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“His Body Language Is Always like 99.9%”: Gael Monfils Hails Rafael Nadal’s Mentality

Published 11/23/2020, 5:30 PM EST

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Known for his ‘never-say-die’ attitude, the 20-time Grand Slam champion, Rafael Nadal, plays every point as if his life depends on it. Time and again, Nadal has exhibited a strong mentality in the most pressure situations. Despite suffering from major injuries during his career, the Spaniard has made a scintillating comeback each time.

Recently, former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray and Gael Monfils came together on the latter’s newly launched Twitch channel. The duo constructed a perfect player by picking the attributes of the active players who they felt were the best in a respective department.

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The parameters in place to construct the most lethal player were as follows: service, backhand, forehand, return, volley, drop shot, lob, and speed. Except for a few common picks, Murray and Monfils chose different players for each attribute to construct their respective perfect player. However, when the duo discussed which player stood out in terms of mental strength, both unanimously agreed with Rafael Nadal.

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Rafael Nadal is the ultimate fighter: Monfils

The Briton acknowledged that Nadal is the only player to have displayed rock-solid mentality in every match throughout his career. Monfils agreed with Murray’s assessment and hailed Nadal for his utmost determination on each point. The Frenchman contended Nadal has a unique quality of never showing his anger on the court.

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“I follow you on this one because I think mentally what’s Rafa is capable or so, to actually accept the determination that he has on every single point. To hold his negativity because of course Rafa is super angry sometimes but he never really shows it, you know, you never hear Rafa saying one really bad word.” said Monfils.

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Having won just two of his 16 matches against the Spaniard, Monfils fully understands the intensity Nadal brings on the court. Monfils applauded Nadal’s body language and regarded him as the toughest competitor in the sport. Winning an astonishing 86 career titles and being ranked No.1 for over 200 weeks in his career combined is a testament to Nadal’s mentality.

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“His body language is always like 99.9%, almost hundred percent like every day you know, every day. This for me is amazing and yeah, I think he’s the Ultimate Fighter to be honest. Yeah. Big time. Big time Rafa.” remarked Monfils.

Even at 34 years of age, Nadal is as dominant as he was in his mid-twenties. By lifting the Roland Garros for a record 13th time this year, Nadal has transcended the boundaries of what’s physically possible on the tennis court.

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Written by:

Kshitij Tayal

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Kshitij Tayal is a tennis author at EssentiallySports. Having played district-level tennis competitions, Kshitij is also a tenured journalist of the sport with over four years of experience. At EssentiallySports, he pens down some thought-provoking pieces on players and tournaments across the ATP and WTA.
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