Rafa Nadal: The King of the Court
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- Create Date：2022-07-31 06:52:07
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Dominic Bliss
- ISBN：0711276137
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Summary
This book is the complete guide to one of the greatest tennis players of the 21st century， winner of 21 grand slam men's singles titles， and undisputed King of the tennis court， Spain's raging bull， Rafael Nadal。
This fully illustrated biography charts his journey to the top， from his early days being coached by his uncle Toni in Mallorca and dreaming of being a professional footballer， through his early tournament career， turning professional， his first senior ATP win， first grand slam win at Roland Garros， first Wimbledon win and first Olympic gold medal and record breaking 21st Grand Slam win。
Written by Dominic Bliss， a veteran tennis journalist who has followed Nadal’s career closely both on and off the court， this biography tracks Rafa’s journey from painfully shy pin-up boy to senior statesman on the ATP Tour。
Structured around 10 key matches in his long career， it takes readers from his first national junior championship win at age 14 （when he played with the pain of a broken finger on his racquet hand） through to his 21st Grand Slam title in January 2022， where he came back from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in an epic 5-set match。
From his need for water bottles to be arranged 'a certain way' on the court， to his charity work raising $17 million to help the Red Cross’ efforts to support those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic， this book examines every angle of Rafa as a human being， a model athlete， a serial winner。 This definitive work on one of tennis' all time greats is not to be missed！
This fully illustrated biography charts his journey to the top， from his early days being coached by his uncle Toni in Mallorca and dreaming of being a professional footballer， through his early tournament career， turning professional， his first senior ATP win， first grand slam win at Roland Garros， first Wimbledon win and first Olympic gold medal and record breaking 21st Grand Slam win。
Written by Dominic Bliss， a veteran tennis journalist who has followed Nadal’s career closely both on and off the court， this biography tracks Rafa’s journey from painfully shy pin-up boy to senior statesman on the ATP Tour。
Structured around 10 key matches in his long career， it takes readers from his first national junior championship win at age 14 （when he played with the pain of a broken finger on his racquet hand） through to his 21st Grand Slam title in January 2022， where he came back from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in an epic 5-set match。
From his need for water bottles to be arranged 'a certain way' on the court， to his charity work raising $17 million to help the Red Cross’ efforts to support those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic， this book examines every angle of Rafa as a human being， a model athlete， a serial winner。 This definitive work on one of tennis' all time greats is not to be missed！
Reviews
Peta Benjamin
，
I am not normally attracted to non-fiction books， but let's face it， this is Rafa Nadal。 This books gives us such a compete insight into the life of this tennis legend， from a young age until present time。We learn about his family， his life growing up， the methods his Coach used and that everything he was achieving didn't come easy。 We read about his insecurities， his flaws and so much more。 The pictures that accompany the stories are amazing and give you a look into the life of this exceptional I am not normally attracted to non-fiction books， but let's face it， this is Rafa Nadal。 This books gives us such a compete insight into the life of this tennis legend， from a young age until present time。We learn about his family， his life growing up， the methods his Coach used and that everything he was achieving didn't come easy。 We read about his insecurities， his flaws and so much more。 The pictures that accompany the stories are amazing and give you a look into the life of this exceptional man。 We get a look at statistics in many forms， his rituals and the man himself。Such an interesting read and I am so glad that I was offered the book for review。 He is definitely The King of the Court to me。Thanks to Netgalley， Quarto Publishing Group - Ivy Press and Dominic Bliss for the opportunity to read and give an hinest review of this book。 。。。more
Cindy
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Mr。 Bliss is a tennis journalist。， and that shows in this delightful biography of Rafa Nadal。 As a tennis fan， I was thrilled to reread about these ten important matches （ most of which I had watched ）， but I am also very impressed with the detail about everything from early life ， family life ， training ， idiosyncrasies that Mr。 Nadal has。There is also much discussion and examination of the many titles ， wins ， rankings and so on to more than serve as a good case for GOAT status。And the picture Mr。 Bliss is a tennis journalist。， and that shows in this delightful biography of Rafa Nadal。 As a tennis fan， I was thrilled to reread about these ten important matches （ most of which I had watched ）， but I am also very impressed with the detail about everything from early life ， family life ， training ， idiosyncrasies that Mr。 Nadal has。There is also much discussion and examination of the many titles ， wins ， rankings and so on to more than serve as a good case for GOAT status。And the pictures are GREATAnd we learned a bit about this humble， polite young man and his views on life ， and his home， and his fame。Wonderful book。Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this ARC 。。。more
Nataliya
，
There’s no question that Rafael Nadal is the shining star of tennis at a great time for the sport， being one of the Holy Triumvirate of Nadal， Federer and Djokovic。This book should have been perfect for me。 I like tennis， and I love watching Nadal play — his insanely athletic game， his hilarious on-court ticks* （hey Rafa， stop picking at your underwear just for a second， man！） — but I don’t quite know much about him besides that。 And this book recaps Rafa’s life and sports wins from childhood th There’s no question that Rafael Nadal is the shining star of tennis at a great time for the sport， being one of the Holy Triumvirate of Nadal， Federer and Djokovic。This book should have been perfect for me。 I like tennis， and I love watching Nadal play — his insanely athletic game， his hilarious on-court ticks* （hey Rafa， stop picking at your underwear just for a second， man！） — but I don’t quite know much about him besides that。 And this book recaps Rafa’s life and sports wins from childhood through Grand Slam # 21， illustrated by tons of lovely photographs and punctuated by recaps of his most memorable matches。 * “There are some further things to be done before the serve: adjust sweatbands， adjust headband， adjust shirt， tuck hair behind ears， bounce ball a precise number of times。 A familiar sequence after he reaches the baseline and receives tennis balls would be: a quick tug at the underpants through his shorts with his right hand， pull the left shoulder of his shirt up， the right shoulder of his shirt up， touch his nose， tuck hair behind each ear then start bouncing the ball。”“He has said he’s not even aware that， live in front of thousands of spectators， and millions more worldwide on TV， he attempts to pull his underpants up through his shorts before every service; often a second time between first serve and second serve。” （Nadal and Federer at Wimbledon 2008 - photo from wimbledon。com） But sadly， it just did not quite click with me。The author clearly admires Rafael Nadal， so we know he has good taste。 But the book felt more of what I’d expect from a series of online articles rather than a biography， with the feel of not much more than a recap with that persistent feel of a distance remaining。 I was expecting something more， something that would transcend the sports article style， something with better writing， something more engaging。 But it just didn’t happen， and ultimately the photos were my favorite part， not the words on page。 But the plus side is that it inspired me to YouTube quite a few Rafa videos。 Which was fun。 More fun than the book， unfortunately。2。5 stars。 ——————Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Ivy Press for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review。——————Also posted on my blog。 。。。more
Dumbledore11214
，
This book is the complete guide to one of the greatest tennis players of the 21st century， winner of 21 grand slam men's singles titles， and undisputed King of the tennis court， Spain's raging bull， Rafael Nadal。This fully illustrated biography charts his journey to the top， from his early days being coached by his uncle Toni in Mallorca and dreaming of being a professional footballer， through his early tournament career， turning professional， his first senior ATP win， first grand slam win at Ro This book is the complete guide to one of the greatest tennis players of the 21st century， winner of 21 grand slam men's singles titles， and undisputed King of the tennis court， Spain's raging bull， Rafael Nadal。This fully illustrated biography charts his journey to the top， from his early days being coached by his uncle Toni in Mallorca and dreaming of being a professional footballer， through his early tournament career， turning professional， his first senior ATP win， first grand slam win at Roland Garros， first Wimbledon win and first Olympic gold medal and record breaking 21st Grand Slam win。Written by Dominic Bliss， a veteran tennis journalist who has followed Nadal’s career closely both on and off the court， this biography tracks Rafa’s journey from painfully shy pin-up boy to senior statesman on the ATP Tour。Structured around 10 key matches in his long career， it takes readers from his first national junior championship win at age 14 （when he played with the pain of a broken finger on his racquet hand） through to his 21st Grand Slam title in January 2022， where he came back from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in an epic 5-set match。From his need for water bottles to be arranged 'a certain way' on the court， to his charity work raising $17 million to help the Red Cross’ efforts to support those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic， this book examines every angle of Rafa as a human being， a model athlete， a serial winner。 This definitive work on one of tennis' all time greats is not to be missed！I KNOW IT HAS THE PUBLICATION DATE OF JULY 5 2022， BUT THE BOOK IS ALREADY AVAILABLE ON KINDLE AND THATS THE EDITION I BOUGHTReview:So I would say that overall this more of a disappointing read for me。 If this book will be your first introduction to Rafa Nadal's life and his achievements on the tennis field， then I would recommend it。 But I already read many articles and three books about this man （ in addition to watching him playing of course ） and I am sorry， this book for me did not contain any new insights about him and his views。It is a nice， sympathetic recap， but nothing more for any seasoned fan IMO。 I bought it because I wanted a biography which would be complete as of today。 Rafa is still competing so theoretically he can add few pages to his awesome career run， but I wanted something more chronologically complete than his auto biography done in 2011。 And the picture promised some mention of his win at AO tournament this year and it does mention the win， although very briefly， so that was something I liked。I was worried about how the author would be discussing Rafa's pre match rituals because goodness gracious I have heard enough annoying comments by commentators over the years （ and I became a passionate fan of tennis in general and of this sportsman only four five years ago and man I already heard enough unkind comments）。 It was fine， I should not have worried， author talks about rituals being superstitions and part of his routine that can help him put his mind in the right mindset and he quoted Rafa :““I’m not superstitious， otherwise I would change the rituals with each defeat。 I’m not even a slave to routine。 What people call tics or rituals are how I put my head in order， because my head is normally very messy。 It’s a way to concentrate and silence the voices within。 So I don’t have to listen to the voice that tells me I’m going to lose; nor to the voice that， even more dangerously， tells me I’m going to win。” This was Rafa in a recent interview with Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport， explaining for perhaps the thousandth time why he observes so many strictly defined rituals before and during his matches。”。Bottom line it was not unkind and I was glad for that as a fan。Now I am always confused about how I should be reviewing any biography of any famous or not very famous person in any field。 At least as a fan I can say that no significant piece of information is missing from this book。 The writing is engaging enough， but I guess to me it could have been done more in depth。 The author lists bibliography at the end， he also mentions that he spoke to Rafa in person （ not counting post match press conferences ） four times over the years of following his career。 I wonder if he would have had a chance to talk to Rafa more， maybe book would have had more interesting details？ Hard to say。2。5 stars 。。。more
Ruth
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