For much of Nadal’s career, Roger Federer was the top role model for young players. But as the years progressed, Rafa drew his own share of devotees. Iga Swiatek, Andrey Rublev, Sebastian Korda, Casper Ruud and Daria Kasatkina, among others, were all youthful Rafa fanatics who modeled their approach to the sport after him.
Not that Nadal envisions himself as a hero, or a cut above the crowd.
“I’m a normal and common person,” he told El Espanol. “I don’t see myself as a role model of anything. I’m a guy who plays tennis well…I have tried to have the right attitude on and off the court, but I make mistakes like everyone else.”
For many of his fans, though, Rafa’s sense of commonness and fallibility is part of his charm. We can’t do what he does, but we can relate to his passion and desire and striving, which he revealed us in a way few tennis players had before on court. Nadal didn’t have a killer serve to rely on, and he wasn’t effortless the way Federer was. He made the effort obvious for all of us to see. Which meant we could live and die with him.
