Rafael Nadal

By Angela Molchan

Rafael Nadal also known as Rafa is a 22 year old Spanish tennis player. Nadal's Uncle Toni who also is a tennis player introduced tennis to Nadal when he was only 3 years old and has coached him thought his career. Nadal also played football and was force to choose between them at the age of 12 so that his education was not affected because he was playing tennis or football all the time. At the age of 16 Nadal had been ranked as being one of the top 50 tennis players in the world. Nadal being naturally right handed was taught by his uncle Toni to play left handed because he thought

Nadal's two-handed backhand would benefit him with a strong right arm. He uses a full western grip forehand, which allows him to hit a heavy, powerful topspin forehand giving him a bigger margin of error because of the height in which he clears the net and the speed of which the ball drops because of the topspin that is applied to the ball. Nadal uses a Babolat AeroPro Drive without cortex, and his racquet strung is between 50 and 58 pounds.

His clothing is sponsored by Nike. Nadal is known for his unconventional wear, such as sleeveless tops and Capri pants. He wears the Nike Air Max Breathe Cage II shoes[24] which have been customized for him with the famous "Vamos Rafa" written on the side of them.[25] Currently, his shoes display his nickname "Rafa" on one shoe and a logo specifically designed by Nike featuring a stylistic bull's head on the other.

Nadal's career really began to take off in 2002 when he was just 15 years old when he became the ninth player in the open era to win before age 16. In 2003 he became the second youngest male player to rank in the world's top 50 players. In 2004 Nadal won his first singles title. In 2005 Nadal was No. 2 in rankings. They call him The King of Clay because of his abilities on a clay courts. In tournament finals his record was 22 wins and 1 loss and is undefeated in 41 of five sets of matches played on clay. During April 2005 until May of 2007 Nadal won 81 matches in a row making him the owner of the longest single-surface winning streak. Nadal won the French Open in 2006, 2007, and 2008. As of August 2008 Nadal has a 67 wins and 8 losses and has won eight singles titles, including the French Open, Wimbledon, and the Olympic Games. He also had a 32 match winning streak during which he received five titles.Nadal is the number one tennis player in the world and is considered the best spanish player of all time.

Nadal was born in Manacor, Majorca to Sebastián Nadal and Ana María Parera. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. Nadal's upbringing and early years are largely kept private, he has stated growing up his passions were football, tennis, and fishing, and as of 2008 he has been dating María Francesca Perelló,also from Majorca, for three years.

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