Mahesh Bhupathi
Rafa came to the Tour when he was an incredibly young boy. I remember watching him play at Monte Carlo in the players’ lounge. Everyone was intrigued about this new and upcoming upstart. He beat Karol Kucera, who was top 10 in the world at the time, if I remember right. Immediately, his demeanour, his confidence, his ability — everyone knew there was something special: someone was going to do great things in this sport.
I played him numerous times in doubles. In my opinion, he is one of the best doubles players ever (11 doubles career titles besides 92 singles career titles, including 22 Grand Slam singles triumphs). Not only because of his amazing movements on the court. He volleyed better than people give him credit for. And he was a perennial fighter, who never gave up a single ball. He would always be known for two of the most amazing rivalries in sport, one with Roger (Federer) and another with Novak (Djokovic), which always lit up the fans.
His Wimbledon wins (two)… His ridiculous record at the French Open (14-time champion). People call him the ‘King of Clay’, which is a bit unfair, because Rafa is a king in general. He is one of the founding fathers of our sport in my opinion.
Rafa leaving soon behind Roger is a big void that is going to be very hard for the sport to fill. We celebrate Rafael Nadal because he is a humble, an amazing and an incredible champion.