Throwback Video: 16-year old Rafael Nadal

Before he became the unquestionable king of clay Rafael Nadal was just a 16-year old with big dreams making his 1st steps in professional tennis.

Rafael Nadal is one of the greatest players to ever play tennis. He is certainly the best clay-court player to ever play. His career includes numerous titles and a whopping 12 French Open to further these claims. But back in the day when he first became a professional, he was just a 16-year-old boy with big dreams.

In this feature, Trans World Sport met up with Rafa in his hometown for a special on the tennis prodigy. It was already then he acknowledge his fighting spirit saying how he thought the older players would all play better than his due to their age and experience.

"It wasn't always the case as I was a fighter and I really hate to lose so things level out a bit."

His coach back then was his uncle Toni Nadal who still coaches him today. Over the years they have become one of the most recognizable duos in tennis. Even then when asked Toni said about Rafa:

"Both of them are very disciplined in tennis and in life." He was speaking about the similarities between Rafa and his other uncle who was a very good football player.

You can check out the full feature below: