his endurance. And casually it is useful, since a stat shows that he wins 76% of his matches when they last more than 4 hours, which is more than his two rivals Djoko and Federer.

8. He maintains his concentration with many tics throughout his matches

Nadal is particularly renowned for having many, many tics. He puts his water bottles in very specific positions, before each service he takes a specific number of steps, touches his nose, his ears, puts his hair and his underpants back on, all in a defined order. It sounds crazy, but all these facial expressions allow him to concentrate in his matches, it’s not just superstition or madness.

9. He shares his life with the same woman forever, it’s beautiful isn’t it?

Maybe you don’t care but I find it cute, Nadal is not one of those stars who only go out with stars or with fans. He has been in a relationship since 2005 with Maria Francisca Perelló, a childhood friend of his younger sister whom he has known forever. So cute.

10. He’s been bribing the APT since 2005 to win Roland Garros every time

And he only lost three times to make it more believable. The guy definitely has a foot less but he still wins, does that shock anyone? Open your eyes in fact.