Hello, my name is Rafael Nadal or as most people know me by my nickname, Rafa. I am of 27 years of age and my tennis career begins at the age of 3. I am from Majorca, Spain and in Spain is where my love for tennis began. The person who encouraged me to become the best that I am right now is my very first coach, and uncle, Toni Nadal. During my early years, I had a passion for two sports. The first one was football, and the second tennis. Eventually there came a point in my career where I had to let go of one in order to become successful in the other. Letting go of football was truly devastating but I had realized that tennis was the game I had loved most. Toni first noticed potential in me when I won a 12 and under national championship. He saw me win this, and realized that he now had to step up his training. The changeup in his training was the reason why I am what I am today. He would always push me to my limits, and changed the way I played. As a kid I first played my forehand with two hands, but later on Toni told me to play left handed. This may have been one of my greatest decisions. Playing left-handed gave him an advantage in my game, which was crucial against right-handed players. If it hadn’t been for the love and support from my uncle and all the hard work he put into me, then I would have not made it this far into my career. My greatest achievement came was when all my life’s hard work came true, the moment I turned pro in 2005. Now at first I had no idea what I was expecting, because I would lose to players I knew I could beat, but eventually I overcame the hardship and worked my way up the rankings. Now all the hard work that I put intro training came to its test when I played what I consider to be my greatest match. It was the 2008 Wimbledon final, and winning this grand slam would motivate me into improving my game to the next level. In the ATP, or also known as the Association of Tennis Professionals, there are four major grand slam events. Winning a grand slam is already good enough to prove that your have what it takes to be the best, but some are quite more talented than others. As of now in 2011, I hold a personal record of 10 grand slams. My favorite grand slam would be the French Open in Paris. Returning to the 2008 Wimbledon final was one of the matches that set me on the correct path in order to reach great achievements. In the previous year, I had once again lost to my rival and good friend Roger Federer. In the tennis world, there are players who train hard to be the best, while there is Roger Federer who is gifted to be the best. My goal was to overcome his number one position in the world, and defeat him in the grand slam he enjoys the best and the one that he holds the record for the most wins. Wimbledon is like no other grand slam. Everyone pays the utmost respect to you and is considerate of how you feel. Even though I haven’t one Wimbledon yet, it truly is one of the greatest tournaments I like to play in. There were many events in my life, which altered my career, but there is one event in my life that encouraged me to continue tennis was when I received news about my defective tarsal scaphoid. This is a bone in your foot that if it prevents to grow as a child it can produce harm to you in your later years. Mine had done just so. This injury was one of the only career threatening injuries I had. It devastated not only the entire team but also my family and me. All the effort in which I put towards is wasted in matter of years as soon as my career had begun. But as a child my uncle Toni had implemented a message of endurance in me, and I was raised to never give up and to always bear through the challenges in life. However, this was one challenge I could not overcome, and as soon as I was about to give up, it was not my uncle who saved me but it was my father. My father told me to let go of everything and to keep fighting. He told me that we would find a
