Upcoming Filipino teenager reveals Rafael Nadal’s advice to him, lauds the humbleness of the 22-time major winner


Upcoming Filipino teenager reveals Rafael Nadal’s advice to him, lauds the humbleness of the 22-time major winner

Alex Eala and Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal who is hailed as one of the greatest of all time has won the most number of singles major titles by a male player in the Open era with his 22 singles Grand Slam titles. He took the lead by winning two singles major titles of the year and remain undefeated at the Grand Slam events until his fourth-round loss at the US Open.

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Alex Eala, a member of the Rafael Nadal Academy won her first junior singles title at the 2022 US Open and won the hefty prize money of 15,000 dollars. Eala recalled the advice she had received from the 22-time Grand Slam champion that reflected his humble and gracious nature with the amount of hard work he has done despite so many achievements.

Eala said that “He’s very nice. I told him that the 15,000 dollars I had won were probably not as important as his achievements and he replied that there was a time when those 15,000 were everything to him too. So you can see that he had humble beginnings, started from the bottom, and really worked his way up.

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Rafael Nadal hasn’t played a single competitive match on the ATP Tour since his exit from US Open

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal last played at the Laver Cup along with Roger Federer in the latter’s farewell match in the doubles match and has specially flown down to London to be part of the Swiss maestro’s farewell since Federer had requested his presence. He withdrew after losing the match citing personal reasons as the Spaniard had earlier stated that it was quite difficult for him to make the choice since his wife Maria was facing a complicated pregnancy and needed his presence.

The Spaniard remained undefeated in the Grand Slam matches but was handed a shocking defeat in the fourth round by American Frances Tiafoe which ended his 22-match winning streak and also shattered his dreams of winning the third Grand Slam title of the year.

Nadal has not played any matches on the ATP Tour since the US Open exit and is hopeful to come back at the Paris Masters.

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