By Stephen Tignor

THE PEDIGREE: The classic tennis build is long and rangy. But the 20-year-old Nadal’s low-to-the-ground soccer-player’s body may become the new prototype for today’s physically demanding game—he’s got the upper-body strength to hit for power and the legs to do it all day. Nadal, who was trained in the island isolation of Mallorca, Spain, is an athlete first, tennis player second. His uncle Miguel Angel, known as the “Beast of Barcelona,” played on Spain’s World Cup soccer team, and his other uncle, Toni, a teaching pro, is the only coach Rafa has known.

THE PERSONA: Nadal is a reluctant star, a kid at heart who lives with his family in Mallorca and visited Euro Disney on his last summer vacation. It’s his high-octane on-court style that has earned him admirers worldwide. His two French Open victories have been among the highest-rated TV sporting events in Spain’s history—yes, right up there with soccer—and for a while he had dueling websites devoted to him: vamosrafael.com, started by a U.S. fan, and his own site, rafaelnadal.com (they work together now). Their female visitors were sorely disappointed last summer when Nadal revealed that he had a girlfriend, fellow Mallorcan Xisca Perelló.

THE GAME: Last year Roger Federer described Nadal’s game as “one-dimensional,” and the Spaniard is primarily a body-puncher. But there’s subtlety around the edges. Nadal regularly hits an extreme-angle, on-the-run backhand crosscourt passing shot, something he can do because, while he plays lefty, he’s a natural right-hander who uses that hand to get a little extra flick with his racquet. Nadal also has a diabolically disguised backhand drop shot. And for a guy with a mediocre serve, he owns one of the game’s most authoritative overheads.

THE PROGNOSIS: With two titles at Roland Garros, a No. 2 ranking, and a winning record over Federer, Nadal has already been to the mountaintop. He’s not proficient enough on all surfaces to dethrone Federer anytime soon, and his taxing style—he rarely wins any match without putting in a ton of work—could mean a short shelf life. Still, Nadal is strong on slow hard courts and few in the game’s history have had as much desire for success. That alone should be enough to bring him six or seven major titles (mostly on the clay at the French) and an extended residence in the Top 5.