Get to know him better! If you are a Rafa fan, or even if you are not, you should not miss it for the world.
The modest superhuman has a side we didn’t know of, and Rafa My Story introduces you to the real him. How his family makes him who he is, and that without them he wouldn’t be as powerful. They are the mojo that keeps him going.
The story of Rafa revolves back and forth settling from his important Grand Slams to capering to his personal life every now and then. There are so many details imbued in his life’s chapter that you realize you barely knew this person. Not to mention the family in the stands who were always a blur to you when you watched them on the screen. Going forward if you are going to see them in a match, you will know who is who and their story will then pervade in the thin air right in front of your eyes.
Such important people whose lives affect the game he plays! It is like there is so much going on in a person’s life, and when he is out there playing nothing shows. You do not stop to think about the backdrop a player has just conquered in order to be playing a match. What constitutes him, what has just put him in a position, or whatever comes has been defined by how their day is.
Then Rafa talks about the minutiae that literally dictate a player’s movements – the nerves that get the better of him every time the thought of winning or losing supersedes him. With that, you realize how human these players are, breaking that glass in your head when you thought them to be above everything.
Nadal’s humility lies in the fact that he has never let success get to his head. There are countless instances in the book that insinuate that. The importance of Toni in his life is kept intact throughout. However, by the end of it, you realize Rafa’s current state of affairs. The fight with Toni makes you realize that there is trouble brewing in that department and Rafa isn’t afraid to speak his heart out about how he feels about certain things. His current game shows how he is willing to give defiance a shot as opposed to not letting the steam out. This topic is immensely debatable given what Toni thinks of it and how his nephew wishes to be able to let go sometimes.
John Carlin is a great writer who puts the right words on paper, molding Nadal’s thoughts into something tangible that you can bite on. The feeling is all there and you realize how important this story is about knowing a person. The interviews help put things further in perspective. You know everybody Rafa is affiliated with, and that helps you in realizing that there is a world around Rafa that is constantly battling with him when he is.