Rafael Nadal is an icon in the history of tennis. However, one aspect of his game, absolutely essential, goes completely unnoticed.
Rafael Nadal is one of the greatest tennis players of all time. The native of Manacor, Mallorca, is one of the few tennis players in the Open era to have won all four Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. He is also the record holder for the number of victories at Roland Garros, with 14 victories out of his 22 major tournament titles.
The rivalries of the Spanish tennis player with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have entered the legend of tennis. The three men are those who have the most Grand Slam titles, but also the most confrontations against each other. Which has given time to commentators of all sides to analyze their game, in particular that of the Spaniard.
Rafael Nadal’s supremacy on the clay at Roland Garros is based mainly on a devastating topspin forehand. Like only 15% of the professional circuit, Rafael Nadal holds his racket in his left hand and the height of the bounce of his forehand directly into his opponents’ backhands has built his greatest victories.
Yet, few people know this, but Rafa is not left-handed, quite the contrary! For everything that does not concern a racket and a tennis court, Nadal is right-handed. His equipment supplier Nike had even made him the subject of a marketing campaign, asking him to perform everyday actions with both hands and the result was clear. The videos unearthed on the Web on this subject (like here) are quite astonishing. We see Nadal chaining together disasters at darts, brushing his teeth with difficulty or even unable to write three words correctly with his left hand.
In his autobiography released in 2012, Rafael Nadal explained this surprising choice to play tennis with his “bad” hand. He indicates that he started playing tennis by making two-handed shots on both sides in order to have more power in his early years.
But around the age of 10, he had to choose a hand for his forehands. “My uncle told me: ‘no professional plays like that, we’re not going to innovate, you have to change’. Naturally, the left one won.” Conversely, his elder and compatriot Carlos Moya, who became his coach in 2016, had the opposite trajectory. Left-handed in everyday life, he played tennis with his right hand.