From singling out Rafael during his growing
years whilst coaching young kids at the local tennis club at Manacor, a small
town on the Spanish island of Mallorca- using rough language, shouting and
yelling more at Rafa than all the other kids, making him stay behind after
practice sessions to pick up all the balls and sweep the courts- to being the ‘toughest
coach in the world’, this was all part of Toni’s devious strategy over the
years to toughen up Rafael to play through all sort of pain, under all sorts of
conditions, to throw the bathroom tub when the opponent throws kitchen sink at him;
to endure: the one quality that has made Rafael Nadal one of the toughest
players to beat on the tennis tour. Toni’s relentless methods and his relationship
with Rafael Nadal takes centre stage in Nadal’s autobiography called Rafa: My Story by Rafael Nadal with John
Carlin.
The book is written in collaboration with John
Carlin- a Barcelona-based senior international writer for one of the large Spanish
newspapers, El Pais. Every chapter of Rafa
contains two parts; one as seen through Nadal’s eyes and one seen through
Carlin’s. The book recounts Nadal’s life through the lens of two of the most
important matches he’s ever played; Wimbledon 2008 men’s singles final where he
beat the then-ranked No.1 Roger Federer is a thrilling five-set final and U.S.
Open 2010 men’s singles final which he also won for the first time becoming
just the seventh man in the Open era to win all four grand slam titles in a
career.
Sports autobiographies can only be as
intense as much the subject- on whom the book is based upon- opens up. That’s
precisely why Andre Agassi’s classic Open
remains one of the best stories ever told. But much of Agassi’s life seen
through Open takes its roots from his
troubled upbringing and the kind of struggles he’s had to face growing up in the
harsh desert of Las Vegas to morph into one of tennis’s most colourful
characters. Rafael Nadal’s- former world No.1 and presently ranked second in
men’s tennis- childhood has been very pleasant and protective, on the other
hand, with little spice occasionally thrown in. Yet, through his autobiography,
he gives us precious insights and tells us numerous stories whilst growing up,
his feelings, aspirations, insecurities and copiously takes us through various
events- year after year- that’s made him to be the sort of killing machine on the
tennis courts that we have known.
The book takes a non-linear narrative; it
goes back and forth in flashbacks and gives it a sense of a thriller, much
like Jon Wertheim’s well-written and insightful take on the same 2008 men’s
singles Wimbledon final between Nadal and Federer (Stokes of Genius), though clearly not in the same league. But
unlike Stokes of Genius that gives us
a glimpse of Nadal, Federer and Wimbledon in equal measures, Rafa takes us through his childhood days
in great detail. He may be a feared rival on the tennis court, but he is scared
of darkness and dogs. His mentor and also former No.1 Carlos Moya has to lock
up his dog when Nadal comes home, visiting. And don’t forget to turn off the
fireplace before you go to sleep, he’ll call home and tell his mother about three
to four times if he’s out with friends or partying, always afraid of a calamity
that he fears may befall on his family.
Growing up in a joint family set up, he lived
in a five floor building with his grandparents, parents, his father’s three brothers
and a sister their spouses and their families. Surely, a long-time coach of a top
tennis player would be raking in a handsome fee you’d think, but Rafa tells
us that all of Toni’s earnings come only from Rafael's own dad’s business where Toni
is an equal and dormant partner; Rafael doesn't pay him a penny. The family's one
message to him has always been: ‘be humble, keep your feet firmly on your ground and never
disrespect anyone.’ But being around his loved ones at all times also gave him
the sense of continuity so important, according to Joan Forcados, his physical
trainer, to Nadal’s success, such as Toni being around for 20 years and others
in entourage with him for well over 10 years.
This continuity got a setback when Nadal’s
parents separated in 2009; a rare glimpse of what went through his mind and the
eventual darkness he slipped into, that also led him to lose his only match at
the French Open ever; an event that he has otherwise won six times. “Through
all these years of constant travel and eve more frenzied claims on my time as
my fame had grown, Manacor and our neighboring seaside resort of Porto Cristo
was a bubble of peace and sanity, a private world where I could isolate myself
from the celebrity madness and be entirely myself again. Fishing, golf, friends,
the old routine of family lunches and dinners – all that had changed. My father
had moved out of our Porto Cristo home, and now when we sat down to eat or
watch TV, he wasn’t there. Where there had been laughter and jokes, a heavy
silence hung. Paradise had become paradise lost.” But Nadal would soon bounce
back in 2010, winning three of the last four grand slams of the calendar year
to complete his career slam.
Rafa does get a bit flat towards the latter half when his minute to
minute decision making during his key matches gets a bit too much. Instead, a
critical analysis of his opponents- much like Agassi in Open- would have been more interesting. Like how he felt when Djokovic
was impersonating everyone around, especially Nadal the most. But we couldn’t
expect that from Nadal who’s ever so diplomatic and well-mannered could we? It’s
also possibly why he has written so less about the trauma he faced after his
parent’s separation, focusing largely on the positive side for most part of the
book.
The minor complaints aside, Rafa is a good read.
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