Having just played his final match, Rafael Nadal would surely appreciate these words from a speech made by President Theodore Roosevelt:

“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

This was quintessential Nadal. No tennis player has better personified Roosevelt’s concept of “The Man in the Arena.”

As well as Nadal covered the court, as superb as he was at coming up with great shots under pressure, his genius was propelled most of all by a sheer love for the battle and the competitive intensity he brought, point after point. That was the superpower that carried Nadal to 92 ATP singles titles-including 22 Grand Slams, second-most in men’s tennis history-209 weeks ranked No. 1 in the world, a record 912 consecutive weeks inside the Top 10, five Davis Cup team victories, two Olympic gold medals.

In the pleasing kind of coincidence that delights storytellers, the city Roosevelt delivered the speech in was Paris. This, of course, is where Nadal most emphatically and literally left his footprints on tennis history, winning a mind-boggling record 14 men’s singles titles at Roland Garros. Let one of Nadal’s major rivals, Roger Federer, epitomise Wimbledon’s grass in all its velveteen elegance. Leave the man Nadal played more than any other, Novak Djokovic, to mesh perfectly with the hardcourts of Melbourne Park.

Give Nadal the earth-that finely crushed red brick that demands so much from body, mind and soul. In compiling a 112-4 record at Roland Garros, Nadal took clay-court tennis to new heights. Yes, there had been other superb lefthanders who’d combined topspin and fitness to win the title: Guillermo Vilas in 1977, Thomas Muster in 1995. Then there was Bjorn Borg, whose Swede’s supreme poise and innovative use of topspin carried him to six Roland Garros titles. Nadal went even further than those greats, dominating most of all with a forehand that commanded one rally after another. Unable to play Roland Garros in 2003 and 2004 due to injuries, Nadal won the title the first time he played it, in 2005, the same week he turned 19.

Of Nadal’s 60 matches with Djokovic (31-29 in Novak’s favor), 11 took place at Roland Garros, including one at this year’s Olympic Games. Nadal won eight. None was more dramatic than their 2013 semifinal. Though Djokovic served at 4-3 in the fifth set, Nadal fought back, in the end winning this 4-hour, 37-minute epic, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 9-7.

Yet much as Nadal soared, he remained eternally grounded, exceedingly gracious as a sportsman. To be sure, like many tennis champions, Nadal excelled at managing his time between points, often pushing the limits of the shot clock. But in the bigger picture, his conduct was exemplary-the logical extension of how Nadal was raised.

Nadal’s values were strongly shaped by his family. He grew up on Mallorca, an island off the coast of Spain, in the town of Manacor. Nadal’s father, Sebastian, was a successful businessman known for being exceptionally friendly and positive.

When it came to sports, Nadal was shaped by two uncles who understood competition at the highest levels. One was Miguel Angel, a superb soccer player who played on three Spanish World Cup teams and the FC Barcelona squad. Miguel’s fierce style earned him the nickname, the “Beast of Barcelona.” It no doubt left a mark on how Rafa went about competing.

But Miguel’s impact on Rafa was unquestionably secondary to the influence wielded by Toni Nadal. Dissertations could be written about Toni Nadal‘s philosophy-not just to tennis, but to life. Though one statement hardly does justice to all the ways Toni’s played out in young Rafa, perhaps this one comes closest: It’s better to be a good person than a good tennis player.

Though young Rafa was hardly any kind of troublemaker, Toni’s training strongly emphasized being humble, constantly drilling into his nephew the need to be respectful of all aspects of humanity in the broadest way possible. This ran counter to the way many family members raise their promising tennis player to think they occupy the center of the universe. “When you think you are the king of the world,” Toni once said, “you are really stupid in my opinion because in this life every person is important.”

These were the kind of lessons that helped Nadal learn to become a gracious competitor. But make no mistake, Toni was also a taskmaster, spending hours on the court drilling Rafa in fundamentals about technique, tactics and toughness. Toni was also the one who suggested that Rafa, a natural righty who early on hit with two hands off both sides, start to hit a one-handed lefty forehand. Little did the two know how that shot would set the world on fire.

Another fortunate factor that aided Nadal’s growth was the presence of a world class player in his orbit. A fellow Mallorca resident, Carlos Moya, won Roland Garros in 1998, the same month Nadal turned 12. Moya became another mentor, often practising with Nadal, while also offering insights into life as a pro.

One significant origin story goes that in Nadal’s early teens, Moya asked young Rafa if he hoped to have as good a career as he did. Keep in mind that Moya had once been ranked No. 1 in the world. Taking in the question, Nadal shook his head and kindly said he hoped to do even better.

Nadal may have been humble. But he was also deeply driven. –tennis.com