通往納達(dá)爾的內(nèi)心之旅

1、A JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF NADALA JOURNEY TO THE HEART OF NADAL BY · MAY 22, 2014The other day, an interview that was conducted after the Rome final was posted to : “Un viaje al corazón de Nadal“. Even though shed just busted her ass on the LEquipe 21 documentary translation, Genny once aga

2、in stepped up to the plate. Were not worthy!A Journey to the Heart of NadalPhoto by Beth Wilsonby Rafael Plaza (and translated by Rafael Nadal (Manacor, Mallorca, 1986 says goodbye, one by one, to everybody he comes across through the corridors of the center court in Rome, where he has just lost the

3、 final of the last tournament he is going to play before Roland Garros. The world number one goes down the stairs to the street carrying two heavy bags and walking a few meters signing autographs for all the fans waiting patiently in the shelter of the evening, with the moon as witness to the sunset

4、. Then he gets in a black car and on the way that separates the Foro Italico from Ciampino airport, in the back seat of the vehicle, the Mallorcan analyzes and discusses his life in a conversation with this website that takes place between streets, highways and traffic lights. He looks at the eyes,

5、drains two bottles of water and gesticulates constantly to support his reflections with the hands that have raised 13 Grand Slam tournaments.Q. What did you want to be when you were a child?A. I would have liked to be an athlete. Tennis player, soccer player that was what I said. I guess like most c

6、hildren. In the end, when youre a kid, and a little sports enthusiast, youd do what you do at that time. In my case that was playing tennis andsoccer. Aside from wanting to be that, I was always living sport in a quite special way.Q. What is the first tennis memory you have?A. When I was a three or

7、four years old kid and went to the Manacor Tennis Club once or twice per week.Q. Do you think you lost many things in the adolescence?A. No. All I think is that Ive done the same things that have made my friends but less often. It was not a sacrifice because Ive done what I liked. Ive been fortunate

8、 to do what I liked and to stand out in it. As far as it goes, it is not that my life has been just tennis. Apart from the things I have been able to do playing tennis, of all the experiences I have had with the sport, I think my life has not only been tennis. Some people go crazy and spends all day

9、 thinking about it, they cannot seem to do anything beyond playing tennis. I have played tennis and done my best when I have been on court, but I also played soccer and been with my friends. In fact, I used to play soccer in the street with my friends. I also studied, went out when I could go out an

10、d still go out when I can do it. As far as it goes, I have enjoyed everything that Ive been able to enjoy or that I have felt like doing. What happens is that if my friends have gone out a thousand times, I have gone out two hundred.Q. Who is the person who has influenced your life most?A. My family

11、. Tennis wise, Toni, obviously. Also on a personal level, but my parents are the ones who have spent more time with me for most of my life.Q. Speak about the family. your grandmother has a face of overwhelming pride.A. Most people are proud to see an acquaintance or a family member to standout on so

12、mething. More than anything, it is on a personal level. I want to think that my family would not have been satisfied, had the success been at any price. There are ways and ways to succeed.Q. Are they that important as supporting point?A. It is not only in tennis. Our way of life in Mallorca goes qui

13、te attached to the family. I have always been a family person. I like being with the family and I feel good when Im with them. Tennis aside, personally I think that Ive been really lucky to have had the family always close, since we all have lived near, and enjoyed myuncles and my grandparents when

14、I was a kid. Now I can do it less because Im hardly ever there, but I always try to enjoy my little cousins. Q. What does Mallorca have that no other place in the world has? A. Every place is different, but the most important thing Mallorca has is that all the people I love are there. Or most of the

15、 people I love. That is what makes each return home special. And Mallorca has things that make me feel good there. I am passionate about the sea. To be able to get up and see the ocean every day is something I love. I consider myself a happy person. I like doing things. I cannot imagine my life in a

16、 place where the weather does not help me do things. I need the weather to go along with me to be able to do the things I like.Q. What is the difference between the happiness felt by a child with the hope of becoming tennis player and that of a 13 majors champion?A. When youre a kid, what you have a

17、re dreams. Just as I still have now. I do not think things change that much. It is true that when you are professional things are a little more complicated. You have a broader environment. You have to pay attention to things that when youre a kid you dont have to. When youre a kid you play tennis, g

18、o back home and its over. Now there are other people who trust you, who care about you and depend on you. Directly or indirectly, you have people depending on you and you must answer for them. You have to be vigilant to get things done not only for oneself, which is obviously the main thing, but als

19、o for all who trust in you, from sponsors to all those surrounding you, who support you and work hard every day for you to be at your best.Photo by Beth WilsonQ. Being 12 years old in 1998 in Stuttgart, you warmed up with Carlos Moya. What did you feel? He was everything at that time.A. It was a dre

20、am and something special to be able to spend that half an hour with Carlos on court. He always made everything easy for me. He was a very accessible person. With me, he was a special person. First of all, Carlos is an example of good people. And he is a person who, if he can help you in something, h

21、e does it. Theres one thing I value above all others. Youre from the same island, same country and youre a young man who is in the ascending path. When youre world number one, Roland Garros champion, an icon as he has been, seeing someone coming andsurpassing you at one point, in terms of results, i

22、f you are not a very good person and have the proper heart and the right education because it is not just a question of accepting the situations, but also how to live them. Throughout my career I felt that Carlos has always wanted me to win and that things went as best as possible for me. That is so

23、mething that is not available to everyone. That the spirit of competitiveness does not make you wish otherwise. Thats the best example of how things should be. Q. “I found him very shy. He hardly looked at me, he looked shamefaced, but his intensity surprised me taking into account how young he was”

24、, says Moya on that meeting. Are these the two sides of Nadal? Shy off the court and a competitive animal on it.A. Before I was more shy than now, although I still am in many things. I have a hard time to start with people I do not know, oddly enough. In some cases I still show that shyness. Since I

25、 was a child, I have trained with a very high intensity, always to the fullest no matter the player I was practicing with, I always came out full of energy. Much more then than now.Q. It is said that a few years later panic spread because an elephant ride ended with a visit from a herd of rhinos in

26、South Africa.A. In 2003. Being 14, I had won the Nike Junior Tour International there and came back being 17, after the first year as a professional, for an event and support the tour. I was already a professional, had won it three times and was returning there as Nike image to see young people. I t

27、ook advantage of the opportunity to do a short safari riding on an elephant. I do not remember it being a herd of rhinos, I remember there were one or two (laughs. But it is true that the guide had the shotgun prepared just in case.Q. “Lets hope nothing happens to me. I have to play and win Wimbledo

28、n”. Is it true that you said that at the time?A. No, certainly not. At that time I was not thinking of that, not at all. I was thinking of the rhino going in the other direction. My tennis career was not so important as to think of it in times of danger. I think life is much more important than tenn

29、is. Nothing happened. In fact, we saw it, the guide got a little defensive and said it was dangerous just in case the rhino got crazy. We were told not to move, went by calmly and the rhino looked at us. I guess the guides know the gestures of the animals and saw that this one was a little nervous.Q

30、. Why is Wimbledon the only Grand Slam you played being junior?A. It is the only one I play because I had to study. I was not going to travel toAustralia to play a junior tournament. I was able to play the Futures, I did not need to go to Melbourne. And at the time of Roland Garros, I was finishing

31、fourth grade in secondary school, which was very important to get it done, at least the mandatory. ItRG coincided with the final exams. I had played Futures during the first twoquarters, hardly attended the classes and I had to pass that year no matter what. And in the third quarter I hardly played

32、tournaments.Q. Is it the major you really have always wanted to win?A. The question is that things are later magnified when you are older or when youve already got it. When you are a kid, things are sold in a way that dont correspond with reality. One dreams of some day getting to play Wimbledon. Ho

33、w are you going to think of winning it when you are 12? Unless youre super arrogant, you do not think of those things, you think of playing and enjoying the excitement of being able to play there someday. And playing Wimbledon for the first time was a fantastic experience. I guess the culprit is my

34、uncle. As a child, he was always speaking of the tournament to me, the enthusiasm for wanting to play Wimbledon. Playing on grass is somewhat different. You can play on cement and clay everywhere. On grass, you play almost nowhere. I got there the first day and practiced with Francis Roig. I remembe

35、r he was with Feliciano Lopez at Wimbledon that year. And I had a good feeling from day one, regardless of the feelings of enjoying playing on grass. The feeling for the shots was very positive.Q. After defeating Federer in Miami in 2004 you said: “I think physically Im not such a limited player”. I

36、ts funny to remember it now.A. I have never considered myself a player physically limited. My fitness has always been powerful. At the time, we talk about 2004, my physique was starting to be good. If we talk of 2003, it cost me much more. When I was played with a high ball to myBH, I had a lot of t

37、roubles to go out from there because I did not have enough strength yet. In 2004 it was a shame that my foot got destroyed in Estoril because I was in a very good path. When I got injured I was 17 or 19 in the RACE, really well positioned in the season.Q. You always say that the favorite to win a to

38、urnament is something of the press, that we have an obligation to write. No talk of favoritism, then. Did you feel prepared to win Roland Garros in 2005 when you played for the first time?A. Yeah, one thing is to be realistic, or not to be arrogant, and another is being silly. When you come from win

39、ning in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome obviously you feel prepared because the players youll find in Paris are not different from those you have played in the previous tournaments. Obviously, I go to Roland Garros thinking of winning, Im not going to lie. Then you reach semifinals and play against

40、Federer. OK, you play against Federer and I do not feel favorite in the match, but I go on court to play and try to win that match.Q. How do you accept the status of being a Grand Slam champion? Even more when you are 18 years old. Wawrinka is still trying to digest it.A. I do not think Wawrinka has

41、 struggled to digest it, he has also won in Monte Carlo. In Australia he played at a speed and intensity that perhaps was a little higher than what he had done during his career and then he has wanted to continue with that intensity. The days he is fine, he wins, and the days he is not so good, he m

42、isses and loses. That intensity makes him very dangerous against anyone when he is feeling it. It is very difficult to compare our careers. Wawrinka has reached it GS champion status now being 29 years old and I got it being 18.Q. It is different.A. Perhaps one has the ambition here raises his hand

43、up to signal an invisible height and one here hand down a bit. When you feel that you are on an ascending path and you win the first Grand Slam being 18 at that moment I thought of going onwinning, not of the fact that I had won a Grand Slam. Naturally, when I won the first Roland Garros my inner th

44、ought was that there was nothing more important I could win. Whatever happened, I had got something that was worth everything Id done. But at no time that led me to believe I was better or to stop working, but of course then you go to play Wimbledon for the first time after winning in Paris and perh

45、aps the adrenaline I carried for having won in Paris did not allow me to get there perfectly prepared. I made the mistake the first year and thats it. In 2006, 2007 and 2008 I nolonger made that mistake. Roland Garros ended, I was very happy to have won, but in my mind I had that I wanted to play we

46、ll at Wimbledon and improve there. Q. What is confidence in tennis?A. Confidence In yourself when playing tennis?Q. Yes.A. Confidence is playing without thinking, practically. Obviously, still thinkingglobally, but not thinking about how I have to hit the ball or what gesture I have to do to throw t

47、he ball there he points his finger at the horizon through the car window. Simply, aiming the ball there and there it goes the ball. Having it clear in your mind what you want to do and execution follows. Confidence is automatism, when things come out automatically.Photo by Beth WilsonQ. What would y

48、ou have become without that suffering, that passion, that inner strength everybody spoke about in Rome these days?A. My spirit, my inner strength, my struggle and my delivery have always been magnified quite a lot. I think Ive had it, obviously, but there are many people who also have it. At the end

49、 of the day, if I have won what Ive won, this has helped me at the time, but you do not win what I have won without being gifted tennis wise. It is the reality of the situation. Running and fighting, if you do not put the ball next to the line, if in difficult situations you put it back on the line

50、again and if when you have to put it there, you do not, one does not win what I have won. One of my features has been the effort, the fight, the ability to overcome situations and come back from injuries, overcome barriers that have arisen in my career. Yes, but tennis wise Q. Are not you enraged to

51、 hear that you win more matches with the head than with the racket?A. No, no rage. Its a great compliment. I am not one of those who think that I have no talent. I do not mind in the least. I will be mentally gifted for those who think that, something that it is not so. It is difficult for people wh

52、o are unfamiliar with the world of tennis and sport to be right in their opinions. Without sounding arrogant, because Im not in any case, but its clear that, tennis wise, my talent ranks well above most. Q. But you have to be very strong mentally to get out of a situation like 2011 and 2012: seven c

53、onsecutive losses to Djokovic.A. You have to want to do it.Q. Wanting is power?A. Not in everything. If one wants to do it, it is not just to do it and thats it. It works otherwise. I want to do it and I have to work to change it. I must accept that things are not going well. I must Understand what

54、Im told, even if I do not like it. And I must know that I have to do it to overcome the situation although I do not like to do it. And suffer, in training and on court. Suffering mentally to overcome this situation. Q. Are there doubts in your head?A. Ive had them during my whole career. Most people

55、 who do not have any are deeply arrogant.Q. Doubting, is it synonym for insecurity or the opposite to be arrogant?A. Its realism. Living with reality. Doubt is part of life. I do not see that things are that clear. You have an opinion and I have another. If you are 100% convinced that yours is the v

56、alid one, it may be because you have not thought things through very well. There are many changing situations and one cannot be sure of anything.Q. “Hes probably the player who wins more matches playing badly”, says Toni about you.A. That is why there have been the many clashes that there have been

57、in this time. Be it with Djokovic, as well as with Federer and Murray. The level of demand ranking wise has been so high that it does not allow you to make mistakes. That pushes us to have to win, yes or yes, be it playing well or playing poorly, to win anyway. We have to win. And you have to be pre

58、pared to fight and put the ball inside in the days you are not feeling it and win the match in whatever way with what you have. Sometimes one must win playing badly, running and getting the ball inside. And you have to win either way. Current players get to have those good and regular results becaus

59、e wehave been able to win playing badly. And to accept that things go wrong, but keep on fighting for the victory.Q. You are an expert at finding solutions on the fly. To start badly, read the match and end up winning. Why?A. Because of the education I received as a child. The most important thing is that you have responsiveness and ability to analyze when you are playing. T