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Rafael Nadal Tells TENNIS Magazine "It's Federer and Then the Rest of Us"
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10/24/07 - New York, NY--Although many believe 21-year-old Rafael Nadal has been closing the gap on Roger Federer, but in the November/December issue of TENNIS magazine the Spaniard admits Roger is the best. “I think there are many other players today who are good … it is not a Federer-Nadal thing, believe me. It is Federer and then the rest of us.”
In an interview with TENNIS Magazine editor James Martin, Nadal says Federer “is a very nice person and a great competitor. I have a good relationship with him. I really admire what he does, how he plays, and how he behaves on and off the court. He is a role model for many people. I always had a bit of a language barrier with him since my English is not that good, but from time to time, and especially when there are important things to talk about, we sit and talk.”
Asked about his intense style of play, Nadal, who names Gladiator as his favorite film, says, “I think you have to fight for every ball. There is always a chance to win. Things can change and I believe in this…it is just the will to win and to know that I can make it. It is also a way to respect the people that paid money to come and see us play.”
Nadal says his toughest time in his career came in 2005 when he was plagued with a serious foot injury and was told by a doctor he might not play again. “I was crying all the time thinking about it. My parents were of great support to me during that period.”
Here are some other highlights of the November/December issue of TENNIS Magazine:
10 Moments That Changed Tennis Forever
In the 19th century, tennis was a game played on lawns across Victorian England. Today, it’s a lucrative professional sport played and watched across the globe. How did tennis go from a lawn game to a global business in little more than a century? TENNIS Magazine names the 10 moments that impacted the game and forever changed it.
1875 – All England Croquet Club draws a tennis court
1919 – Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen debuts at Wimbledon in a loose silky fashionable dress.
1919 – Bill Tilden winters in Rhode Island to play indoor tennis and improves his game
1950 – Althea Gibson becomes the first African-American to play at Forest Hills
1954 -- 11-year-old Billie Jean Moffitt (King) was not allowed to participate in a girls tennis group photo because she was wearing shorts instead of a dress.
1956 – Nikita Khrushchev goes to England and brings tennis back to Russia
1968 – Wimbledon opens its doors to professionals
1974 – The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey is published
1975 – Howard Head patents the oversize racquet
1989 – The ATP and WTA start tracking serve speeds
A Day in the Life of the U.S. OPEN
It takes more than just the sport’s biggest star to make the Open the Grand Slam event that it is. TENNIS Magazine profiles nine people who helped turn this year’s tour stop at Flushing Meadows into the most exciting two weeks in tennis, including the sports’ fastest racquet stringer, an autograph seeker who had tennis stars putting pen to his cheek instead of paper and a 15-year-old veteran ball boy with on the job tales to tell.
The John Isner Story
Despite not much advanced fanfare, the University of Georgia product burst upon the tennis scene this year. Cindy Shmerler helps tennis fans catch-up on how this 6’9” kid from North Carolina became an American tennis sensation. In May his parents gave him $40,000 to start his career. One week later he knocked off the top three seeds to win the title at a Futures Event in Chico, CA. Two months later he reached the finals at Legg Mason before falling to Andy Roddick in the finals. A month later he was on center court at the US Open against Roger Federer in the third round.
Agent 007 Hits the Court
When Marion Bartoli said the appearance of Pierce Brosnan at Wimbledon this year helped her reach the finals, it was not the first time, tennis and the spy got together. Vijay Armitraj appeared in Octopussy; Richard Krajicek married former Bond Girl Daphne Decker (Tomorrow Never Dies); Pam Shriver marries Australian actor George Lazenby who starred in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service; in 2005 the original Agent 007 Sean Connery sounded off about fellow Scottsman Andy Murray needing more financial backing from the LTA.
About Miller Publishing Group: MPG publishes TENNIS Magazine, SMASH. Magazine and the photo annual The Year in Pictures. TENNIS, published 10 times annually, is the world’s largest tennis title, with a circulation of more than 600,000. MPG also owns TENNIS.com, the world’s leading tennis website, plus SMASHtennis.com and the blog Peter Bodo’s TennisWorld (peterbodostennisworld.com).
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