In one of sport's curious twists of irony, Rafael Nadal's recent successes may have taken some
of the pressure off Roger Federer as the Swiss bids for his sixth straight Wimbledon title. After
thrashing the world number one in the French Open final, 22-year-old Nadal raised eyebrows even
higher by beating Andy Roddick and Novak Djokovic on his way to becoming the first Spaniard
to win a grass-court event (the Artois Championships at Queen's Club) since Andres Gimeno in
1972. To many observers, Nadal's impressive recent credentials make him the favourite at the
All England Club.
Roddick's serve makes him arguably the most dangerous player on grass behind the world's top two;
Djokovic is widely acknowledged to be the biggest all-court threat to their domination of the sport.
Neither could find an answer to Nadal's indomitable fighting spirit. He adjusted to the grass-court
game with staggering ease. A slightly flatter topspin forehand, more frequent use of slice and
the occasional effective foray to the net demonstrated his willingness to get the job done on
grass, but, as ever, it was his intense competitiveness that sapped the will of his opponents.
He could not have had a greater confidence booster in the run up to Wimbledon. By contrast,
Federer licked his wounds by recording routine wins against the likes of Nicolas Kiefer and
Philipp Kohlshreiber at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.
The left-hander reached the number two ranking on July 25 2005 and has stubbornly refused to
relinquish it ever since, becoming the first player to finish No. 2 for three consecutive years
in the history of ATP Rankings (since 1973). If he has had to play second fiddle to Federer in the
rankings, he takes the spotlight during the clay court season. Denying Federer a career Grand
Slam, Nadal remains undefeated at Roland Garros, having won all 28 matches he has played there.
Between April 2005 and May 2007, he won a record 81 consecutive clay court matches before losing
to Federer in the 2007 Hamburg Masters final - the longest winning streak of any male player on
a single surface in the Open era.
Responsible for starting a fashion trend in wearing sleeveless t-shirts and three-quarter length
trousers, much of Nadal's appeal is attributable to the contrast between his ferocious
fighting spirit on court and his modesty off it.
Nadal's uncle, Miguel Angel played football for Barcelona and the Spanish national team. His other
uncle, Toni, introduced him to tennis at the age of four and has coached him ever since. In his
spare time Rafa likes football, golf, fishing and playing games on his PSP.
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