CAMELOT FANTASIES

Rafa Related:

What if Rafael Nadal had picked soccer ?

When he was a precocious 12-year-old on the Spanish island of Mallorca, Rafael Nadal had to make a decision that millions of kids around the world have made at some point: Which sport to focus on exclusively. In Nadal’s case, which was a little different than most kids’, as he was top-notch in both, it came down to soccer or tennis. And this was no flighty hypothetical of a tennis prodigy dabbling in another sport. Nadal was a“promising striker” as Christopher Clarey called him in a 2005 New York Times article and had soccer run deep in the family, with his uncle Miguel Angel Nadal starring in three World Cups and playing for Barcelona, among other clubs. His father said Rafa could have been a fine professional footballer.
Nadal himself said it was the toughest decision he ever made, but he knew “tennis was the game at which I excelled, even if I enjoyed football as much, or more,” as he wrote in his autobiography, Nadal. But he didn’t look back, writing that when he watched interviews of himself winning the 14-and-under Spanish championship at the age of 12 he heard his younger self say “I enjoy football, but that’s for fun.” It was then he knew he had made the only call there was to make.

Question for Rafa.

Q : Rafa , this will be your 7th final here in Madrid , I don´t know if before starting this tournment did u see yourself in the final ?
Rafa Nadal : " Before starting this tournament , I didn´t know if I were going to even pass the 1st round , that´s the truth and at the end of the day , every opponent is complicated , and it gets even harder when you come after not having had good results but to change that , you have to work harder and you have to be more positive than usual and I am trying all I can to be able to change that dynamic .!.! "