Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal has set so many records throughout his career. These records put him in contention for the greatest Spanish athlete of all time. For many, it wouldn’t come as a surprise that he was given this title in a poll by the Marca sports newspaper. Check it out.
Rafael Nadal Is The Greatest Spanish Athlete
To decide the greatest Spanish athlete, Marca pit 2 athletes against each other like a tennis tournament. The winner of the match would be decided by the number of votes each player got. Using this system, they narrowed the list of athletes to two – Rafael Nadal and basketballer Pau Gasol.
To the surprise of no tennis fan, Rafa won the poll and was crowned the greatest Spanish athlete of all time. He also won the poll by a stunning margin as he secured 82% of all the votes. Clearly, he has many people who believe that he is the greatest.
While Rafa will certainly be happy about this, he will be looking to get another title – the greatest tennis player of all time or the GOAT. To get this title, he will have to hold one record – the most Grand Slam titles. This record is being held by Roger Federer but he is not far behind.
In fact, after his win at the 2019 US Open, Rafa took his Grand Slam tally to 19. That is one short of Roger’s 20 which is why he has a great chance to beat this record. He is probably waiting for the next opportunity to beat this record.
Unfortunately for him, that opportunity is not going to come for a while as the ATP Tour has been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. The tour is scheduled to resume in August assuming the virus is contained.
Hopefully, it is and we tennis fans will get to see tennis again. And hopefully, Rafa will also play some of his best tennis and seal his position as the GOAT of tennis.
