RACKET LAUNCHER

Look out! This ace continous to reach new heights after his lift-off

It seems like the trend in sports nowadays at is that younger stars excel more than their older counterparts. In basketball, some experts are saying that Lebron James has already outperformed (or will continue to) Kobe Bryant. In soccer, guys as young as 14 or 15 are already being chased by European clubs. Every sport has his or her “kid wonder” (or wonders if they are a group), and tennis is no exception.

Applying the old cliché “Offsprings should outlive their parents” to the scenario of the racket sport, when old (and a bit old) players like Andre Agassi retire and a fresh generation of players will rise as new demigods of the sport. Sad to say though, this doesn’t apply to tennis. As early as now, young racketeers are starting to build their own legends, at the expense of those who they idolized and even imitated.

Though guys like Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer are relatively young and have proven their might, an even younger batch of players are already up to the challenge. And to name one person in particular, Spain’s Rafael Nadal.

"You see the evolution of athletes getting bigger, stronger, more powerful, faster and explosive and hitting the ball harder. Me at 18, looking at Nadal at 18, from the neck down you would think one person was 26 and the other was 12."

This is what tennis legend (and future Hall of Famer) Andre Agassi told about Rafael Nadal. And take note readers, You didn’t hear Agassi wrong, this Spanish kid is only 18 years old.

Born in Mallorca, Spain on June 3, 1986, this 6’1”, 178-pound young sensation is the most talked about emerging superstar in the sport. Actually, he might not be even considered emerging anymore; he has started to prove his worth.

This lefthander started playing at the early age of four. It was his uncle, Toni Nadal, who introduced him to the sport and is still his coach at present. His other coach right now is Jofre Porta who is also Carlos Moya’s coach.

He won his first tournament at age 8 at Baleares and soon entered the junior league wherein he was already hailed as one of the future bright spots for Spanish tennis.

In 2002, at age 15, he was the youngest player ever to qualify for a Masters event. At the end of the year, he was the 235^th best player in the world according to the Association of Tennis Players’ (ATP) entry system rankings.

In 2003, he broke into the top 50 of the ATP rankings after winning two Challenger titles. It was also the year when he first reached the semifinal round in any Tennis Masters Series that he has played in. He also won the Croatia Open men’s doubles title with Alex Lopez Moron. In that year’s Wimbledon, he was the youngest player to reach the 3^rd round of the prestigious tournament since Boris Becker in 1984 but lost to Thailand’s Paradorn Srichapan.

As for his US Open debut also in that year, he reached the second round of the tourney and eventually bowing down to Morocco’s Younes El Aynaoui. At the end of the year, he was ranked 49^th in the world but was placed 67^th in the ATP championship race.

In 2004, he continuously improved in the ATP championship race, going up 21 notches to be in 46^th place though his world ranking dropped to 51^st. He won one singles event (The Idea Prokom Open in Sopot) and one double’s title (The TATA Open in Chennai, India with Tommy Robredo) during the year. He has also been instrumental in Spain’s Davis Cup victory over the United States at the Estadio Olimpico de Sevilla in Seville Spain, teaming up with former no. 1 Carlos Moya, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Robredo.

Now comes 2005 and what might be Nadal’s best year playing in clay, grass and hard courts. He posted career-high rankings during this year. His 2005 doubles entry position was 52^nd and now he is ranked 18^th in the doubles race. As for his singles’ fate, he entered the ranks in 11^th position and is now ranked 2^nd in the title melee behind multi-titled Roger Federer and has amassed a total prize money of $1,000,064. As for his ATP tour rankings, he is now ranked 17^th from as low as 51^st.

This year alone, he has already won three ATP Tennis Masters Series legs: the Brazil Open (Costa de Sauipe), the Abierto Mexicano de Teris Open in Acapulco (defeating Alberto Montanes, 6-1, 6-0), The Tennis Masters Series Monte-Carlo leg. He was also a finalist of the Auckland Open and the Miami Open also known as the Nasdaq 100, the so-called fifth major title. As for his double’s play, he won the Doha Open with Albert Costa.

What’s his secret you might ask? his strength and his left hand. Nadal's strength helps him impart tremendous topspin, forcing opponents to meet the ball chest high. He's the highest-ranked left-hander and one of only three in the top 40, allowing him to hit shots at angles other players seldom sees.

"Because he's a lefty, it changes so many things. His forehand is huge. Even on the run he can hit it with the spins. He can hit winners off every forehand. He hits his backhand very close to his body but still gets it back well and hard when he's under pressure. And he's a good defensive player as well. He moves totally different from most players. He's an outstanding athlete,” Federer said after defeating Nadal in the Miami Open.  

Then there's the serve, which has a kick but rarely tops 175 kph (110 mph). Nadal's upper-body strength makes it likely he'll soon be serving harder. With all of his credentials and his wizardry with the clay court, he is already a favorite to win this year’s French Open (also known as Roland Garros).

"I don't know whether I will play good or bad at the French Open but my objective is to improve my tennis. I need to improve my serve, my volley, my slice and if I can improve these shots, I think I can win a lot of matches," Nadal said in a press conference after bagging the Monte Carlo Open.

Yup, those words really came from him, all right. He feels that he is not yet the best player that he can be. But with the way things are going for him right now, you might be wondering if greatness for him is synonymous to invincibility. Maybe, when he has already mastered the tricks and tactics of the game, all of the events that he will play in must be tagged “the battle for second place,” the champion of course being him.