Pat Cash has nightmares from when he played against Rafael Nadal as a teenager.
Tributes have poured in from around the world for the Spaniard after he announced his retirement from professional tennis.
Nadal will bid farewell to the sport after representing Spain in November’s Davis Cup finals.
Before that he is competing at the Six Kings Grand Slam and Nadal will face Novak Djokovic on Saturday in a third place playoff.
What did Pat Cash say about Rafael Nadal after playing him as a teenager?
Cash told the story of when he competed against Rafael Nadal, who was just 13 years old at the time, in a legends exhibition match on Nadal’s home island of Majorca.
The 1987 Wimbledon champion was originally due to face Boris Becker, but the former World number one sustained an injury and was unable to compete.
Nadal took his place, and Cash was pleasantly surprised by what his opponent was able to produce at such a young age, and the Australian suffered defeat.
“I played a legends exhibition match in Majorca. I was due to play Boris Becker but Boris got injured and the tournament organisers went into panic,” Cash told Sky Sports. “They said we haven’t got anyone to play but we have this world junior champion.
“That was when I met Rafa. He had a bowl haircut. I was too nice to him, he ended up beating me. He was a couple of weeks short of being 14!
“I was retired but he beat me in the first set and the crowd loved it, they were roaring. I said that’s it, I’m going to go back to my old serve and volley. Won the second set pretty easily. Tie break third set.
“I thought he was going to choke. Of course he didn’t choke. He ran shots down from everywhere, all over the court. I came back and went ‘oh my goodness this kid is going to be something else’, and he was!”
Rafael Nadal went on to have a truly spectacular career
A year after his exhibition match with Cash, Nadal turned professional and won his first ATP Tour title in 2004 in Sopot.
The Spaniard continued to go from strength to strength, and in 2005 he won his first Grand Slam title at the French Open.
Over the next five years, Nadal became the World number one, the Olympic champion and became the youngest man to win every Grand Slam at just 24 years of age.
Now in 2024 and a month away from retiring Nadal went on to win 22 majors and establish himself as one of tennis’ greatest players.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
