Rafael Nadal is arguably one of the most feared athletes in history. Rafa’s opponents have repeatedly stated that playing the Mallorcan is often overwhelming from the very beginning. Rafa’s intensity is legendary also during his training and his epic warm-ups.
During a recent episode of ‘Tennis Legends’ on Eurosport, Rafa’s coach and former world no.1 Carlos Moya talked about Nadal’s incredible attitude and the role of his family.
“I think you are born like that. I mean, you can learn a lot of things for sure. He learned that and improved in many ways, but you have to have it. Also, his background is very good, he has a family that was in the professional sport before, so for sure that helps. I mean, if you can teach that, we will have many Rafas and we don’t have that at all. So that’s something that we, I mean, it’s amazing,” he commented.
Nadal becomes a beast
During the interview, Carlos stressed the fact that Rafa comes from a very relaxed environment. However, the King of Clay can switch in “beast mode” any time he competes.
“Nobody could expect a guy from Mallorca to win 19 Grand Slams, 12 French Opens. For me, it was a big surprise that he won Wimbledon as well. Like I said, his background is very good. Mallorca is a calm island. We are called the ‘calm guys from the island’ and with the atmosphere we have here, we take things very easy.
You know, we are pretty relaxed, we like to chill. You know, I think in that sense, Rafael Nadal is like that. But then once he steps on the court, he becomes a beast,” added Moya.
Rafael Nadal in 2020
Now ranked no.2, the Spaniard played his last match on the 29th of February when he beat Taylor Fritz 6-3 6-2 in the final in Acapulco to win his 85th career title.
At the moment, this season, the Spaniard has a 13-3 win-loss record. The Spaniard has won 1 title in Acapulco.
