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    Five Things We Learned From New Book on Rafa Nadal and Roland-Garros

    The Sports Pulse NewsBy No Comments6 Mins Read


    By Erik Gudris | @atntennis | Wednesday Could 14, 2025

    Rafael Nadal and his dominance on clay, particularly at Roland-Garros, are explored in-depth within the new ebook, The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay.

    Acclaimed tennis journalist Christopher Clarey, previously of the New York Instances and the Worldwide Herald-Tribune, explores Nadal’s legendary profession by focusing primarily not solely on why he excelled significantly on clay, but in addition on the historical past of the floor and its most well-known event, which Nadal gained an unbelievable 14 instances.

    Listed below are 5 issues we discovered after ending this must-read ebook.

    The French Championships Had been First Performed on Grass

    Earlier than the occasion turned referred to as Roland-Garros (named for the famed WWI aviator), the “French Championships” had been contested at numerous tennis golf equipment earlier than the inaugural version was held on the Racing Membership on Paris’s western outskirts in 1891. Though not formally confirmed, the primary matches had been performed on grass. So why the swap to clay, which doubtless occurred earlier than 1900? Tennis historians consider it was attributable to clay being simpler to keep up than grass and clay courts turning into extra frequent in southern Europe due to local weather and sources.

    Early Unhealthy Luck for Nadal Opened the Door for Gaston Gaudio

    At age 16, a younger Nadal burst onto the scene and made an impression on the lead-up clay court docket occasions in 2004 earlier than Paris, together with incomes wins over then reigning Roland-Garros champion Albert Costa after which later over one other former champion Carlos Moya. Expectations had been excessive that Nadal may make a large run in Paris.

    However earlier than he left Mallorca for Paris, Nadal hit some tennis with pals and jumped the online for enjoyable. However a few of his pals, considering it will be humorous, lifted the online as he did. Nadal fell and suffered a slight fracture in his proper elbow. Consequently, he missed competing at Paris that 12 months. His absence, maybe, opened the door for eventual and shock champion Gaston Gaudio of Argentina to win the title in 5 units over his countryman Guillermo Coria.

    Nadal would go on to win his first Roland-Garros title in 2005 over Mariano Puerta.

    Nadal Admits His On-Court docket Rituals Are a “Catastrophe”

    A lot was stated and written about Nadal’s on-court “rituals” or “tics” throughout his profession, from organizing his water bottles in entrance of his chair a sure means, to adjusting his hair, shirt and shorts earlier than every serve, simply to call a number of. The truth is, as he grew older, the routine turned much more elaborate.

    But, regardless of the assumption by many who Nadal has OCD, that has been denied by each him and his workforce. Nonetheless, Nadal when requested in regards to the rituals admitted they’re strictly for the court docket solely.

    “They are a catastrophe, sincerely,” he stated. “Folks see my routines on the court docket and consider that I’m somebody with numerous routines and superstitions exterior the court docket, however exterior the court docket I’m virtually at zero. I have to be actually organized when I’m competing, however in my private life, I am somebody who is de facto disorganized and somebody who will not be actually on time or tremendous sort A. However when I’m on the court docket, the routines permit me to remain completely focused on what there’s to do.”

    Nadal and Federer Camps Weren’t All the time So Pleasant

    Regardless of their lengthy rivalry, each Nadal and Roger Federer now share a very good friendship and admiration for one another. However, that wasn’t the case early on of their careers, particularly between their respective groups when Nadal started to threaten the World No. 1 Federer, who nonetheless dominated the ATP Tour.

    By 2006, Nadal and Federer’s workforce had been recognized to talk unwell of the opposite participant in non-public. Nadal’s camp thought Federer wasn’t disciplined together with his weight-reduction plan and never having the identical work ethic as Nadal.

    On Federer’s facet, some in his workforce puzzled how Nadal may show his ferocious endurance on court docket and requested officers how usually Nadal was being drug examined.

    The back-and-forth sniping received so dangerous that ultimately the ATP stepped in and requested each side to speak with one another straight and never depend on false rumors.

    As Nadal’s agent Benito Perez-Barbiadillo remembers of the time, “They (Nadal and Federer) had been actually two good human beings, so that they needed to discuss to one another and never hear what the entourages had been saying.”

    Will the Stadium Court docket in Paris Be Named for Nadal Sometime?

    All through Nadal’s profession, and his dominance over Roland-Garros, it is no shock that the French followers, as a result of Nadal is Spanish, went from suspicion to begrudging acceptance, to lastly overt popularity of Nadal’s achievements on the occasion. Nonetheless, the rumors that someday the primary stadium court docket shall be renamed in Nadal’s honor are simply that.

    Presently, the court docket is known as in honor of the late Worldwide Tennis Federation president Philippe Chatrier. If the court docket is ever renamed, it is doable it is going to be for a French participant down the highway.

    But simply exterior the complicated’s entrance gate is a brand new ten-foot stainless-steel statue of an airborne Nadal that celebrates his immortal standing because the “King of Clay.”

    The Warrior: Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay is now stocked in shops and on-line.





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