Nadal, only 24, has been ranked among the top players in the world for five years now. He has been a pro since age 17. A fierce competitor with great mental toughness, off the court he is well-mannered, soft-spoken and comes across sometimes as shy.
One of the secrets of his success is his tight-knit family, as his father and uncles have been influential in his life. The entire extended family, including Nadal, his father and four aunts and uncles and others, all live in the same apartment complex in Manacor, a complex owned by Nadal’s grandfather. Nadal’s father owns a restaurant and window glass company. He has one younger sister.
One of the uncles, Toni, has been Nadal’s tennis coach since his youth. Two other uncles, Miguel and Rafael, were pro soccer players. Miguel, now 43, is a superstar in Spain, having played pro soccer for 19 years, and Rafael played in the second league. Toni has been a tennis teaching pro. It is obviously an athletic family, one that knows how to deal with stardom.
The Nadal family, from Spain, is from and lives in a town (Manacor, pop: 40,000) on the largest island off the coast of Spain, Mallorca (pop: 846,000).
His parents, family and his coach Toni has instilled character, work ethic and strong moral values in Nadal. Toni introduced Nadal to tennis (at age 3 or 4) and has coached him ever since. Nadal played soccer and tennis until age 12, when his father made him choose between the two so his schoolwork did not suffer.
He won a regional 12-under tournament at age 9, and around that time Toni encouraged him to switch and play left-handed, which because of his shot style would give him an advantage. It worked. Left-handers, especially with Nadal’s top-spin shots, often have an advantage against opponents. Nadal’s shots often go higher (top-spin) and take advantage of angles. Also, more shots go to the opponents’ back-hand, which is usually their weaker side.
Nadal speaks English only about “25%”, according to him, and Toni does not speak English.
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