Rafael Nadal: Making people fall in love with tennis
It all began in 2005 Roland Garros. I was browsing through TV channels and on one sports channel, the final of Roland Garros was being broadcasted. And as we all know now, Rafael Nadal was playing in his first Grand Slam final but I didn't know anything back then.
As I stopped my browsing just to see what was going on, I saw a player running around the court trying to get a racquet on every ball. I had never seen a tennis match before and so didn't know the rules and I presumed that this might be the norm for this sport. I liked what I saw and continued to watch the match.
Rafa was scrambling all around, but his counterpart (Puerta) was a bit different. Puerta seemed frustrated and was hitting the ball powerfully and hoping that this might end the point in his favor, but every time Rafa would get to the ball and would force him to hit one more shot.
At last, Nadal broke Puerta's will and Puerta started to produce unforced errors. Rafa was pumping his fists every time he won a point and gave it all. I believe, more than his skills, it was his will and passion for the game that won him that final.
The next few matches where I saw rafa play were Wimbledon 2005, Rolland Garros 2006 and Wimbledon 2006. I was thrilled to see Rafa win the 2006 and 2007 Roland Garros titles but was heartbroken to see him lose at Wimbledon.
I really wanted him to win the Wimbledon because almost everyone labeled him a clay court specialist and that to beat Roger Federer, was almost impossible on grass. But every year he improved his game and came perilously close to winning, especially in 2007.
You could see in his eyes that he was so hurt after the 2007 final and so was I. As any fan, I was extremely happy when he won, and sad when he lost (Few matches affected more). It was vey unusual for me. I mean I didn't know much about him, he was not an Indian for me to feel patriotic, I didn't even play tennis before that and I almost knew nothing about the sport. But I liked him as a person and the passion he brought with himself everytime he stepped on to the court. Although I might not be the best to play any sport, but I'm very passionate and I guess this is how I relate to Nadal.
After 2007 Wimbledon, I truly became his fan. I did my best to watch as many matches of him as possible, as not all matches were broadcasted in India back then.
In 2008, as we all know Rafa drubbed Roger at Roland Garros. I actually felt little bad for Roger. Anyway, I was actually looking forward to Wimbledon that year. I felt his chances were good that year. He went on to win the Queens championships. I recalled that he lost the 2006 Wimbledon in 4 sets, 2007 in 5 tough sets, so I felt maybe he'll win this year in tough 5 sets.
I also remember that Alan Wilkins asked Vijay Amritraj (Star Sports commentators for the Indian subcontinent. There was a segment: Ask Vijay) a question during Wimbledon 2007: Who will win his first major i.e. Roger on clay or Rafa on grass?, to which Vijay replied: I feel Rafa is showing more improvement than Roger and I believe Rafa will win on grass before Roger can win on clay.
Well, in 2008, he was proved right. I have so many memories of that final alone. Simply put, 2008 Wimbledon was EPIC and the best tennis match one would ever see!!!
