Rafael Nadal (2)
Tennis career
1997–2000: Juniors
In February 1998, Nadal won the Open Super 12, an unofficial world championship for U12 players held in Auray. It was the first time that Nadal competed outside of Spain and he beat the 1997 winner Jamie Murray in the final.[20] At the time, Nadal was still hesitating between football and tennis, partly because his uncle Miguel Ángel was preparing to compete in the 1998 FIFA World Cup with Spain, but in the end it was Auray who decided it.[21] In a letter in French that he sent to the organizers in 2010, Nadal stated that winning this tournament helped him make the decision to "opt for tennis and try an international career".[20][21] Latter in 1998, when Nadal was runner-up in the U14 event Spanish championship, he was still playing football.[8] Nadal's father told him he had to choose between football and tennis so that his schoolwork would not deteriorate entirely. Nadal said: "I chose tennis. Football had to stop straight away.
In 1999, the 12-year-old Nadal was already playing in the U14 circuit of the ETA Junior Tour, currently known as the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, winning the prestigious Tim Essonne,[22] and finishing the year at No. 69.[23] Nadal then dominated the U14 circuit in 2000, collecting two of the most prestigious trophies of the year at Les Petits As in Tarbes, beating home favourite Julien Gely in the final,[16][23][24] and the European Junior Masters in Prato.[16][25] On the same day he turned 14, Nadal won the Sport Goofy Trophy, held in Getxo, beating Granollers in the final.[26][27] In July, Nadal finally won the U14 Spanish championships, beating his friend and training partner Tomeu Salvá in the final.[16][28] He broke a finger on his left hand during the first round, but still won the tournament anyways despite gripping the racquet with his four good fingers, his pinkie dangling.[28][29] As a member of the Spanish national team, Nadal won the 2000 ITF World Junior Championship for players under 14, winning his matches in both singles and doubles (paired with Marcel Granollers) in a 3–0 win over Russia.[30] Nadal ended 2000 at No. 5 of the ETA rankings for U14s.[23]
By the time Nadal was 14, he had made a name for himself in the Spanish junior circuit by winning multiple age group titles.[14] Those achievements earned him a tennis scholarship in Barcelona, and the Spanish tennis federation requested that Nadal leave Mallorca and move to Barcelona to continue his tennis training.[8] His family turned down this request, partly because they feared his education would suffer,[15] but also because Toni said, "I don't want to believe that you have to go to America or other places to be a good athlete. You can do it from your home."[8][11] Furthermore, Nadal already was by then practicing three times a week at Palma with his childhood idol and fellow Majorcan, the former World No. 1 Carlos Moyá, who later became Nadal’s mentor and confidant,[8][11] and whom Nadal beat in 2000, at the time still a Top-10 player, in an exhibition match.[31] The decision to stay home meant less financial support from the federation; instead, Nadal's father covered the costs
2001–2002: Start of professional career
In early 2001, at age 14, Nadal began playing the qualifying draws of professional tournaments. Although he managed to win some matches, he failed to qualify for the main draws in any of the 10 Spanish Futures he played between January and September.[35] He also competed in the qualifying round of the ATP 250 event at home in Mallorca, but failed to qualify.[32] In May 2001, he defeated former Grand Slam tournament champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match.[9][36] Nadal finally made his pro debut in the main draws at the Futures in Madrid on 11 September 2001, wasting no less than 13 match points against Guillermo Platel-Varas in the opening round.[32][29][37] A week later he received a wild card into the main draw of the Challenger in Seville, his first Challenger tournament, and he ousted world No. 751 Israel Matos Gil 6–4 6–4 to claim his first pro win and earn the first five ATP points of his career to become world No. 1002.[35][32][29] At age 15, Nadal ended 2001 as the world No. 811.
In 2002, Nadal, then ranked No. 762, received a wild card to the ATP 250 event on his home island of Mallorca,[38] where on 29 April, at 15 years and 10 months of age, Nadal won his first ATP match by defeating No. 81 Ramón Delgado,[39] and became the ninth player in the Open Era to do so before the age of 16.[35][40] He proceeded not to compete for two months as he had to study for school exams, which was a very important thing for his family, thus missing the junior French Open in June.[41] He made his return to the tour in the aforementioned Wimbledon junior event, where he was the only non-English speaking player to receive a wildcard and reaching the semifinals after winning four matches against rivals with much more experience on grass, such as second seed Brian Dabul in the first round and eight seed Philipp Petzschner, who was also two years older than him, in the quarterfinals, before being eliminated by Lamine Ouahab.[42] Nadal then won six of the nine Futures events he entered from July until December, including 5 on clay and 1 on hard courts, but he did not reach any doubles finals.[35][43] Nadal finished 2002 with a Futures record of 40–9 in singles and 10–9 in doubles.[44][45] In October, Nadal achieved his first victory over a top-100 by defeating No. 76 Albert Montañés in the quarterfinals of a Challenger at Barcelona,[16] before losing to Albert Portas in the semifinals.[46] Nadal ended 2002 as the world No. 199.
