“At night he cried and wanted to call his father in Manacor” | Relief

Raphael Nadal has been traveling almost non-stop for more than two decades. from plane to plane, from hotel to hotel, from city to city. He is a man accustomed to jet lag, living with a suitcase on his back and away from home. In this sense, the professional field is extremely demanding of tennis players, no matter how much they fly first class and sleep in the best suites.

However, the start of Nadal’s career was a far cry from what he actually became. Ever since he burst onto the racing circuit in the mid-2000s, Nadal was also a child, and like every child who wants and dreams of succeeding in sports, he had to go through the experience of sleeping away from home for the first time: pack your bags and say goodbye to your parents at age 11 to board a plane to a city in France to play in a tournament and sleep in a stranger’s house..

This is exactly what happened in 1998. Nadal was 11 years old at the time, and It was his first time traveling outside of Spain to play in an international tournament. It was Open Super 12.a kind of unofficial under-12 world championship that is held every year in the city of Auray in French Brittany.

At that time, Nadal belonged to the Real Tennis Club of Barcelona. He traveled by plane from Palma to Barcelona. with his uncle Tony and in Barcelona they took the train along with the rest of the club players who were going to the tournament. There were five of them in total: Nadal, Marcel Granollers, Meritchel Gol, Nuria Fernandez and Andres Carrasco. Toni Nadal and Roger Badia from the Catalan federation were present as coaches.

“I remember that we left by train from the French station to Paris. And from there there’s another train to Ore,” recalls Andres Carrasco in a conversation with Relevo. To save money, each student stayed in a family home in the Åre area. It was Raph and Tony’s turn at home. Marie and Michelle Lebourga couple who each year hosted the players and coaches who came to Åre for the tournament. Little Nadal didn’t have a particularly good time.

“We had a boxer named Nats, and Rafael was afraid of him. As soon as the dog arrived, the baby ran to his room, put up a protective barrier on the stairs, closed the door… and still called Nats,” Marie herself recalled in an article published in the magazine. L’Equipe In 2005, Nadal won the first of his 14 Roland Garros titles. “Nats is the only Frenchman who has scared Rafael Nadal,” wrote the editor of a French newspaper. that day—a statement that still holds true 20 years later.

Nadal, who has not yet had a contract with any brand, will next year, in Le Petit asanother youth tournament in France, already completely dressed in Nike-, defeated Jamie Murray in the final, brother Andyreturned and received a golden tray as a prize. “Open Super 12, 1998. Vainqueur Garçon,” read the sign from which Nadal posed with tousled hair and a Reebok jacket that would be in any vintage store right now..

“Rafa lost the first set 6-0, and in the second he was down 3-0, but did something crazy and came back.. At that time it was already Rafa’s style,” recalls Andres Carrasco. “Rafa was a beast on the court. What I remember is that he had an energy that none of us kids had. the intensity of the play on the court, the shots – he was a born winner. It was clear that there was something special about him, very special.

Already at that time we said that we saw that he was going to go very far, but it so happened that no one, absolutely no one, starting with him, imagined that a career with such achievements awaited him.”

Andres Carrasco, from the same team as Nadal and who played Futures several times before going to the University of Arizona, playing in collegiate tournaments, remembers the intensity of the Spaniard’s training well. But his most vivid memories have nothing to do with tennis. “At the Paris airport, a pigeon shit on Rafa’s head. We were eating at McDonald’s and he shit on him, I wrote it down.”– he says, laughing.

Rafa, a sweet and playful boy.

People who lived with Nadal in those days speak of a very polite and friendly child. “Rafael was a very lively and sweet child. On the day of the official coaches night, Tony went bowling with the other coaches. At 23:00 Rafael was crying and wanted to call his father in Manacor. Finally, when Toni returned home, she found Rafael sleeping on the couch.”was another memory shared by Marie Lebourg in L’Equipe. “We once had a Romanian child and when he lost it was a disaster. With the Nadals everything was very simple. He had a strong character and behaved like a little warrior.. But he played just for the sake of playing, it was a matter of education.”

When Nadal became famous Marie and Michel were baptized in the city as “Nadals”. Despite the tears and the Nats, Nadal always cherished the memories of that tournament in Or.. It was there, with this title, that he decided that he wanted to become a tennis player, not a football player. because before this it was discussed between two disciplines.

“Dear friends, “It has been 12 years since I decided to choose tennis to try an international career after winning the Auray Open Super 12.”

Nadal noted this in 2010 in a handwritten letter he sent to the tournament. And five years later, the Spaniard sent them a video congratulations on the 30th anniversary of the tournament.

““No one forgot their time at the tournament.”recently recognized Western France Super 12 director Xavier Lival. “He himself never forgets to remind us that his career began in Åre. Rafael was torn between football and tennis. This success really connected him with tennis.”.

Andres Carrasco remembers it this way. “On a personal level Rafa was a 10-year-old boy, educated, respectful, cheerful, with the same values ​​that are seen in him today. “He was an extension of who he is now, very sweet, very jokey, big football fan,” he notes. “He loved football and Ore was a turning point for him. He has already won the Mallorcan championship, but He has not yet played in any Spanish championship. In them you go to the European Championship and thus win it against the best at the moment.which was Jamie Murray. “That made him choose tennis.”