Rafael Nadal has many fans on the Tour, and one of them is Brazilian star Beatriz Haddad Maia, who thinks he has the best on-court attitude of all players.
Nadal is great at many things concerning tennis, but one of the things that many consider him to be by far the best at is just being calm and collected on the court. The Spaniard famously never broke a racquet on the court, which already shows a pretty absurd level of self-control and his overall demeanor.
He's not perfect, of course, because he has clashed with umpires and fellow players before, but he's certainly one of the more collected players on the Tour.
One thing you can kind of criticize him for is how much time he takes to prepare because he does get tolerated quite a bit, but he's Nadal. Can you really fault the umpires for being a bit less strict with him?
Still, Haddad Maia admires the Spaniard greatly. She spoke about him recently at the San Diego Open, praising his attitude on the court.
"Sometimes my coach and I watch Rafa.. moments he had in his career. I think especially his attitude, for me, it’s the best one on tour. I like the way he built his mentality."
Learning from someone who has won 22 Grand Slam titles and inspired thousands to play the sport is certainly a good idea. Many grew up idolizing him, and some of the more notable ones include Sebastian Korda, Andrey Rublev, and Iga Swiatek.
Nadal can be sure that he's clearly doing something right if he has so many famous fans.
"He’s very much a work harder type of person. I think his character & his values are very similar to mine. I try to learn from him every day."
And Haddad Maia learns from that. Perhaps her incredible resilience was inspired by the legendary Spaniard.