David Wheaton: Bow down to Rafa, king of clay

Telling trivia question: What is world No. 2 Rafael Nadal's favorite movie? Hint: The lead character battles men to the death on a surface of dirt in front of thousands of people.

Tennis Magazine might have recently declared the Spanish sensation as the second coming of Jimmy Connors (i.e. lefthanded, fist-pumping grinders), but Nadal, or "Rafa" as he's affectionately called, is far more Crowe than Connors.

Well, not the actual Russell Crowe but the character he played (Maximus) in Nadal's favorite film, "Gladiator." It all makes perfect sense. As "El Rey de Clay" enters his own coliseum known as Stade Roland Garros to do battle over the next fortnight, he is the overwhelming favorite to be the last man standing when the red brick dust settles on the 2008 French Open.

Incidentally, Connors never won the French Open (Nadal is gunning for four in a row), Connors never hit a lick of topspin (Nadal redefines the term), and perhaps the most stark contrast, Jimbo's crotch-grabbing, bird-flipping, obscenity-spewing pretensions would never see the light of day in the Spaniard's playbook. Don't let the swashbuckling pirate look fool you, Rafa is much too good of a sportsman and role model for any of that.

Asked in that Tennis Magazine article about his relationship with his main rival, world No. 1 Roger Federer, Nadal replied: "He is a very nice person and a great competitor. I really admire what he does, how he plays, and how he behaves on and off the court. He is a role model for many people."

There, a caballero in touch with his feminina.

To be fair, Connors' main rival was the maniacal John McEnroe ... not a whole lot of complimentary material there, but I digress. The youngsters of the tennis world are truly fortunate and enhanced by being able to look up to Roger and Rafa. They do their sport, their families and their countries proud.

Watch him work

Being a role model alone, though, doesn't win you 108 of 110 matches on clay dating to April 2005, when Nadal's mega-clay-court-dominance began, including a perfect 21-0 record at Roland Garros. No, it's that fight-to-the-death gladiator mentality that separates Nadal from every other player in the world.

Watch him work himself sweaty before the match, see him sprint back to the baseline for the warmup, marvel at the energy he expends on every shot every point, shake your head in disbelief at the unreachable balls he returns with interest and you will understand why Nadal, only 21, is destined to be the Greatest Ever on clay. He's never seen a point he's not dying to win, a ball he's not willing to chase.

To borrow a cycling term, Nadal makes you "suffer." It's the offensive juice on his heavily topped forehand that he zings in banana-like arcs to far-reaching corners of the court, forcing opponents into untenable positions, coupled with his defensive skills of agility, feel and desire that frustrates opponents into going for too much too soon. It's just plain hard to win a point against this taller-than-you-think (6-1) muchacho.

Just ask the superstar Swiss, who has been made to look average by Nadal the past three years in Paris, at the one major Federer is yet to claim. The red clay -- and the Spaniard's defense -- absorb just enough of the sting of Federer's pinpoint serve and devastating forehand, extending points that would already be over on other surfaces; meanwhile, Rafa's crosscourt forehand jumps above Roger's shoulder on his onehanded backhand, inducing short replies ... and then the domino effect tortuously takes place.

Not just a man of clay

Lest you think this young man from the sleepy Mediterranean isle of Mallorca -- where he still lives in a multilevel home with his extended family and is still coached by his Uncle Toni, who changed his naturally righthanded two-hands-off-both-sides nephew to a lefthanded, onehanded forehand at age 12 (are you still with me?) -- is a single-surface wonder, think again. Tenacity works well on any surface, and nowhere is that better seen than in Nadal's two consecutive final appearances on the lawns of Wimbledon, where he last year narrowly missed taking down his royal counterpart on grass, Federer.

Picking up his annual hardware at pre-French clay court tuneups in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Hamburg, "inevitable" seems to be the operative word as Nadal enters Paris. It will take a Herculean effort for someone to beat him on clay in a five-set format -- heck, he is 34-0 lifetime in best-of-five matches on clay and never even has been pushed to a fifth set at Roland Garros.

But as in politics and horse racing, there really is no such thing as inevitability: Hillary had it and lost it; Big Brown has it and the Belmont will test it. The race needs to be run. In the two-week tennis marathon in Paris, though, my money will be on Rafael Nadal, the Gladiator of Roland Garros.

Minnesota's David Wheaton, a semifinalist in doubles and third-rounder in singles at Roland Garros, will be spending the summer teaching Rafael Nadal's topspin forehand as the touring pro on the clay courts of Wayzata Country Club. Find out more at www.davidwheaton.com.