Rafael Nadal is one of the top tennis players in the world and the winner of the last two French Opens. You may want to know more about him.
Rafael Nadal—Tennis Tot1
Rafael Nadal was born on the island of Mallorca2 in Spain on June 3, 1986. He started playing tennis when he was just three years old, after watching his uncle Toni play the sport at a local tennis club. Rafael's uncle began teaching him how to play tennis and by the age of 11, Rafael was winning youth tennis tournaments3 all across Spain.
Rafael Nadal—Teenage Tennis Titan4
Rafael turned pro when he was 15 and by 2003, he was one of the top 50 ranked men's tennis players in the world. With his unique left-handed playing style and long hair, Nadal became a fan favorite both in Spain and around the world. In 2005, Rafael continued to work his way up the world rankings and won the 2005 French Open with a four set victory over Mariano Puerta of Argentina. On the road to the French Open final, Rafael also upset Roger Federer, the world's number one ranked player. Nadal repeated as French Open champ in 2006 and won his 60th straight match on clay court, making him the undisputed champion of clay-court tennis.
Nadal vs Federer
Rafael Nadal is the “King of Clay”. And the “King of Tennis”, Roger Federer, can't dispute that.
The recent Monte Carlo Masters6 final between the two players lasted 3 hours and 49 minutes. In the end, Nadal beat Federer to win the title for a second time.
“It was a very unbelievable day for me,” Nadal said after the match. “It's special to begin the clay season7 like this. Beating Roger in the final is even more special. It's great!”
Being young also means there is time on Nadal's side. As one of the most promising young players in the world, he knows there is distance between him and Swiss Roger Federer.
“Federer is No.1 in tennis,” Nadal said, “I can't be the No.1 this year, but I'm improving. I'm 20 years old and I can do it in a few years.”
Federer had 29 straight wins in Masters Series events8, but could not take the Monte Carlo title away from Nadal. The Swiss super star has a record of 130-6 since the 2004 Olympics, but three of those defeats have come against Nadal. He is now a painful 1-6 against the Spanish boy, including a loss in the Dubai9 final.
“Today I didn't have a good start,” Federer said. “Against him I have to play aggressive10 and it's tough to do that from the beginning.”
“All in all, I thought it was a good match,” the Swiss added. “I enjoyed the battle against him, and it answers a lot of questions I was asking myself prior to11 the clay court season.”
The world No. 1 believes he is closer to figuring out12 how to beat Nadal on clay. And he told reporters, “I played a smarter match today than last year. I have moved closer to him on clay and that's very important. The more I play against him, the more I'll be able to figure out his game.”
Nadal—a Big Boy
With strong muscles and long black hair, Rafael Nadal, 20, doesn't act it13 on the court, either, beating big name in tennis.
But there are moments his boyish14 smile gives away15 his real age.
Nadal showed up in China at the China Open in September 2005. It's the first time he has played here. The world No.2 player looks confident, but he can't hide his big boy charm.
Nadal walked into a recent press conference still naughtily16 playing with the cell phone in his hand. He pulled off his earphones just before he sat down to do the talk.
Though the Spanish teenager is not a master in English, he still uses it to answer reporters' questions. It is said he learns a new English word every day, and he wants to improve like he does on the court.
拉菲尔·纳达尔是世界上最好的网球运动员之一，是最近两届法国网球公开赛的冠军。你也许想多了解他一些吧。
网球神童
纳达尔1986年6月3日出生在西班牙的马洛卡岛，年仅3岁时观看了叔父托尼在一家当地网球俱乐部的比赛后，就开始涉足网球，由叔父担任教练。11岁时，纳达尔开始在西班牙各地举行的少年网球锦标赛上屡屡获胜。
网坛少年巨人
15岁时，纳达尔成为职业网球运动员。到2003年，进入世界男子网球运动员排名前50名。他独特的左手打法，还有那飘逸的长发，使他不仅在西班牙、乃至世界各地都拥有大批球迷。2005年，纳达尔的世界排名继续扶摇直上，在2005年的法国网球公开赛上纳达尔苦战四盘战胜阿根廷的马里亚诺·普尔塔。在2006年法网总决赛上，纳达尔击败排名世界第一的费德勒，再夺法网男单冠军。这也是他连续第60场红土赛场上的胜利，使他毫无争议地荣膺红土赛场网球冠军。
纳达尔PK费德勒
纳达尔是“红土之王”，这一点就连“网球之王”费德勒也不能否认。
最近的蒙特卡洛大师赛决赛上，两人大战3小时49分，最终纳达尔战胜费德勒，再度获得冠军。
赛后纳达尔说：“对我来说，这是美妙的一天。以这样的方式开始我的红土赛季确实有些特别。在决赛中战胜费德勒更是不同寻常，太爽了！”
年轻意味着纳达尔拥有更多的时间。作为世界上最有前途的年轻运动员之一，他明白他和瑞士人费德勒之间还有距离。
纳达尔说：“费德勒是世界头号男单选手。我今年不可能排到第一，但我在进步。我才20岁，几年后我会做到的。”
费德勒连续29次获得大师系列赛冠军，但是不能从纳达尔手中夺走蒙特卡洛大师赛冠军。自从2004年奥运会以来，这位瑞士超级明星取得了130胜6负的骄人纪录，而其中的3次失利就是纳达尔造成的。在同这位西班牙少年的交手中，费德勒的成绩是1胜6负，其中包括迪拜网球锦标赛决赛的失败。这一糟糕的战绩让费德勒痛苦不堪。
费德勒说：“我今天开局不好。和他交手，我应该不断进攻，但是从一开始，我就很难做到这一点。”
费德勒继续说：“总之，我觉得这是场精彩的比赛，我喜欢和他过招。它让我明白了在红土赛季开始前我一直扪心自问的许多问题。”
世界排名第一的费德勒相信他快找到如何在红土场地上战胜纳达尔的法宝。他告诉记者：“今天的比赛我比去年打得聪明。在红土场地上我站位更靠近他，这一点非常重要。和他交手次数越多，我就越能够了解他的套路。”
大男孩
20岁的纳达尔肌肉发达，黑发飘逸。他在球场上毫不做作，也不摆明星派头。
但他孩子般的微笑往往泄漏了他的真实年龄。
2005年9月，纳达尔第一次来到中国参加中国网球公开赛。这位排名世界第二的网球运动员看起来信心十足，但他还是掩饰不住他那大男孩的魅力。
在最近一次记者招待会上，纳达尔走进会场，手上还顽皮地摆弄着手机，坐下来回答问题之前才摘下耳机。
尽管这位西班牙少年英语讲得不太好，但他坚持用英语回答记者的提问。据说，他每天学习一个英语生词，他希望他的英语水平和他的球技一样与日俱增。
1. tot n. 小娃娃
2. the island of Mallorca （西班牙东部）马洛卡岛
3. tournament n. 锦标赛
4. titan n. 巨人
5. dispute v. 否认
6. Monte Carlo Masters 蒙特卡洛大师赛
7. clay season 红土赛季
8. Masters Series events 大师系列赛
9. the Dubai 迪拜网球锦标赛
10. aggressive [?藜?謖gresiv] adj. 进攻性的
11. prior to 在…之前
12. figure out 解决，领悟到
13. act it 做作
14. boyish adj. 孩子气的
15. give away 泄漏，出卖
16. naughtily adv. 顽皮地，淘气地
17. dominate v. 支配，控制