Three-time world champion Carolina Marin talks about her favourite football clubBarcelona and her strikingly similar personality traits with tennis World No. 1 Rafael Nadal.
A RACQUET SPORT, left-handed player, expressive on court, never-say-die-attitude, and a champion. Ring a bell? Rafael Nadal or Carolina Marin? Well, both share the same passion and energy when it comes to playing the sport. Growing up, Marin has seen a lot of the current ATP World No. 1 from close quarters and seems to have picked up his traits for sure. Both excel under pressure situations, too.
Nadal gave a glimpse of his never-say-die spirit during his US Open quarterfinal against Dominic Thiem of Austria recently—winning a pulsating five-setter after being blown away in the opening set 6–0. Marin, on the other hand, showed immense grit in clinching the BWF World Championship title against India’s P.V. Sindhu. Marin beat Sindhu 21–19, 21–10 to become the first woman in the sport to collect three World Championship trophies.
“Nadal is a very good human being. I always looked up to him as an athlete. He has followed my career from my early days and to see him tweet about my achievements is just surreal,” Marin told SPORTS ILLUSTRATED INDIA in an exclusive interview.
Did she also pick the on-court grunting from Nadal? “Definitely no. That is just how I am as a player. Aggressive on court and want to win every point,” she added without a second thought or a pause.
This story is from the October 2018 edition of Sports Illustrated India.
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This story is from the October 2018 edition of Sports Illustrated India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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