Ever since his debut, Rafael Nadal has shown his tennis excellence on a majority of the occasions in his career. Over the years, Nadal has rightly been one of the dominant players in the game. While many address him as the greatest tennis player of all time, little do they know it wasn’t his childhood goal. Instead, the 23-time Grand Slam champion wanted to be a football player.

Even though Nadal is one of the biggest names in the game today, he occasionally gives his fans a glimpse of his football skills. Especially with tennis balls. Even though he failed to live his childhood dream, he once got inch-close to getting to feel the atmosphere of a football stadium. In his memoir ‘Rafa: My Story’, the Spaniard recalled his 2004 Davis Cup clash against Andy Roddick as the moment when he felt the atmosphere of a football stadium.

Rafael Nadal walks down memory lane

Rafael Nadal turned pro in 2001. However, it was in the year 2004 that he got his first major recognition. With impressive performances over the past couple of years, he made his Davis Cup debut in the year 2004. The debut became even bigger for the Spanish Bull as he outplayed the then World No. 2 Andy Roddick.

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Recalling the atmosphere of the stadium, Nadal said, “I’d never achieve my childhood dream of becoming a professional footballer, but this was the closest I’d ever get to the atmosphere a football player feels walking out onto the stadium for a big match, or scoring a goal in a championship decider.”

When at the stadium, football fans usually sing a football chant throughout the game and erupt every time there’s a goal. On the contrary, fans erupt on close to every point during a tennis match. Stating the difference, the former World No. 1 further said, “Except that here, every time I won a point, practically all 27,000 people erupted as if I’d scored a goal. And I have to admit that I quite often responded as if I were a footballer who’d just scored.”

Nadal’s celebrations like that of a football player

Nadal is one of the handful of players who refrains from showing his emotions on every point. Instead, the Spaniard only celebrates points that are the hard-earned ones. However, that wasn’t the case during his Davis Cup clash against Roddick. Going further into the conversation, he said, “I don’t think I’ve ever pumped my arms in the air or jumped in celebration more often during a game of tennis.”

“I am not sure how Andy Roddick felt about it, but there was no other way to respond to the festive energy that washed down on me,” he further added.  

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In the match, Nadal was put to the test by the American sensation. However, having his game in place, the Spaniard rightly made the most of the stage. Making a comeback after a first set loss, Nadal went on to win the clash 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-2. Going ahead, Nadal went on leading his country towards 5 more Davis Cup wins, with the last coming in 2019.