by: Christopher Clarey/IHT
Thursday, June 26, 2024
Rafael Nadal, a Spanish teenager, is at ease on a grass court
LONDON All 17-year-olds at Wimbledon have had a nearly impossible act to follow since Boris Becker boom-boomed through the draw to win the title and become the icon of a generation in Germany.
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But getting the chance to watch Rafael Nadal at 17 is well worth the hassle of waiting in line to get into the All England Club. Though it is never easy to predict what precocious success, fame and financial independence will do to a young man's concentration, his act clearly has the potential for a long, productive run.
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In Nadal's first Grand Slam tournament, he has lost one set in two matches, and he lost none Wednesday against overmatched a British wild card, Lee Childs.
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Like Carlos Moya, the tennis star who was one of his role models and practice partners, Nadal comes from the Spanish island of Majorca. While it sometimes takes years for talented youngsters to develop the self-belief to smash their idols, Nadal beat him in May when he was still 16 on clay in Hamburg.
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He has beaten last year's French Open champion, Albert Costa, and from the look of the vitality and power in Nadal's left-handed game, Moya and Costa will hardly be the last established figures to suffer on the other side of the net.
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"I've never seen a better Spanish player at the same age," said Moya, who was once ranked No. 1 in the world.
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"My advice is to take good care of him," a complimentary Costa said in an interview with El Pais. "If they put on too much pressure, it's going to be tough."
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Nadal's only nervy moment Wednesday against Childs came after he won the first two sets. For a teenager used to playing best-of-three-set tennis, that would normally have meant the end of the match. But though Nadal let down and lost his serve early in the third set, the first rain delay of Wimbledon this year came with Childs up 3-2. Little more than an hour later, after he made the long trek back through the masses and narrow passageways to Court 13, he did not lose another game, moving into the third round with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 victory.
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Nadal might not speak English, but he already knows how to get the best of the English on grass, which was not the surface he grew up on in Majorca but is a surface that obviously does not discourage him as it did previous generations of clay-loving Spaniards.
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"I think it's changing right now because Spanish players are starting to get good results on these kind of surfaces," Nadal said. "You can see that especially from the young players coming up that have the interest to play on these surfaces and develop their games, and I think that's good for tennis."
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Nadal knows what he is talking about. Two other young Spaniards, Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo, reached the third round Wednesday. But young is a relative term. Lopez and Robredo, who beat Lleyton Hewitt on his way to the French Open quarterfinals this year, are both 21, not less than a month past their 17th birthdays.
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Nadal, the youngest man in the Wimbledon draw, is exceptional, and with his powerfully built lower body and physical style built around a slashing forehand, he looks much older than 17: at least from across the net. Up close, he still has chubby cheeks.
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Athletic success runs in the family. His father's brother Miguel Angel Nadal was a tall, bruising central defender for FC Barcelona and the Spanish national soccer team and still plays for Majorca. His other paternal uncle, Toni Nadal, was the one who gave Rafael his first racket when he was only 4 years old. He has remained his coach and primary tennis influence.
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"I was a defensive tennis player, and not all that successful, so the idea was for Rafael to be an aggressive player," Toni Nadal said Wednesday. "As it turns out, that style of game also fits his personality."
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Clay is still his best surface, however, and though he was all set to make his Grand Slam debut at the French Open last month, he fell while running for a backhand during a practice session in Majorca on the eve of his scheduled departure for Paris. He ended up injuring his right elbow and withdrawing.
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He needed three weeks to recover and had only three days of preparation on grass before knocking out a Croatian teenager, Mario Ancic, in the first round. Ancic had legitimate grass-court credentials after defeating Roger Federer here last year. But Nadal is the one with a chance to prove himself at Wimbledon this year.
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"The most normal thing is that I should lose in the next round," said Nadal, who faces 12th-seeded Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand. "Before coming here, I would have signed on for losing my first round in five sets. I would have been happy, because I couldn't play any matches for a month. Now, I can only say I will do my best and we'll see."
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Srichaphan, the best player from Asia since India's Vijay Amritraj, had to save two match points against France's Olivier Mutis before erasing a two-set deficit to win 4-6, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5, 7-5 in three hours and 37 minutes.
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No. 2 women's seed Kim Clijsters and No. 4 Venus Williams advanced with straight-set victories, but Williams could have much more difficulty in the third round against Russian Nadia Petrova, who reached the French Open semifinals last month.
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An American veteran, 32-year-old Todd Martin, eliminated No. 17 seed Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the third round.
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A younger American, the fifth-seeded Andy Roddick, also advanced to the third round with a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1), 7-5 victory over Greg Rusedski of Britain. This match was expected to be close, and it could have been much closer if Rusedski had not lost his composure with a 5-2 lead in the third set. Roddick was serving at 30-15 and hit a shot that landed on the baseline that a fan called "out" from the stands. Rusedski hit the ball back but then stopped playing, expecting chair umpire Lars Graff to announce a replay of the point. Instead, Graff said nothing and Roddick ended up winning the point to go up 40-15. Rusedski protested vehemently and after losing the game, unleashed an expletive-laced tirade at Graff. Remarkably, he received no warning for his conduct, but he still paid a price because he did not win another game.
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International Herald Tribune
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