Madrid: Rafa Nadal started playing with balls before he could walk and in his formative years liked football just as much as tennis, his grandmother Isabel Homar told Spanish radio on Wednesday.
Speaking to Cadena Ser from the island of Mallorca where Nadal is from, Homar said the world number two, who beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic to win his second US Open title on Monday, “always liked anything that was round”.
“He started playing with balls in the hallway of his home before he learned to walk,” Homar said, adding things often got broken by accident.
“He loved playing football and he was always excited when Saturday came around,” added the 82-year-old. “He liked football just as much as tennis.” Homar remembered how her son Toni, who has coached his nephew to 13 grand slam titles, rang her one day and told her to come and watch her grandson.
“I remember one day Toni called me and said ‘you have to come and see him’,” she said after watching Nadal’s victory at Flushing Meadows on television with members of her family.
“I can’t remember how old he was, maybe six. He was already holding the racket very well and when he hit the ball he hit it well.” Homar said she had suffered in the second set of Monday’s final, which Nadal lost to Serb Djokovic before completing a 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-1 triumph.
Her musician husband had preferred not to watch the match due to nerves, she added.
“I liked the first set a lot but the second not so much because when I see that he is losing, I don’t like it.
“I was really suffering and a lot of the time when that happens I have to turn it off.
“You get really nervous and then it is really difficult to get to sleep.” Nadal is next in action in Spain’s Davis Cup World Group playoff tie at home to Ukraine starting on Friday.
Spain are looking to ensure their continuation in the World Group after a surprising first-round exit to Canada in February.
Nadal was not part of that defeat as he put the finishing touches to his recovery from the long term knee injury which had sidelined him since his second-round exit in Wimbledon 2012.
Now fully recovered and in top form, the Spaniard has finished the celebrations and obligations following on from his four-set win over Novak Djokovic in the US Open final Monday. He was back in Madrid to get in some practice on the beaten clay surface on which the tie will be played on.
Nadal has already triumphed in Madrid this year, winning the Masters 1000 series event and despite the obvious effects of playing in the US Open and jet lag, he is looking forward to playing.
“I have had a change of time zone after two weeks of playing at high intensity and the big thing was for me to keep on moving and to try and get the right feeling back,” he said, adding that he was willing to play singles if needed.
“The captain (Alex Corretja) will decide that, it is not for me to say anything, because if I do then that will put him in a compromising position,” said Nadal.
The rest of the team consists of Tommy Robredo and Fernando Verdasco, along with Marc Lopez. Lopez will play doubles, but Corretja could decide to rest Nadal in the singles rubbers on Friday and include him in Saturday’s doubles and possibly Sunday’s singles if needed.
Nadal admits he is in fine form, but tired after the demands of three consecutive triumphs in the US Open, Cincinnati and Montreal.
“After winning three consecutive tournaments, it’s impossible to have better feelings, but it is not a lot of time coming after a big effort. However, I am willing to do everything possible to help the team. If I play on Friday, then its Friday, if its Saturday, then its Saturday and if not then I will do my best to help on Sunday. I am here and that means I am here to try and play,” he added.
