It seems that, for all the luster of his return to the pro game, Rafael Nadal could use some positive press. Sure. there is the word that he's sporting a new $690,000 watch in matches, but there are also plenty of annoyed passengers on the tennis-fan train who are fed up with his complaints about court conditions the world over. Where you may fall on the continuum from Rafanatical to Rafaghast probably depends, as it does with Victoria Azarenka and the rest of the top guns, on what your already existing notions are about him.
With that said, here then is footage from a decade ago of a 16-year-old Nadal just starting out on the ATP tour. The kid is bright, video-game savvy, supremely talented ... and surrounded already by trophies.