On November 19th 2024, Rafael Nadal Parera played his last professional tennis match after a 22 year long career. Nadal dominated the sport becoming the 2nd player with 22 grand slam titles. Nadal known as “The King of Clay”, due to his particular dominance in this surface, won 14 Rolland Garros. Nadal not only experienced great individual success but he also enjoyed great success with Spain’s national squad, winning 5 Davis Cups. Nadal is arguably one of the greatest tennis players ever, leading many to consider him as the best athlete in Spain’s history. Despite other athletes such as Andres Iniesta, Fernando Alonso, Pau Gasol and many others having a comparable track record in their respective fields, Nadal’s work ethic and mentality makes him stand out as the best athlete in Spain’s history.
Nadal was born into a family of sportsmen, where his Uncle Toni (former tennis player) introduced him to tennis at age 3 and acted as his coach. At the age of 12, Nadal decided to commit to tennis over football after becoming European champion and he began training seriously with his Uncle Toni. His uncle built a training program based on discipline where he would not tolerate a single excuse from Nadal. This went to the point where Nadal played half a game with a broken racket without noticing it, as he was used to all his misses being his fault. At the age of 13, whilst Nadal’s classmates enjoyed their teenage years, his entire life was dedicated to tennis. Thankfully, his hard work paid off and he had his professional debut at the early age of 15. His mental toughness and his relentless work ethic gave him an edge over his competitors. As a result, at age 19, Nadal won his first grand slam and became the 2nd best player in the world. His career was only starting.
Nadal continued with his winning streak by securing 4 Rolland Garros in a row along with other grand slams such as Wimbledon in 2008, where he beat Roger Federer in the final. To this day, the 2008 Wimbledon final is considered one of the greatest tennis matches of all time as it represents the highlight of Nadal and Federer’s legendary rivalry. These two players along with Novak Djokovic have dominated the world of tennis for the last two decades. In turn, they entertained millions of spectators with their intense games. Nadal made the extraordinary seem easy and has always made me jump out of my seat with his seemingly impossible points. Nadal showed me that anything is possible with his amazing comebacks; this was the case at the Australian Open Final in 2022, where Nadal was 2 sets down and the artificial intelligence win predictor gave him only a 4% chance of winning. He was able to come back and win the match after 5h30min at the age of 35. Nadal was a great advocate for psychological training as it helped him stay calm and prevent his nerves from taking over in the final stretches of the game, especially in long games such as this Australian Open Final.
Nadal was not only a legend inside the pitch, his charisma and behaviour outside the tennis court are the main reasons I consider him as the greatest athlete in Spain’s history. Back in 2018, Saint Llorenç, a neighbouring town to his childhood town of Manacor in Mallorca, suffered devastating floods that filled the entire town with mud. Nadal not only helped cleaning the mud from the houses, but he also offered accommodation in his tennis academy facilities to the victims. Nadal abandoned his star status and had no problem in getting dirty to help the victims.
Ultimately, Nadal was forced to retire last November. Even though his heart wanted him to carry on with tennis, his body couldn’t respond. Nadal’s has left a deep void in Spanish tennis, which Carlos Alcaraz will hopefully fill. His love for tennis lives on with the academy that he founded in 2016. Nadal’s tennis academy is focused on supporting great tennis talent along with providing an excellent education to its students. Nadal is now able to spend more time with his wife and his son. He will always be tennis’ greatest ambassador and Spain’s best athlete ever. Thanks for everything Nadal!!!
Nicolas Izuzkiza, Year 12
My Experience at the Academy
During my time at the Rafael Nadal Academy, I saw firsthand the impressive legacy Nadal has built to ensure accessible, top-tier training that helps players grow. Stepping foot in the academy only increased my willingness to play and improve. From the very first lesson, the coaches encouraged us to push ourselves, whether it was running 20 laps every day for warm-up or analysing Nadal’s tactics during our "Build A Champion" lesson to try to apply them. Equally impressive is how the academy brings together students and coaches from all over the world, even allowing me to play with people from Puerto Rico and work with coaches from Slovakia. I have had an opportunity to analyse how Nadal continues to shape tennis as a sport that unites players who are willing to play tennis during any season, hour and moment. Even at 11pm, while most courts remained in the dark, I was playing tennis with my French roommate in pyjamas, reflecting the global community fostered at the academy.
What stood out was that perfection wasn't the goal in tennis; instead, our coaches taught us to turn our mistakes into improvements. Although I was frustrated by my right-hand faults at first, my coaches never gave up on me. They patiently helped me improve, explaining the nuances of the technique over and over until it was embedded in my mind. Furthermore, throughout my two weeks at the academy, we weren’t treated just as players but as athletes: we had access to physiotherapists (which I needed for a wrist injury) and enjoyed nutritious meals around the clock. It was thus unsurprising that when the rumour spread about Nadal visiting the academy, everyone, including myself, forgot about everything and ran to meet him. Together with excited fans, I waited to see him finish his training to get an autograph. Even after a long day, Rafa showed deep gratitude toward his fans who desperately waited more than two hours, personally signing caps and tennis balls for everyone while inside his Kia car, even if was meant to be an ordinary drive home in Manacor.
Nadal’s dedication to empowering others, also seen with his role as a philanthropist, makes him truly stand out as an idol. Together with Roger Federer, he has invested his time and energy into creating opportunities for others to learn. Nadal is a truly role model as he shows how talent can be combined with selflessness, and I continue to use this as inspiration in both my tennis and my life.
Mika. S, Year 13
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