By Scoop Malinowski | Tuesday, June 2, 2015

 

"Nadal is biggest fighter ever. Great person also, off the court," said Radek Stepanek.

Photo credit: Christopher Levy

Facing Rafael Nadal on the red clay of Roland Garros has been deemed the most demanding task in tennis.

Most will never experience that rare feat of defeating the King of Clay, but exactly what does it like to face Nadal on any court?

Author and long-time tennis journalist Scoop Malinowski, a Tennis Now contributor, set out to find out.

Malinowski interviewed more than 50 ATP players for his fourth book, Facing Nadal: Symposium of a Champion.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Pat Cash, Stefan Kozlov, Radek Stepanek, Ivan Ljubicic, James Blake and Marat Safin are among the players, who recount their personal experiences of Nadal and recall their first impressions meeting Rafa.

Facing Nadal: Symposium of a Champion is now available on Amazon.com. The 220-page book retails for $9.99.

An excerpt from Facing Nadal: Symposium of a Champion is here. 

Novak Djokovic on how facing Nadal made him a better player:

"I think challenges, big challenges that I had in my career changed me in a positive way as a player. Because of Rafa and because of Roger I am what I am today, you know, in a way, because when I reached the No. 3 in the world and won the first Grand Slam title in 2008, the years after that I struggled a lot mentally to overcome the doubts that I had. And all the big matches I lost to these guys was consistent but not winning the big matches, and then they made me understand what I need to do on the court.

"I worked hard, and, you know, it's paying dividends, I guess, in the last couple of years. You know, obviously it's not easy when you're playing a top rival at the finals of any tournament, but if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best, you know. You have to win against the best players in the world. That's the biggest challenge you can have."
***
Wimbledon champion Pat Cash on losing to a 14-year-old Nadal in Mallorca and realizing the teenager had greatness within:

"I played Nadal when he was a few weeks from being 15 in Mallorca. Boris Becker pulled out of the senior match and so they asked me last minute to come in and play, and play the world junior champion. And I said, 'Yeah sure. I don't mind playing. The show must go on.' A bit of entertainment. I got a great photo of him, actually of us together. He played the same way. Obviously, he didn't hit the ball as hard then. But he played the same intensity, topspin. I was kind of shocked by it all [smiles].

"As a young kid his age, it wasn't as if it was something I couldn't handle but, I mean, the crowd was quite amused when he won the first set against me. And I was sort of being nice to him, Okay, no more Mister Nice Guy. Because this kid is really good. He'll beat me if he can. It's not sort of like a fun game. He won the first set and the crowd thought it was hilarious. They were roaring for us. So we were on the court together, so I started chip-charging, serve and volley, that sort of stuff, won the second set pretty comfortably — 6-2 I think. The 10-point tiebreaker. As I said before, 99 percent of the kids would have choked. And fallen apart. And he was just tearing everywhere. All over the court. And hit some unbelievable winners. And you now, then I was 38, I was still hitting the ball pretty well.

"And so I lost that match. I don't remember what the score was. It was close. He didn't get nervous or anything. Obviously, he didn't have anything to lose. But I came in the locker room after, the guys sort of looked at me, just to look at my reaction. And my reaction was losing to a 14 year old. And I just sort of looked at them, Wow, this kid is something else..."
***
Dominic Thiem on facing Nadal at Roland Garros:

"I faced him in Paris where obviously he lost one match in his career. It was maybe...it's one of the biggest challenges in, not only tennis, but in all sport...to face Rafa in Paris. But it was a good experience for me and I think it helped me a lot."

Question: Did anything surprise you about being on the court with him live, instead of seeing him on TV or from the side?

Dominic Thiem: "It was completely new. It was my first year last year on the Tour and I knew everything, everybody only from the TV. And then all of a sudden I was matched in Paris against the nine-time champion. So it was a very good experience and also helpful."

Question: What did you learn that day?

Dominic Thiem: "That I still (have) a long way to go [smiles]."
***
Thanasi Kokkinakis on facing Nadal at the Australian Open:

"I played him at the Aussie Open, second round. I was impressed by all the intensity and effort that he put into every ball that he hit. And I actually found his serve really awkward, it moved a lot. Had a lot of slice on his serve. Those were the big things. Tough to win a point against him."

Question: Before the match, how did you feel going out to the court to face the world No. 1?

Thanasi Kokkinakis: "I wasn't nervous, I was more excited. I had already got the win in the first round. I had no pressure. So I went out there to try to swing freely. I knew obviously it was going to be a tough out but I did think I could trouble him a bit with my game style, the way I play. So I had a good chance in the second set to maybe break his serve or be close but I didn't take my break points. And, you know, it was suddenly one break at the end of that set. So it was pretty tight."

Question: Did anything surprise you about him?

Thanasi Kokkinakis: "Probably how well he handled my first serve. My first serve return, those were the main things. But apart from that I kind of expected most of it."

Question: Before the match how would you describe his preparations in the locker room?

Thanasi Kokkinakis: "Fine. I think I talked with him a bit about golf. I think there was golf on TV. So my coach and I talked a little bit of golf with him [smiles]. And that was probably about an hour before the match. But then obviously when we got closer he started getting prepared, like every other player."

Question: Lasting memory of Nadal on or off court?

Thanasi Kokkinakis: "He's been a nice guy to me. I enjoyed playing him, sharing the court with him. Hopefully next time it will be more fun and I'll come out on the other end."
***
Former No. 1 Carlos Moya, who mentored the young Rafa, recalls their first meeting:
 
"Well, meeting him in Stuttgart when he was twelve. He was playing an under-12 tournament and I was playing the Masters 1000 event in Stuttgart ('98). So that was the first time we met."

Question:  What was your initial reaction of seeing him play?

Carlos Moya:  "We played. We actually played that day and he was 12 and I was 22. I think he was a very great player under 12, he was very shy off court. But then we saw something different on court. But he was very hungry to play and compete and that's something you could see right away."
***
Hugo Armando on facing Nadal in Stuttgart:

"He's the toughest competitor I ever faced. It's just something I've never seen before. It's just everything about him. His energy, just everything. Before walking on the court, the guy's doing 10-foot sprints side to side, just non-stop. It was just unimaginable [smiles]."
***
Fernando Verdasco on his matches against Nadal:
 
Question: Memories of your big win vs. Nadal in Madrid?
 
Fernando Verdasco: "The memories are great. My first victory as a professional against Rafa. It took my best play as possible to beat him. Against a player like him, losing so many times and winning in Madrid, my hometown, with all my family and friends in front of me...it was like impossible to be better than that."

Question: You came close many times...

Fernando Verdasco: "Yeah many times [smiles]."



Question: Did you do anything different in Madrid? What was it that finally got you over the hump?

Fernando Verdasco: "I don't even know [smiles]. I think I was even laughing because it was one of the times that I wasn't even close to winning. I was 5-2 down in the third. He was serving, then all of a sudden, everything changed so quick. It went from 5-2 on his serve and I won 7-5. So it was like unbelievable change in that match. And many times I had like a break up in the third or like match point and I finally lost. So I don't even know why [smiles]..."
***

Stefan Kozlov on hitting with Nadal at the 2014 Miami Open:

"It was one of the craziest feelings I ever had, to be honest. The first couple of minutes I was trying to move my feet as fast as I could and swing as hard as I could. And the balls were just slicing off my string because of the spin. I don't know if everyone felt that before or it's just me. The first five minutes there with Rafa were one of a kind. Then after that, the second day I hit with him, I actually had one of the best practices of my life. So I got used to his ball after one day."

Question: Rafa asked you back for the second day?

Stefan Kozlov: "Yeah, we hit for like four days."

Question: Lasting memory of this experience?

Stefan Kozlov: "It took me like two hours to get into the stadium. I was waiting at the stadium entrance for two hours because they (security) didn't know I was hitting with Rafa. I told them I was hitting with Rafa and they didn't let me in. It was pretty crazy. Toni (Nadal) came down and helped me. Two hours we waited."
***

Radek Stepanek on facing Nadal:

"It's always a standout moment to play Nadal. We played seven, eight or nine times, maybe more. Always challenging, very much so. He's the biggest fighter on the Tour I have ever seen. Playing him, for me, is always good because he plays from the back of the court. I will try to create the play, not giving him much. A few matches I got really close, but never beat him. Yet. So I hope I will have the chance to play him still a few times."

Question: Your first memory of Rafael Nadal?

Radek Stepanek: "My first memory was we played in Davis Cup, deciding match in Czech Republic at 2-all. For me, that moment was very disappointing loss because of, you know, playing as a team competition, which means a lot to me. So this was for me a tough defeat."

Question: Do you enjoy to play Rafa, or is it too difficult to be enjoyable?

Radek Stepanek: "Since I never beat him, it's difficult to play him. For everybody I think. I'm not the exception, we are all trying to beat him."

Question: Lasting memory of Rafa on or off court, that captures his essence?

Radek Stepanek: "For me, a great fighter on the court. Biggest fighter ever. Great person also, off the court. He's very respectful to other guys, to all the players. He's a really true champion."