Rafael Nadal - I Have Not Read My Book Yet

Rafael Nadal has admitted that he has yet to read his autobiography.

The Spanish tennis giant has been ordered to eat “plenty of fruit” to prevent a repeat of the dramatic cramps that he suffered after Sunday’s match as he prepares for Tuesday’s US Open clash against Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller.

But beyond the cramps and the on-court rivals, Nadal must also stand up to another challenge in New York, after his own book, Rafa, co-written with journalist John Carlin, went on sale in U.S. bookstores last month.

“Rafa, in your book...” is the start to many questions pitched by journalists at the former world number one in Flushing Meadows these days.

Some of these questions are easy to answer. But others are not so simple, in particular those that refer to Nadal’s relationship with his uncle and coach Toni Nadal.

The tennis star has insisted time and again that the two get along very well, and that at 25 he no longer suffers his coach’s tough approach as he did when he was a child. Indeed, in the book’s prologue, Nadal describes his coach as a “friend.” But on Sunday he finally provided an explanation as to why he sometimes finds it so hard to answer questions on the book: he has not read it — because it is in English.

“Seriously, I didn’t. I need a lot of concentration to read the book in English, and I know my life,” he told reporters in broken English.

Nadal, however, promised to read his autobiography once it is published in Spanish next month.

For obvious reasons, Nadal’s name takes pride of place over Carlin’s in the book’s cover, but roles were evidently reversed when it came to writing it. The tennis player contributed anecdotes, memories and experiences in long conversations with the British journalist in places like Doha and Australia, but Carlin did all of writing.

It was Nadal’s father, Sebastian, who read the book before it went to print, and his agent, Carlos Costa, who gave it a final green light.

Courtesy: The Hindu