ATP Deuce Magazine, Summer 2003
Carlos Moya calls him simply 'the best 16 year old I've ever seen'. Roland
Garros Champion Albert Costa knows him as the hard hitting left handed
Spanish kid, who beat him in the second round of Tennis Masters Series Monte
Carlo in April.
That victory saw Nadal become the first 16 year old to break into the top
100 in the ATP Entry Rankings since Michael Chang in 1988. Only seven
players in the history of the ATP Rankings (since 1973) have cracked the top
100 before turning 17.
Hard core fans began to notice Nadal last year when he won six Futures
titles and amassed an unbroken 20 match Futures winning streak at the end of
the season. Nadal, who turned 17 on June 3rd, reached five challenger finals
in the first four months of this year, winning in Barletta. But the Costa
victory in Monte Carlo reamins his favorite. "At the beginning of the match
I was a little afraid and perhaps had too much respect. Although, if I'm
honest, I thought that I had a small chance of winning," Nadal said.
Residing in his birthplace of Manacor, Mallorca, Nadal has been coached by
his uncle Toni Nadal from the age of 4.
Moya, who practices with Nadal and serves as his mentor, already rates him
as a bigger talent at the same age than fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero.
"I didn't know Ferrero when he was 16, but he was 18 before he started to
win Satellites," Moya said. "I think he (Nadal) will be a top 10 player
within a maximum of two years."
Asked to compare Nadal to Frenchman Richard Gasquet - just 15 days younger -
Moya said: "Gasquet plays like a veteran...Nadal plays more like his age. He
still has things to improve, but I think he has more potential than Gasquet.
But they both have a bright future, and may develop a rivalry like Agassi
and Sampras."
**Thanks to Anne for typing this up. Please do not use or copy without the permission of the original source and VamosRafael.com. Thank you.**
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