“&*#!!” curses Toni Nadal. Interrupt Toni when he is in task mode and the oaths fly out of his mouth like hot sparks from a blacksmith’s anvil. It is important to understand that Toni does not curse casually, nor as a form of insult, rather of exasperation. In this particular case, it is the frustration of being delayed and quite possibly missing a flight from Palma de Mallorca to Madrid. We are at the entrance of the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy in Manacor, and the airport is nearly an hour’s drive away. I am but one of a handful of obstacles keeping Toni from getting to the airport on time. Standing aside, I watch Toni multi-task. He answers phone calls,...
Rafael Nadal has logged 900 ATP World Tour victories throughout his career, a milestone so significant that only four other players have accomplished the feat in the Open Era (Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, Guillermo Vilas). [ALSO LIKE] That's a lot of wins, even by Nadal's lofty standards. So many wins, in fact, he lost count. What should have been extra reason to celebrate following his fourth-round victory at Roland Garros on Monday nearly went unnoticed by the 16-time Grand Slam champion. "Today was my 900th win?" Nadal asked after defeating Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4), one day after his 32nd birthday. "It's hard to choose just one of my favourites, honestly, but if I were to narrow it...
Carlos Moya, coach of World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, is breaking down the Spaniard's performances at Roland Garros for ATPWorldTour.com. Nadal is pursuing his 11th trophy on the Parisian terre battue. On Monday, the defending champion defeated Germany’s Maximilian Marterer, 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4) to advance to the quarter-finals, where he'll face 11th seed Diego Schwartzman for a place in the last four. Moya lists five key takeaways from Nadal’s win over Marterer. [ALSO LIKE] Caught Flat-footed ... There was no excuse for Rafa to go down 0-2 at the beginning of the match. We were kind of rushed because the previous match on Court Philippe-Chatrier ended a little earlier than expected. Rafa was grabbing something to eat when we got...
Rafael Nadal made a shocking revelation on Monday at Roland Garros after defeating Maximilian Marterer to advance to his 12th quarter-final on the Parisian terre battue. “It’s not true that I was born on clay,” Nadal said, eliciting laughter in the press room. With that being said, the 10-time champion was not completely joking. “Everybody thought I practised on clay all my life, and it’s not true. I practiced a lot on hard court when I was a kid. I practised on clay, too, but a lot on hard,” Nadal said. “During all my career, my game adapted very well to this surface and I've had amazing success. Honestly, I had success on all the surfaces and I worked hard...
World No. 1 Rafael Nadal became only the fifth player in the past 50 years to record 900 match wins (900-187) on Monday for a place in the Roland Garros quarter-finals. The 10-time champion follows in the footsteps of Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Guillermo Vilas as one of the Top 5 Open Era match wins leaders. [ALSO LIKE] The Spanish superstar, who celebrated his 32nd birthday on 3 June, improved to 83-2 lifetime at the clay-court Grand Slam championship with a 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4) fourth-round victory over one-time practice partner and German debutant Maximilian Marterer on Philippe-Chatrier Court. “The match in general terms has been positive,” said Nadal. “[The score] 6-3, 6-2 was a very positive 12...
