Began playing at age four and made his pro debut at 16...Nicknamed Nole...Father, Srdjan and mother, Dijana own a pizzeria and pancake restaurant on a mountain in Serbia for last 15 years...He and his family opened a restaurant in Belgrade in April 2009 called "Novak"...Father, uncle and aunt were all professional skiers and his father was also an excellent soccer player...His father wanted him to be a soccer player or skier but excelled in tennis at an early age...Credits his family as inspiration for giving him so much support and says he wouldn’t be able to be where he is without their help...Younger brothers Marko (born Aug. 20, 1991) and Djordje (born July 17, 1995) are both in school and play tennis...Idol growing up was Pete Sampras...At age 12, attended Niki Pilic Academy in Munich and practiced there for almost two years before returning to Belgrade...Speaks Serbian, Italian, German and English.
Full name is Rafael Nadal Parera...Nicknamed "Rafa"...Plays left-handed but writes right-handed...Began playing tennis at age four with his uncle Toni, who is his long-time coach...Used to play with two-handed forehand and backhand before his uncle made him change at age nine or 10 to a one-handed forehand...Played his only junior Grand Slam event at Wimbledon in 2002 and reached SF...
Began playing tennis at age eight...Mother, Lynette, is South African and father, Robert, is Swiss and they met on a business trip (they both worked for a pharmaceutical company)...Has one sister Diana, who is two years older...Idol growing up was Boris Becker and favorite player was Pete Sampras...Compiled outstanding junior results, finishing as No. 1 junior in the world in 1998...Won Wimbledon junior singles (d. Labadze) and doubles titles (w/O. Rochus) that year...One of four players (Edberg, Cash, Borg) to win junior and men’s title at Wimbledon...Also reached final at US Open (l. to Nalbandian) and SF at Australian Open in ‘98...Closed junior career with title at Orange Bowl in Miami (d. Coria).
