Rafael Nadal: This guy has his head on straight
Mon July 7th 2008
Congratulations, Rafael Nadal! Yes, of course I mean for winning Wimbledon in simply the most incredible tennis match that I’ve ever seen, but more so for keeping your head on straight and for being such a classy individual. For that, congratulations and a million thanks.
These days, we’re surrounded by celebrities and other public figures who are obsessed with their outer images and how they look to everyone else watching them. They spend exorbitant amounts of money on the latest fashions, cars, parties and other status symbols to show the world how rich, famous and powerful they are. They hang out at all the exclusive clubs and restaurants and are quick to let us know that they are close friends with other rich, famous and cool people.
I would guess that many celebrities feel like they have to constantly work to impress everyone that’s watching them. After all, Hollywood and the music industry rely heavily on external beauty and public opinion to make their money. So if you aren’t beautiful and cool, it’s hard to succeed in these fields. Actors and music artists want people to like them so much that they (or their PR people) will do just about anything so they win the love and admiration of the public. Sure talent still counts for something, especially in sports, but the pressure seems overwhelmingly high for public figures to show that they deserve our adoration.
That’s why it’s so incredible to watch someone like 22-year-old tennis champion Rafael “Rafa” Nadal seemingly shrug off all the media attention and hype that is focused on him. With all of the interviews and flashbulbs that he comes into contact with every day, he somehow manages to remain humble and so utterly normal. Maybe it’s because his family instilled an amazing work ethic and a sense of humility in him or maybe he was just born with it, but whatever it is, I’m grateful to be able to witness it.
Earlier this year, when he beat number-one-ranked Roger Federer to win the 2008 French Open he actually apologized to Federer for beating him. No he didn’t do anything wrong, and no one would ever have suggested that he had anything for which to apologize, but he did it because he felt compassion and respect for his opponent. His apology wasn’t a sign of weakness or an indicator of low self-esteem. He simply felt appreciation for the fact that Federer is an amazing competitor and that losing doesn’t feel good for anyone. That’s why he apologized.
It is clear that Rafa is not entirely comfortable with all of the attention he’s getting. In fact, in his latest blog post, he talks about an incident where he was “attacked” by paparazzi during his recent stay in London and how he disliked their invasion of his privacy. From what I’ve heard reported, he lives a normal, quiet life in his hometown of Mallorca, Spain with his family and friends and he likes it that way. I hope that he is able to continue to do so with his continuing success and his rise in fame.
This Sunday, when he beat Federer to win the 2008 Wimbledon title, as he accepted his trophy, he said “I am very happy for me, but sorry for him, because he deserved this title, too. He’s still No. 1, still the best, still a five-time champion“. It is so rare to ever hear athletes, not only talk with such humility and respect for their opponents, but to do so in a way where everyone knows that he truly feels that way in his heart and he really means what he’s saying.
Often when Rafa is interviewed before matches, he is asked things like “Your opponent’s game seems to have been slipping lately, so do you expect this match to be easier than the last time you played him?”. Without fail, though, every time Rafa responds with respect for his opponent’s game and he says that he needs to play his best tennis to win. Against anyone. We can just tell from his demeanor that this guy is real and down-to-earth and he easily wins the public’s admiration for exactly that reason. And Rafa didn’t have to spend a dime.
We need more people like Rafa Nadal in the public eye to serve as role models. More people need to see that honest, sincere, compassionate, hard-working, simple and easy-going people can be just as admired, if not more admired, than the celebrities we see that are practically jumping in front of cameras. That’s not to say, of course, that people with money can’t also have these qualities, but maybe a lot of those people are under too much pressure to put on an exterior facade to hide their true selves, because they think that is what it takes to be accepted. Maybe we need to figure out what it is that keeps Rafael Nadal’s feet planted so firmly on the ground and learn from it.
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