Becoming a true superstar after his 2008 Wimbledon triumph, the Spaniard has been the ultimate role model
There are some moments in sport that stand above all others. For Rafael Nadal, that moment came in the early evening at Wimbledon in 2008. With natural light fast running out, Roger Federer’s final forehand landed in the net and Nadal fell on his back, joy unconfined. At 22, the Spaniard was Wimbledon champion, something he – and many others – had thought might be beyond him.
In that instant, Nadal became a true superstar. Already virtually unbeatable on clay, the idea that he might be able to beat Federer on the Swiss’s favourite surface, where he had won five times in a row, seemed fanciful. But Nadal turned tennis logic on its head, for good. Two years later he won Wimbledon for a second time and when he won the US Open later the same year. He was only the seventh man to complete the career grand slam of all four majors, and the youngest in the Open era.