Timesonline 06-26-07

Nadal ready to strain every sinew in pursuit of greatness

Neil Harman, Tennis Correspondent

There was no triumphalism. Ten minutes after he settled back into the locker-room at Roland Garros after his historic third successive French Open singles title 15 days ago, Rafael Nadal was a model of calm, deep in thought and not the least convulsed. He sat in a corner and allowed the back-slapping to go on around him. His press conference was the epitome of considered thought and mild rhetoric.

Such moderate behaviour goes to the heart of the 21-year-old from Manacor, Majorca, who sincerely believes that he will win Wimbledon one day because he does not enter any event thinking of anything less than victory.

It has often been written that Nadal reached the final last year largely because he had a decent draw. This is tosh. What about the second-round saga against Robert Kendrick, the American, a five-set match he so nearly lost? Remember on the middle Saturday he had to play Andre Agassi, whom many were desperate to see extend his final championship. And he had to douse the exuberance of Marcos Baghdatis, the Cypriot, in the semi-finals before his epic entanglement with Roger Federer.

There is no doubt that last year on the last day there were those in the crowd who were more raucous in their support for Federer. Nadal is the muscular, rip-roaring embodiment of the new generation and when Federer accepts that already, at 25, he has begun to consider what may come after his career, it is evidence of how much keeping up with Nadal is costing the champion

Nadal has changed the face of tennis and it does not always sit well with the people who find it difficult to reconcile a young man who plays as if life itself depends on every point and yet who speaks with such a soft lilt, who is courteous beyond his years, who never throws a racket because his family would not tolerate it and who is not allowed to put on his shoes without untying the laces.

As his English has improved — he loves to use a new word in press conferences (his new favoured words are “humble” and “hh-attitude”), so he has become increasingly proactive in speaking out on issues that concern him most, notably the protection of as many clay-court tournaments as possible and the Davis Cup.

“One of the press agencies published quotes from me regarding the Davis Cup and I didn’t say what they quoted me as saying, that it’s an antiquated event, that you lose money playing it,” Nadal said. “I said that it’s a very, very special competition. I experience feelings playing Davis Cup that you do not experience elsewhere, that money cannot buy.

“Every time I did not have any physical injury, I always played for my country and with a lot of passion. We need to look at the way it is played because it’s a very important event and we need to make sure that the top players are playing in Davis Cup. I say, too, I don’t know the solution, but we need to find it.”

In Spain, Nadal transcends his sport — how many times did the cameras at last weekend’s Real Madrid versus Mallorca football match home in on the smartly dressed young titan in the crowd? When he is out in the evening, you never see him dressed in anything other than a jacket and tailored shirt.

After he lost in the quarter-finals of the Artois Championships to Nicolas Mahut, of France, he did not shout and scream. He just wanted to smell the Majorcan air for a while before knuckling down for Wimbledon. “I needed to come back home,” he said. “I have spent a lot of time playing tennis in the last two months. I was maybe two days at home. I needed to disconnect, play some golf, watch a little bit of the end of the football league, have some fun with friends. I needed to put the racket very far from me for two days.

“I would love to have won and play the semi-finals or final at Queen’s and still come back home for few days, too. But I was trying my best, it was not possible. The positive thing is that I had a little bit of time at home. The negative thing is that I couldn’t play one or two more matches because I love to play.

“The best preparation is like when you are going to the US Open — you have three, four tournaments before, or when you are going to the clay, you have many weeks for the right preparation. For grass, it all is very close. To adapt on grass in one week is difficult. I just try my best.

“Last year I had doubts. I had three matches. I went to Wimbledon on Tuesday. I had one week of preparation there. I will have the same schedule this year and we will see.”

He likes to share his emotions, as the Rafael Nadal blog, which will appear in The Times for as long as he remains in the championships, will testify. He will be up until 11pm each night, making sure that he gets the words across just as he intends them.

“I’m not thinking of going to the final at Wimbledon,” he said. “I’m just going to play and progress as the tournament goes on. You need to be in the race. a final again is very difficult. You’re talking about a surface that is obviously not my favourite. But I want to do my best. And if I don’t succeed, I’ll go back home happy because I’ve done what I could.

“It’s going to be a difficult tournament, but I have great hopes and great expectations as well.”