Name: Rafa: My Story
Author: Rafael Nadal and John Carlin
Publisher: Hyperion
First Published: 2011
Rating: 9/10

Rafael Nadal has been in a pretty philosophical and retrospective mood lately. After the ATP World Tour Finals, the Spaniard said that he has lost some of his passion for tennis, and a few days after that revealed that he might not be playing professionally by the time he’s 30.

This would be disturbing enough on its own for Nadal’s fans, but these comments all come shortly after the Spaniard released his autobiography. One might be tempted to think that Nadal is at some sort of crossroads, looking at his career as almost complete.

This is always a danger when an athlete releases an autobiography when they are still actively participating in the sport. The question of motivation inevitable comes up. Are they thinking of wrapping up their career soon? Or is it simply a way of making some extra cash?

Of course, Nadal might simply want to tell his story and thought this the right time to do so.

Whatever you might believe, it’s hard to read Rafa: My Story without wondering about these questions.

The book starts with what is perhaps the defining moment of Nadal’s career: his 2008 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer, a match which many people believe to be the greatest of all time.

He talks about Wimbledon and what it means to him, and candidly admits that the previous year’s final – which he lost to Federer in five sets – had left him utterly devastated.

This discussion of the 2008 final is the narrative that holds the whole book together. Nadal only talks about it in little bursts, before switching to other topics. It’s only about three-quarters of the way through the book that he reaches the point where he actually wins the match.

It’s a very effective tactic, and one which has been used in many a sports biography. The most memorable attempt by a tennis player was probably Michael Chang in his book, but Nadal handles it a lot better.

Chang used his victory at the French Open at the age of 17 as the story to drive his book, but finishes it too early, leaving the rest of the biography feeling anticlimactic. Nadal weaves the story of the 2008 Championship match throughout almost the entire book, and it makes for a wonderful centerpiece to his story.

It’s telling that he chose this match as the main event for his book, for it involves the one player who, for better or worse, shaped his professional career more than anyone else – Roger Federer. The two men occupied the number one and number two positions in tennis for the better part of a decade, and Federer is never far away when Nadal discusses his time on the ATP Tour.

Nadal is very honest about his relationship with Federer, both on and off the court, and he has no problem with saying how much he admires his Swiss rival. At one point he even admits some jealousy.

Federer’s talent, in particular, is a source of constant amazement to the Spaniard. Nadal expresses astonishment at the incredible ease with which Federer does everything, and how he never gets serious injuries.

Federer’s lack of injuries seems to be a particular sticking point for Nadal, who is forever battling one physical ailment or another. These injuries are mostly caused by the extreme repetition of his training, which he admits he has to do a lot more of than the Swiss. Nadal is honest about the fact that he is pretty much always playing through pain of some sort.

He also discusses their rivalry in terms of his statistical domination over Federer. On this point, however, he is very clear: he does not believe himself to be better than Federer, despite their lopsided head-to-head.

Nadal discusses his strategy when playing against Federer: hit to his backhand, and then hit to his backhand while looking for another opportunity to hit to his backhand. He points out that this strategy is particularly difficult for Federer to cope with on clay, and that this is the reason the Spaniard enjoys such an advantage in their head-to-head statistics.

Nadal goes on to emphasize that if you look at their record on other surfaces, they are just about even. He refuses to entertain any notion that he is better than Federer, and by extension, the best player of his generation.

This humility is a feature of the whole book, and Nadal says several times that it’s very important to him that he stays humble, for he doesn’t want the fame to change him. As a result, there is a distinct lack of badmouthing and gossip in the book, and people looking for this kind of information will be sorely disappointed.

Nadal speaks highly of all his fellow players, and while cynics might point out that this is because he still has to deal with them on a day-to-day basis, one gets the feeling that he is being genuine.

Of course, as is the case with all sports biographies, a fair amount of time is dedicated to Nadal’s personal life. He discusses his love for his family – he is very close to all of them – and is surprisingly frank about his parents’ divorce and the pain it caused him.

Particularly interesting is the insight we gain into the relationship between Nadal and his coach, Uncle Toni. The two have been working together for Nadal’s entire career (and many years before that), and he provides a fascinating look into their loving but often contentious relationship. Nadal also dispels a few myths, such as the common belief that Toni forced the youngster to play left-handed (he is naturally right-handed).

Strangely, however, Nadal doesn’t ever really directly discuss his uncle, and that is left to one of the “third-person” chapters. While most of the book is written from Nadal’s perspective, there are a few that are written by – and from the perspective of – his co-author, John Carlin.

These deal with some of the more thorny issues, which Nadal was presumably reluctant to write about himself. One of these chapters is about Uncle Toni, and another is about Nadal’s girlfriend. This is an old trick – Andy Murray’s autobiography contained many such chapters – and while they are interesting, one cannot help but feel it would have been better if Nadal had written these sections himself.

But this is a minor complaint of a book that is, overall, excellent. Nadal addresses just about every topic you can imagine – his love for football, his bad eating habits, his desire to play every Davis Cup match, among much else – and does so with flair and passion.

There are many surprises along the way as well, such as the fact that he had a foot injury that nearly ended his career, and you’ll find yourself racing through the book and enjoying every moment of it.

Unfortunately, at just under 300 pages, the journey is over far too quickly. An extra 100 pages would have been fantastic, but hopefully we’ll see a follow-up to this book once his career is well and truly over.

Rafa: My Story is highly recommended, both for fans of the Spaniard and even fans of tennis in general. It provides a wonderful look into one of the greatest players of our time, and will leave you with a fuller understanding of the man behind the player.