World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has made a startling revelation that he liked grass more than clay when he was taking his baby steps to become a professional tennis player.
Left-hander Nadal has been remarkably successful on the clay courts of Europe, earning him the epithet of the ‘King of Clay’ for his sheer dominance on the surface over the years. Since making his debut at Roland Garros in 2005, Rafa has lost only two matches in Paris. While his winning streak at the French Open has been near perfect, capturing a record 10 titles in 12 attempts.
Disclosing his early dream of winning Wimbledon, Nadal told Spanish newspaper AS: “Despite the slightly disproportionate success I’ve had on clay, I wasn’t coached for that surface. My uncle Toni, when I was a kid, didn’t train me to be a clay specialist, mentally or as a player. And despite what people think, I didn’t train that much on clay. But it’s true that my style of play and the success I had at the beginning of my career gave me a lot of confidence on the surface.”
“I adapted very well to clay but the truth is that I always wanted to play well on grass because at that time it had been a while since any (male) Spanish players had been successful on grass. For me that was a huge source of motivation and I thought I had the ability to do well because at the end of the day if you have the desire to improve, you have the possibility of doing so. Doing so well on clay helped me to become better on grass as well. It’s a completely different game, but that confidence helped me. I started to adapt and to enjoy it although lately my knees haven’t allowed me to. This year I was in good shape, I enjoy grass and the surface is good for me.”
