Nadal uses a Babolat racket known as Aero Pro Drive and his string of choice is known as Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour.
Although it is not known why, Rafael Nadal has met considerable hostility from fans during his matches at the French Open. He is often booed throughout and even after the match, especially when playing against and beating French players such as Mathieu or Gasquet. Commentators on French TV, such as Guy Forget on France 2, openly say they want him to lose during matches, claiming that "we don't need construction worker arms in tennis," referring to his sleeveless shirts. After the 2006 French Open final against Federer, Nadal started by praising Federer in his speech. The translator mistranslated the speech, leading the public to think he was praising himself. Nadal was thus booed and whistled at throughout the speech.
It is common for Nadal to spend as much as 38 seconds, 18 over the limit, between points on his service game. The rules of tennis state that a maximum of 20 seconds is allowed between the time at which the last point is finished to the time at which the next serve is delivered. Nadal has picked up numerous time violations for this breach of the rules and has received a number of warnings from tennis authorities.
Nadal's record-setting 62-match clay court win streak has been belittled by the man whose record he broke--Guillermo Vilas. Vilas reasons that Nadal's streak is not as impressive as his because "things were much more difficult in my day" and because Vilas's 53-match win streak all occurred within the same calendar year--not over two seasons as is the case with Nadal. Also, Vilas has decried the publicity given to Nadal's streak, saying that "they didn't give me a trophy in 1973."
Nadal is the nephew of former Spanish footballer Miguel มngel Nadal, one of Spain's most capped players. Miguel's brother Toni is the coach of Rafael.
In preparation for an event, tennis great Pat Cash played a clay-court match against the then fourteen year-old Nadal. Cash was reluctant to play against Nadal and took this arranged match as an offence. In the end, he was surprised to find himself losing by a close margin.
In 2006, Nadal and Roger Federer became the only two male players in the open era to reach the Wimbledon final after having both played in the French Open final just a month prior. There have been several men to reach the Wimbledon final after making the French Open final, but never had the same two men accomplished such a feat at the same time.
Nadal's nickname is "The King of Clay."
Nadal has "Vamos Rafa" ("Let's go Rafa") written on his shoes, a common exhortation by his fans.
Although Nadal plays left-handed, he is naturally right-handed. When he was younger, his uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, decided that his two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm, so he taught Rafael to play with his left.
He can curl 30kg with his left hand and 25kg with his right.
Source: Wikipedia.org
