This time of year is reserved for strawberries and a lot of Wimbledon news. The tournament starts tomorrow and, of course, without Rafael Nadal it won’t be the same. But our champ is still on the minds of many fans, despite his retirement. Players and coaches are also mentioning him.
Current British No. 1, Jack Draper, once questioned why his coach wasn’t showing him footage of Rafa when he was still developing as a youngster. Here’s what his former coach, Justin Sherring, had to say about it.
Trying to inspire a young Draper, Sherring picked footage of Jurgen Melzer—a lefty with a strong backhand—to study:
“I chose a video of Jurgen Melzer, a top-10 player. Like Jack, he was a lefty and had a great backhand, exactly what we wanted to copy. I stick the video in front of Jack and I say, ‘Look at the extension of the arms,’ but Jack has got this look on his face.”
When Jack asked who he was watching, Sherring replied:
“It’s Jurgen Melzer, mate, top 10.”
But Jack wasn’t buying it:
“Why have you brought me Jurgen Melzer?”
Even after Sherring explained the technical reasons, Jack delivered the line every Rafa fan would love:
“Yeah, I get that. But why aren’t you showing me Rafael Nadal?”
Sherring’s brilliant (and slightly defeated) comeback?
“I’m sorry to have offended you with a top-10 player. What was I thinking?”
The story wrapped up with a classic Rafa-inspired ending:
“The next day I bring him in a video of Nadal, the best lefty of all time, and Jack is just giggling at me and goes, ‘That’s more like it, Justin.’
“This kid, I love him. He’s the nicest guy in the world and also a savage. He always knew what he wanted.”
Source: Daily Mail
Funny that, I still watch tennis. But not in the way I did while Rafa was still in the circuit.
I guess you like whom you like.
But I got to admit two players caught and perked my interest: Holger Rune and yes, Jack Draper.
As an intense sports fan, a tennis aficionado – I crave for the moments in a tennis match when the result was on the line, palms become ice-cold, heart beating tachycardia-fast and the release of all the tension when the final shot lands in Rafa’s favor.
I shed tears at the Roland Garros farewell, but I got to move on.
As in everything else in life, nothing is forever.
No surprise here as in previous interviews Jack always had nice words for Rafa.