Pablo Cuevas and a great anecdote that portrays Nadal's competitiveness

Carlos Navarro | 8 Nov 2024 | 09.30

Pablo Cuevas and Nadal after one of their matches in Rio.

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The mark of Rafael Nadal will always be remembered by those who shared the ATP circuit with him, especially those who did so from the beginning. One of them is Pablo Cuevas, recently retired and contemporary of the manacorí, who has coincided with Rafa on numerous occasions and holds valuable anecdotes about the Spaniard. The Uruguayan revealed a tremendous story in an interview with El País de Uruguay, a story that clearly shows that Nadal's competitiveness plays in a different league.

"The first time we trained together was in Hamburg and I won a set against him. From that point on, he invited me to train like 25 times in six months, to win sets against me and to make it clear that it was not a mere chance. It was nothing like what happened with Roger (Federer), who could play 10 sets, win all of them, and he was practicing other things, not caring the least about the result. Rafa, on the other hand, always trained that competitive aspect: no matter how he was hitting that day in training, the number one goal was to win even if he was working on something else." A curious story that speaks volumes about Rafa's attitude in every practice session.

🌟 This anecdote that Pablo Cuevas tells about Nadal in an interview with @elpaisuy

Rafa always embodied this: competitiveness to the core, a constant quest to surpass his limits.

What those training sessions must have been like... 😅 pic.twitter.com/DXRwvU3Dzc
— Carlos Navarro (@TheMagician5GS) November 7, 2024