"I have not seen
another player on the courts like him since Boris Becker, this lad is a real
pearl." - Ion Tiriac, former Becker manager
"He is carved from a
very special kind of wood. He is on the threshold of a great career." - Lleyton
Hewitt (Former World No. 1 ATP player)
"To come back from
three games down and take the set 6-3 at the age of 16 is incredible. He's
powerful and ambitious and that's why he's won so many games." - Alex Corretja
(ATP player)
"I've known Rafael since he was 10 and day after day he keeps
impressing me more and more. He's the best 16-year-old I have ever seen. I
believe Nadal will be a top-10 player inside the next two years." - Carlos Moya
(ATP player and Rafael's mentor)
"I believe he doesn't
have the physical shape of a 16-year-old, but of a player like us. He's very
strong. Also, he's able to last a long time on the court. He can stand the
physical effort. Also, he's very eager to play, he's very confident, and he can
play a great tournament - he already did until now play a great tournament. But
beating Costa, champion of the French Open, means that he has a good future." -
Juan-Carlos Ferrero (ATP player and Roland Garros champion)
"Well, I believe he's
a great player. He played really great here. I believe that if he keeps on going
like this week, he can become a great champion." - Guillermo Coria (ATP player)
"Rafael Nadal is the
best tennis player I have seen with 16 years, but I do not see him with the
facility and the class of a player like Marcelo R�os. Everything will depend on
how he works and assimilates the professional circuit. . . ." - Marat Safin (ATP
player)
"Nadal is an
exceptional talent, remarkably quick on his feet and with powerful ground
strokes on either wing. More importantly, he has a wonderful temperament. Costa
tried everything to impose his greater experience, but Nadal - the nephew of
Barcelona's central defender Miguel Angel Nadal - ran down everything and
produced winners of startling quality for one so young." - Steven Bierley (The
Guardian)
"Even before he beat
Carlos Moya in Hamburg, Nadal had been earning rave reviews. He hits the ball
beautifully and plays with patience that belies the fact he's only 16. A
colleague in the press room in Rome opined that he wouldn't surprised if Nadal
`pulled a Guga' and came from obscurity to win (yes, win) in Paris." - Jon
Wertheim (CNNSI.com)
"Nadal is the
next big thing. He has the complete game and i've seen him four times this year.
He hits the ball unbelievably hard, has a good tennis brain and has greater
potential than Richard Gasquet, who has struggled this year. Anyway Nadal's
comfortable win today was no fluke and he could be top fifty inside the year,
with luck. All the fellow tennis journalists I know who have interviewed him say
he is a nice guy." - James Buddell (Eurosport)
"I look
forward to . . . the first-round meeting [at Wimbledon] between those two
precocious youngsters, Mario Ancic, of Croatia, and Rafael Nadal, of Spain. If
anyone wants a glimpse of the future they should take themselves off to wherever
those two are playing. It won't be on Centre or No 1 court, but it is a feature
match as far as I am concerned." - John McEnroe
"[Nadal] does pass very well. There's no reason why - by the
end of the year, he could be a very good player. His ranking could be easily
inside the top 20, easy. He's definitely got very good potential." - Lee
Childs (Nadal's second-round Wimbledon opponent)
"His left-handed forehand is a flash of wrist
followed by a blur. His down-soft hands render volleys of exquisite quality. His
quickness, powered by muscular legs, is astonishing, His gaze is defiant,
approaching disdainful. The only thing that belies Rafael Nadal's age is the
dark mauve acne that has erupted around his angular cheekbones. He passed his
17th birthday on June 3. Chronologically, he is a boy. Historically, he is a
prodigy." - Greg Garber (ESPN.com)
"[Nadal] looked impressive even in defeat [third round at
Wimbledon]. Nadal pounded his forehand with all of the pace of a Roddick, yet
strikes the shot with the smoothness of a Moya. His two-handed backhand is also
a dangerous shot and he has a beautiful follow through on both strokes. He
certainly has the talent to fulfill his mentor Moya�s prediction that he will be
a future top 10 player." - Brad Falkner (TW)
"[Nadal] has talent,
also shots to improve; but above all, a great ambition and a winning
mentality exclusive to the great ones." - El Mundo Deporte
"Rafael is a great
player. It�s amazing how strong, how successful he plays [at] this age...
2003 is his break-through." - ATP Player Tommy Haas
"This kid is an amazing player with a fantastic attitude. We'll see a lot
more of him in the future." - ATP player Nicolas Lapentti (after defeating
Rafael in third-set tiebreak in Bastad quarters)
"I know of no other
player that is so full of energy on the court and plays his tennis game with so
much emotion. Yes, he lives for his tennis. Nadal has just that one goal, to
move upwards. In the last twelve months he jumped from a world ranking in the
600�s to the 100�s. And that aged 16. That is sensational. Last year, in
the Wimbledon Juniors Philipp Petzschner played Nadal in the quarters. (Nadal
won 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 - ed. note) Seeing their talent, we don�t need to talk about
who was the better player there. (Petzschner was seeded 8th, Nadal was not
seeded � ed. note) But the one is now well inside the 100 best players and the
other one is still around 400. Okay, Nadal is an exception, but the players must
have the urge from within. Unconditionally." - Patrik K�hnen, German Davis Cup
coach, April 2003
"A player most
people haven't heard of is Rafael Nadal of Spain, who might be the most talented
teen-ager in the world right now. He's 17 years old and many people thought he
had a chance to reach the second week of the French Open but because of his
injury before Paris while trying to jump over the net, he didn't get to prove
himself. I already know that he can play great tennis on clay courts. I can't
wait to see this guy on the hard courts of the United States to really see how
versatile he is because people are saying he can be a great player on more than
just one surface." - Mal Washington, ESPN commentator and former Wimbledon
finalist
"I was really
surprised with [Rafael's] play this week [in Umag, Croatia 2003]. He hasn't
played much doubles, so for me it was a real surprise. He has such natural
ability and plays so easy." - Alex Lopez Moron, Rafael's doubles
partner (after winning the doubles title -- Rafi's first ATP
title)
"Youngest
player in the top 100, currently ranked 96 in the world at the age of 16.
Qualified and got to the third round of the Masters Series Event in Monte Carlo
with a very impressive win along the way over French Open Champion Albert Costa.
This very tall Spaniard plays very un-Spanish-like, much more in the mold of a
Marat Safin type. Maybe one of the biggest ball hitters and at such a young age
his Star is shining Bright. He�s a Lefty to boot! He might also be the first
Spaniard to break the clay court mold and do some damage on other court
surfaces. If he were a stock, he would be a definite buy." - Brad Gilbert,
current coach of Andy Roddick, former coach of Agassi and former ATP player
(from the Future Stars section of bradgilberttennis.com)
"I�ve seen
Nadal play several times now, lately in Monte Carlo. It is really impressive
what he�s showing at his young age. Nadal has all the possibilities
to become the best spanish player ever!" - Dirk Hordorff, Rainer
Sch�ttler's coach
"Twelve months
ago he was hailed as 'Super Mario' after beating the seventh-seeded Roger
Federer in the first round; now Croatia's Mario Ancic faces an even more
powerful foe in 'Superboy', aka Rafael Nadal. Having turned 17 earlier this
month, the Spaniard could still be playing in the boys' event next year if he so
chose, but as someone who carries the mantle of 'the best teenager ever' (aye,
and that includes Borg and Becker), Nadal prefers to make his way in a man's
world. A Majorcan, Nadal enjoys his day under a Mediterranean sun with an
emphatic 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory; he might not win Wimbledon this year, but
just you wait, Henry Higgins, just you wait - the reign of Spain is coming . .
." - Robert Philip (sport.telegraph.co.uk), Wimbledon 2003
"Nadal needs
to improve his serve, but he is very strong mentally. He will be the
No. 1 player, for sure." - Albert Costa, ATP player (Roland Garros
winner), August 2003
"I haven't
been this excited about a young player since Andy Roddick burst onto
the scene a few years ago. Remember that name, Rafael Nadal. You'll
be hearing it again" - Jim Courier, TV commentator and
former four-time Grand Slam winner, August 2003
"This kid is the real deal, guaranteed Top 10 (maybe in 2004) with a shot at No. 1. Only 17-years-old and possesing cat-like quickness and tenacious groundstrokes, "The Prodigy" was not even in this year's ATP Media Guide, but burst on the scene reaching four Challenger finals (winning one title) before debuting on tour at the TMS-Monte Carlo event where he ousted defending French Open champion Al Costa en route to the third round. He followed that with a win over Carlos Moya at the TMS-Hamburg, a third round effort at Wimbledon, beat Younes El Aynaoui at Bastad, and reached his first tour semifinal at Umag (l. to Moya). Was hampered late in the year with injuries, but keep an eye in 2004 on the lefty, who like most new-generation Spaniards can perform on all surfaces, and if he builds the serve -- watch out." - Richard Vach, Tennis-X.com, December 2003
"Newcomer of the year 2003, men: Rafael Nadal. El Nino not only played with the maturity to match his power -- but he did so on every surface. He was also the first 17-year-old male in more than a decade to finish in the top 50." - Jon Wertheim, CNN/SI commentator, December 2003
