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| Nationality | Spanish |
| Yr Born | 1986 |
| Birthplace | Manacor, Mallorca |
| Height, Eyes, Hair | 6'1" (1.85m), brown eyes, brown hair |
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Rafael NadalBio Rafael Nadal has taken the tennis world by storm with a winning combination of accuracy, power, speed, and court-craft.Rafa was born in Manacor, Mallorca into a sports-mad family - his uncle had played soccer for Barcelona. He turned pro at the age of 15, and rapidly demonstrated his clay expertise by making rapid progress up the rankings, first with winning performances in the clay Challengers, and then with early success on the full ATP tour. His fellow Mallorcan, the clay supremo Carlos Moya, was his early hero and mentor. Rafa's name appeared in full in the early draws as Rafael Nadal-Parera, but then to the relief of tennis scorers and statisticians everywhere he adopted the shortened form of his name. Despite being a natural right-hander, Rafa plays tennis as a left-hander, taking all the advantages of being a left-hander in tennis. In 2005 Rafa made his debut in the French open, winning the prestigious tournament at his first attempt. Rafa's famous on the court for punching the air, simutaneously screaming 'Vamos' (which means 'let's go' in Spanish). He also has the odd habit of often adjusting his socks between points (and now the seat of his pants!). |
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Wallpapers To set your wallpaper, click the one you want, wait for it to load, place your mouse over the image, right click and pick 'Set As Background'. |
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Why in 100 Best? Bronzed skin, rippling muscles, flowing locks, a fascinating intensity, and some great-looking shorts. |
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Rafael Nadal at atptennis.com
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Listing contributed by Jane Amend Listing Remove Listing |
Tags sportsman, tennis player, tennis star
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1) In a close match in tennis, the most critical points to win are the so-called 'van' (ie adVANtage) points. Win these and you win the game. ('Deuce' points are not as important, because if you win these, you do not win the game).
2) On 'van' points you are serving from the left court to your opponents right court.
3) On 'van' points a left-hander can easily swing the ball wide to the right handed opponent's backhand (generally weaker with less reach) , shifting him well off court, and out of position.
4) This makes 'van' points easier to win if you're a left-hander facing a right-hander.
5) The same argument also applies in reverse when a left-hander is receiving.