‘My Tennis Idol was..’- Rafael Nadal Opens Up About the Legend who Inspired him

The tennis great Rafael Nadal recently gave some big insights into his incredible career after retiring from the great game last month. He spoke about his mental health, physical conditions, career achievements, and many more. One important thing he spoke about was his tennis inspiration, who made him choose tennis as his career path.

Rafael Nadal's Inspiration

Nadal started playing tennis at the age of 12. He met his fellow Mallorcan Carlos Moya and was inspired by him, which completely changed his world. Moya was the first Spanish tennis player to achieve Number 1 and won the 1998 French Open championship.

He coached him from 2016 until his retirement, which he announced after the Davis Cup tournament held in November. Rafa was playing tennis just for fun until then, but after meeting Moya, he wanted to become a professional tennis player, which led him to achieve this much success in his career.

Nadal says, “My heroes were people I knew in real life. But when I was 12 years old, I got to play with Carlos Moya for the first time. I was so nervous just to hit some balls with him. It was an unforgettable experience, a window to another world. Tennis was transforming from something that was just for fun—a child's game—to a real goal to do for a living. It got me dreaming a bit more.”

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After spending time with his fellow Spaniard Carlos Moya, Rafael Nadal wanted to become a real player and dreamed of playing in the Roland Garros Tournament. Nadal became a player more than he dreamed of. In his career span of 23 years, he has achieved many incredible milestones, like winning the French Open 14 times, 2 Wimbledon Grand Slams, 2 Australian Grand Slams, 4 US Open Grand Slams, and 92 ATP titles, only next to Djokovic. 

He is part of the Big Three (Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic). With Nadal retiring from professional tennis, only Djokovic is left. Stars like Carlos Alcaraz, Paula Badosa, and Casper Rudd chose tennis as their career after being inspired by Rafael Nadal and his aggressive style of play.

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