Rafael Nadal is an idol for fans around the world, and French player Hugo Gaston is one of the many, many individuals who have sought inspiration from the King of Clay. Recently, the 20-year-old revealed that he grew up idolizing Rafa and has learned a lot from the Spaniard by watching him compete.

Last year, Gaston announced his arrival on the biggest stage by defeating Stan Wawrinka in an epic five-set match in the third round of Roland Garros. The Frenchman pushed Dominic Thiem, two-time finalist at Roland Garros, to the deciding set in the following match, but lost by a narrow margin.

However, he proved his mettle at the Grand Slam level and used his signature drop shots to the utmost advantage. During his match against Thiem, Gaston hit a whopping 55 drop shots, out of which 40 turned out to be successful.

Gaston talks about the influence of Rafael Nadal

In an interview with ATP Tour, Gaston talked about meeting his icon, Nadal, for the first time during the Australian Open juniors and getting mesmerized by the man’s aura.

Being a lefty himself, Gaston mentioned drawing inspiration from Nadal’s mentality and always trying to pick something from his game while watching.

“He’s a lefty and I like his mentality. For me, it’s really nice to watch [him play] and I try to take something from him [as an example],” Gaston said. “[I met Rafa for the first time] during the juniors, maybe in Australian Open.

“For me I was a young player and to see Rafa just behind me was amazing,” said Gaston.

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After his break-out performance at the 2020 Roland Garros, Gaston achieved a career-high ranking of No. 157 in October. With the 2021 Miami Open currently underway, Gaston won his opening round match against Dominik Koepfer in straight sets.

However, Gaston bowed down to Jannik Sinner in the following match 2-6, 2-6. Now with European clay-court season starting in a few weeks, Gaston will prepare for the surface which has given him the best results so far.

Having withdrawn from the Miami Open, Nadal will compete in the 2021 Monte Carlo Masters, a tournament he has won an astonishing 11 times. With Nadal just one Grand Slam short of breaking Roger Federer‘s record, his entire focus will be on the Roland Garros trophy.