By Richard Pagliaro
04/30/2002
Tennis Week

At the age of four, Rafael Nadal-Parera dropped his rattle in favor of a racquet. A little more than a decade later, he has quickly come of age. The 15-year-old Spaniard became the ninth man in Open Era history to earn an ATP victory before celebrating his 16th birthday with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph over 25-year-old Ramon Delgado at the Mallorca Open.

A wild card entrant into the event, Nadal Parera played with the patience of a veteran in picking up the win to reach the second round of the $400,000 tournament.

"I really wanted to go out there and play well," said the Mallorca native, who is coached by his uncle Toni Nadal. "I knew it was going to be difficult, but I held my game. I thought I played well, keeping the ball deep and maintaining the power,"

It is the second time in two weeks a 15-year-old player produced an ATP win. France's Richard Gasquet impressed players and fans alike with a stunning 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-5 victory over 2000 French Open semifinalist Franco Squillari in a two hour, 26-minute opening-round match of the Tennis Masters Series-Monte Carlo event.

Nadal-Parera is 15 days older than Gasquet, who he played in the junior ranks.

"I played against him about four years ago," Nadal-Parera said of Gasquet. "He beat me 7-6, 3-6, 6-4. We are the same age and we are both playing well, so I look forward to playing against each other in the future."

**Thanks to reiko for locating the article. Please do not use or copy without credit to the original source and VamosRafael.com. Thanks.**

Return to VamosRafael.com.

Return to VamosRafael.com Articles.