Rafael Nadal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rafael Nadal

• Does Rafael Nadal smoke: No

• Does Rafael Nadal drink alcohol: Yes

• Toni Nadal, Rafa’s coach and Uncle turned him into a left handed player by making him follow a strict left handed practice schedule. His Uncle believed that by doing this, Nadal would always carry an element of surprise over his opponents.

• Nadal has a very peculiar superstition; he crosses the lines of the court with his right foot only and never steps on them.

• After arriving on the court he places his bag on the bench and turns his tournament ID face up.

• An Asteroid, “128036 Rafaelnadal”, has been named after him. This Asteroid is currently located between Mars and Jupiter.

• Nadal is the quickest player to reach 400 wins by playing less than 500 matches.

• Nadal won 24 consecutive matches as a teenager in 2005, the longest winning streak by a teenager in open era.

• Nadal has the longest winning streak on a single surface in the open era. He won 81 back to back matches on clay courts before losing to Roger Federer in the finals of Masters Series Hamburg.

• Nadal has never broken a tennis racket in anger or frustration. He thinks that doing this would be an insult to all the people who have to buy a tennis racket to play the sport.

• Rafael Nadal is the only player to have won atleast one tier-1, tier-2 & tier-3 tournament yearly for 10 straight years from 2005-2014.

• Nadal won two matches which have unbelievably lasted the same length of time of 5 hours and 14 minutes. One match was against Guilermo Coria in 2005 Rome Masters Final and the other was against Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open 2009.

• Rafael Nadal is the only player to win consecutive Grand Slams on three different surfaces. He achieved this record in 2010.

• He is the only player to win 4 French Open titles in a row.

• Nadal is so afraid of the darkness that he sleeps with the lights on.

• The film “Strokes of Genius” showcases Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal‘s lives with their famed 2008 Wimbledon championship, an epic match in the history of tennis. The film was released on 17 December 2019.