World No.2, Rafael Nadal is one of the most illustrious and well-decorated players in tennis history.
The Spaniard has been playing the sport since the age of 4 and turned professional at the age of 16. Though he grew up in a football fanatic family, Nadal choose a different sports as his career.
The Spaniard recently opened up about his decision to choose tennis over football when he interacted with the kids at the Rafa Nadal Foundation.
He said that he always likes playing tennis as a child, and that turned into his passion and eventually a profession.
I Liked All Sports As A Kid: Rafael Nadal
The Spaniard explained that as a kid he used to play different kinds of sports and likes them all. Nadal said, “I really enjoyed it as a kid. I’ve always really liked sports. I played football, tennis. I liked all sports.”
Nadal started playing tennis at a very young age. He said that he was very good at the sport in his school and stood out among others at early on.
“I started playing there with the other kids at the school, and well, I started to get good at tennis. I think that was when I was eight or nine years old, I already stood out,” Nadal said.
However, according to the 20-time Grand Slam champion, what really pushed him into tennis was his uncle Toni Nadal coaching at the Manacor academy.
“I started playing tennis because my uncle was a coach at the club in Manacor, which is my hometown,” Nadal said.
He went on to say, “And well, life led me to keep playing tennis. I enjoyed playing, I liked to compete.” The Spaniard also thanked the sport for giving him almost everything he has in life.
“And thanks to tennis, I made lots of new friends. And the truth is that I had a great time.
I also had the chance when I was young to travel to some tournaments in Spain where I met lots of people and had a very good time,” Nadal concluded.
