THIS PAGE
Nadal in another campaign; this time for Armarni
sessions crying. Once, when his mother asked him what the matter was, he recalls telling her his uncle had called him a ”mummy’s boy”. But he begged her to say nothing to his uncle, because it might interfere with his coaching. Despite Toni’s toughness, Rafael stuck at the sport, growing
keener when he started to win competitions at the age of seven. But Toni remained harsh. He never gave praise, focusing on the mistakes Rafael had made and how to improve. When the seven- year-old Rafael forgot to take his water bottle to a tournament, Toni wouldn’t buy him another. He should ”take responsibility for his When asked if he was unnecessarily hard on Rafael, Toni replies
that he ”never pushed the boy more than he could take.” His aim, he tells people, was to ensure that Rafael should learn about endurance. ”Endure. Learn to overcome weakness and pain, push yourself
to breaking point, but never cave in. If you don’t learn that lesson, you’ll never succeed as an elite athlete,” he would tell him. Toni accepted no excuses from his nephew. It was never a good
enough excuse that the strings were too loose on the racket, or that Rafael had slept badly. Everything he did on the court was Rafael’s responsibility.
He admits that ”Often I’d struggle to contain my rage.” But he also adds: ”All that tension in every single coaching session, right moments in a match with more self-control than might otherwise people say they see in me on court.” Admirable? Perhaps. But listening to this account of his
childhood, you can’t help asking why Rafael regarded his childhood as a ”fairytale one”! For Toni, the answer is clear. Rafael was ”Clever.” clever enough
to know that his elders knew what was good for him. A simple answer, and partly right. But it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Whether it was something
Endure. Learn to overcome weakness and pain, push yourself to breaking point, but never cave in.
OPPOSITE LEFT
Rafael Nadal looking pleased with his trophy
OPPOSITE MIDDLE
Rafael displaying his chiseled abs in an Armarni ad
OPPOSITE RIGHT
Nadal is known on the court for his powerful serve
that Toni instilled in him, or something he had naturally, Rafael was intensely competitive, even when he was young. His reward from playing was winning. ”I don’t have a sense of humour about losing,” he says with a set to his jaw. He recalls he lost at card games. It’s still in him. Even as an adult he has accused his family of cheating at cards because he would not accept defeat. The importance of winning came home to his father, Sebastian, when Rafael was just 10 years old. He had spent the summer with friends on the beach rather than training, and it showed when he lost his next match.
His father, seeking to
console him said: ”Come on, Why’s that not enough?” Young Rafael’s answer was clear and to the point: ”Yes Dad, but all the fun I had then can’t make up for the pain I’m feeling right now. I never want to feel this way again.”
10 |
WWW.THEBESTYOUMAGAZINE.CO
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72