Holding Court

I did not choose the title to my new book, The Warrior, lightly. Rafael Nadal was a tennis warrior, to be sure: a competitive beast dripping with sweat and relentless in-the-moment ambition who could give the opposition a faraway gaze in a hurry. “It felt like the Sahara, and you just see the hills and there’s no ending,” said American Kevin Kim after losing to Nadal in straight sets at the 2006 French Open.Idid not choose the title to my new book, The Warrior, lightly. Rafael Nadal was a tennis warrior, to be sure: a competitive beast dripping with sweat and relentless in-the-moment ambition who could give the opposition a faraway gaze in a hurry. “It felt like the Sahara, and you just see the hills and there’s no ending,” said American Kevin Kim after losing to Nadal in straight sets at the 2006 French Open.