Rafael Nadal: Der Sandplatzkönig

From the bestselling author of The Master, longlisted for the 2025 William Hill Sports Book of the Year.<BR><BR>An intimate, original biography of tennis legend Rafael Nadal, and the first to cover his entire career.<BR><BR>After his award-winning look at Roger Federer, Christopher Clarey, one of the world's pre-eminent tennis writers, focuses his lens on Nadal, the Spanish force of nature. When he arrived on the scene in 2005, the record for men's singles titles at the French Open stood at six. Nadal more than doubled that total to a mind-blowing fourteen titles: one of the greatest sporting achievements in history.<BR><BR>Nadal won big and won often on all of tennis's surfaces: securing two Wimbledon titles on grass and six on the US Open and Australian Open hard courts. But clay, the grittiest of the game's playgrounds, is where it all came together best for his whipping forehand and warrior mindset.<BR><BR>Clarey, who has covered Nadal since he was seventeen, draws on interviews over twenty years with Nadal, his team and rivals like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Brimming with behind-the-scenes insight, The Warrior tells the story of a global sporting icon, interlacing man and place in a unique, must-read account of the evolution of excellence.

LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR<BR><BR>A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR<BR><BR>From the bestselling author of The Master, longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year.<BR><BR>An intimate, original biography of tennis legend Rafael Nadal, and the first to cover his entire career.<BR><BR>After his award-winning look at Roger Federer, Christopher Clarey, one of the world's pre-eminent tennis writers, focuses his lens on Nadal, the Spanish force of nature. When he arrived on the scene in 2005, the record for men's singles titles at the French Open stood at six. Nadal more than doubled that total to a mind-blowing fourteen titles: one of the greatest sporting achievements in history. <BR><BR>Nadal won big and won often on all of tennis's surfaces: securing two Wimbledon titles on grass and six on the US Open and Australian Open hard courts. But clay, the grittiest of the game's playgrounds, is where it all came together best for his whipping forehand and warrior mindset. <BR><BR>Clarey, who has covered Nadal since he was seventeen, draws on interviews over twenty years with Nadal, his team and rivals like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Brimming with behind-the-scenes insight, The Warrior tells the story of a global sporting icon, interlacing man and place in a unique, must-read account of the evolution of excellence.

'Federer plays tennis like Michelangelo painted: every stroke is perfection, the end result a masterpiece. Christopher Clarey captured just that' Martina Navratilova<BR><BR>'A deep and enlightening view of Roger's life and career that sports fans will be parsing for decades'<BR>Jim Courier<BR><BR>'Deeply reported and crisply written'<BR>Wall Street Journal<BR><BR> THE NEWLY REVISED BIOGRAPHY OF ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST ICONIC ATHLETES<BR> <BR> Widely regarded as one of the greatest ever sportspeople, Roger Federer made it look astonishingly easy to climb to the top of his sport in an era of brutal competition and deep cynicism. But his path from temperamental, bleach-blond teenager to one of the most elegant of competitors has been an act of will, not destiny. Federer not only had talent. He had grit.<BR><BR> Top international sportswriter Christopher Clarey was on court in Paris for Federer's Grand Slam debut and has interviewed him exclusively more than any other writer - with unique access to his inner circle including coaches and key competitors. Now updated after Federer's retirement, The Master is a thrilling portrait of the workings of unfaltering excellence.

Für viele ist Roger Federer der größte Tennisspieler aller Zeiten, und schon jetzt blickt die Sportwelt mit Wehmut auf das bevorstehende Karriereende des inzwischen 40-Jährigen. Vielseitig und elegant wie kein Zweiter hat der Schweizer den Tennissport über Jahrzehnte hinweg geprägt. Sein Weg vom temperamentvollen, wasserstoffblonden Teenager zum höchst kontrollierten Spitzenspieler war von unbändigem Willen und immenser mentaler Stärke geprägt. Diese steht auch im Mittelpunkt der großen Biografie von Christopher Clarey, einem der renommiertesten internationalen Tennisjournalisten, der Federer von Beginn seiner Karriere an begleitet hat und über exklusiven Zugang zu dessen Umfeld verfügt.Basierend auf zahlreichen Begegnungen und Gesprächen mit Federer selbst, seinen Vertrauten, Trainern und Konkurrenten, beleuchtet Clarey die zentralen Stationen und Momente einer langen und ereignisreichen Karriere. Dabei beschäftigt er sich viel mit psychologischen Aspekten und der mentalen Entwicklung des 'Maestro' und zeichnet so ein einzigartiges Bild des Phänomens Roger Federer.'Ein hochinteressantes Buch über einen der größten Sportler aller Zeiten. Spannende Einblicke hinter die Kulissen des Tenniszirkus gemixt mit jeder Menge interessanter Geschichten über viele andere Superstars der Szene. Auch für mich, der Roger Federer nun seit über 20 Jahren kennt, ein absolutes Must-have!' TV-Experte Matthias Stach