“I had never seen anything like it” Greg Rusedski recalls the first time he saw Rafael Nadal on court!
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Greg Rusedski and Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal has been the talk of the tennis world ever since his record-breaking win at Melbourne last week. The 35 year-old created history when he became the first player to win 21 Grand Slam men’s singles titles when he defeated Daniil Medvedev in a 5 set thriller in one of the longest finals in Grand Slams history.
The former World No.1 was out of action for 6 months after he underwent a surgery to treat his chronic foot injury. But the Spaniard showed no signs of fitness issues since his stellar start to the season. He is unbeaten this year and has won two titles already, a complete turnaround from his last season, where he couldn’t even reach finals of a Grand Slam and had to end his season prematurely due to injuries.
“It was like seeing Cristiano Ronaldo and George Best”- Rusedski about Rafael Nadal
Former World No.4 Greg Rusedski recalled the first time he saw Nadal playing and claimed that the Spaniard was always poised for greatness and his skill at the age of 15 were far superior to everyone else and the Britain went as far as comparing him to football greats Cristiano Ronaldo and George Best.
“I still clearly remember the first time I saw Nadal play. I was playing an exhibition in Mallorca. He was 15, he was training on clay, and it was scary. You imagine it was like seeing Cristiano Ronaldo or George Best play football for the first time. I was just, ‘Oh my god, I don’t want to play against this kid. I had never seen anything like it. He already had this extraordinary forehand, which allowed him to keep his opponent on a leash, with a breathtaking level of intensity.”
Rusedski also reminisced about his first training alongside Nadal and recollected that he was always a step behind Nadal and praised that the Spaniard was just good at everything he did.
“I then had the chance to train with Rafa a few years later when he was 19. I left the circuit, he entered it. I always felt like I was half a step away from the ball… was constantly out of reach. If I couldn’t finish the point quickly and he could overpower me, might as well shake hands. He was just better at everything.”
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T Rushitha
(360 Articles Published)