From the day I started watching tennis, I fell in love with Rafael Nadal's (the King of Clay) game. He is, no doubt, one of the greatest tennis players, if not the greatest, of all time with a total of 19 grand slams. The first game of tennis that I watched was the 2008 Wimbledon final. I was on summer vacation at a cousin's, and we all sat together to watch the grand finale between Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal. All my cousins were supporting Roger Federer because he had an amazing record on grass and had defeated Nadal in the previous 2 years. At that time, I didn't have enough knowledge of how tennis is played and what the points distribution was. But I learned it quickly watching that final. I saw how relentlessly and flawlessly Nadal played against the invincible Federer. I saw him making backhand shots with such accuracy that the ball merely touched the cross line with a bare margin. It was so fascinating to watch him play like that. In the end, when Nadal won the final, I knew that this guy would go far and would defeat anyone on any surface.
Currently, he is the only player in history to have won 12 grand slams at a single major (i.e., on clay at the French Open). Nobody has ever defeated him on clay at Roland Garros, which speaks volumes about his level of play and greatness. Moreover, he has won 2 grand slams on grass and 5 grand slams on hard court. Although he hasn't won as many matches on grass and hard court, I still consider him the GOAT. Moreover, he is a humble and down-to-earth person. I've seen him showing respect for his opponents irrespective of the results.
What I like the most about Rafa is that he never gives up. He puts his heart into his game and would do anything to defend his point until the very last nanosecond. He only loses the point when he has given his 100% and knows that his opponent played it really, really well. What this mindset of Nadal teaches us is that we should never give up on our goals, dreams, and ambitions. If we want to achieve something in life that is very close to our heart, then we should work hard for it and always be ready to face any obstacles that come in the path. Also, we have to believe in ourselves because that matters the most.
It's been almost 12 years since I started watching Nadal's game, and I'm always equally excited to watch him play and try not to miss any of his games (especially the grand slam ones). Nadal has motivated me and inspired me more than anyone. Although his field of expertise is very different from mine, there are many common grounds where I apply his techniques and tactics, and the results are what I expect them to be. To sum it up, I consider him my role model and hope that I get to meet him one day *fan moment* and take a picture with him. Maybe at next year's U.S. Open (who knows).
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