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Saturday, Jan 06, 2007
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Nadal: a curiously detached fellow

Vijay Parthasarathy

Rafael Nadal. — Photo: R. Ragu

CHENNAI: We are sitting in the VIP lounge that neighbours the outside courts, Rafael Nadal and a few Indian journalists, late on Thursday. The World No.2 has acquiesced to a round table interview and he sits there staring at the penne pasta that the waiter has just served him.

"More," Nadal says with a frown. A growing boy must have his fill, after all.

Nadal mumbles his replies between mouthfuls over the drone of the air-conditioner. The disturbance doesn't seem to annoy him, he's as focused on making his point as he is while playing in front of crowds.

That Nadal's pace should defy his bulk regularly provokes surprise, for example, but as he observes, there are heavier players on the Tour. "You see mine because of my cut sleeves," he says with a grin. "Maybe my biceps have better definition, but I'm not the strongest."

But in general, his responses to tennis-related questions aren't as fascinating as the ones that allow one an insight into his mind. He is a curiously detached fellow. When someone asks if he thinks of himself as a sex symbol he responds with a haughty shrug: "I don't think about that."

Interesting to watch

This past week, everyone's been talking about how down-to-earth Nadal is, how good he is with the fans. He's been consistently polite to journalists even if some of their questions irritate him. Every once in a while, he twists his neck towards the translator and spouts a torrent of Spanish. It's always interesting to watch a person speak in his native tongue.

There is more eye contact, the thought process is not impeded by things like a fractured vocabulary, the facial expressions are less ambiguous and easier to interpret. Sometimes, during these moments of fluency, Nadal lets his mask of geniality drop. Then his features resume their inscrutability.

Nothing wrong with that, of course. Everyone is permitted the occasional scowl. It's our urge to slot celebrities into categories like `down-to-earth' or `nice guy' that is unfair and glib.

Now, when I ask curiously if fame has made it harder for him to make new friends, his face contorts briefly in a mix of bafflement and distaste. "I don't understand," he says. "How is it harder? I have my same group of friends from the time I was in nursery school, I stay in the same place with my family. I meet new people, make new contacts."

Normal guy

That strikes me as a non-sequitur but I persist: doesn't he get the feeling that people will sometimes want to get to know him only because he's famous? He smiles half-exasperated, half-incredulous. "I don't understand. I don't think like that, I'm a normal guy with a normal job. People are nice, and I am nice too. That's only the right thing."

How much that perspective is limited by problems in communication, and how much by cheerful optimism is hard to judge. At any rate his English has improved tremendously over the past six months. He no longer frequently punctuates his responses with "no," as in "He played well, no, he has a good backhand, no."

Nadal concludes our sessions with some relevant advice for ambitious parents. Nine-year-olds, he stresses, shouldn't be subjected to too much pressure. "That happens a lot these days. It's most important to enjoy the game when you're younger. When I was nine, I went to the beach, watched movies, played football. Then if your game is okay at 12 or 13, then they should consider playing professionally."

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