and we'll keep on fighting till the end

Rafael Nadal is my idol. I've been watching him on the screens since I was in elementary school, so you can imagine how starstruck I was when I saw him only a few feet away from me, in the flesh. HE WAS RIGHT THERE. RAFAEL NADAL!! That moment still feels surreal. My point is, I'm a fan. So it's unsurprising that I chose to read his memoir. And now I've even made a mini playlist about him!

"Stronger" by Kanye West expresses Nadal's will to fight. Firstly, Nadal had to put himself through torture. Countless hours of practice under his uncle's brutal coaching bordered onto verbal and emotional abuse. It was not uncommon for him to cry after practice. He also sacrificed what would've been a normal childhood so that he could focus on practices and tournaments. However, it's how he used his misery that he could achieve greatness. Nadal now has one of the strongest mental games in tennis. The line,

"N-n-now that that don't kill me

Can only make me stronger",

shows the resilience that he developed from his hardships and became stronger.

"After the Storm" by Kali Uchis relates to Nadal's optimism.

"The sun'll come out Nothing good ever comes easy I know times are rough But winners don't quit".

When Nadal lost to Federer in 2007, Nadal cried for a straight half an hour. But, "nothing good ever comes easy". It's because championships are so hard to have that makes it so coveted. That's why Nadal never quit and kept working towards his next goals. Like in the song, the sun came out again, and he beat Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final, feeling on top of the world. The moral of this is that things will definitely be okay again, as you long as you don't give up.

"Remember Me" by Miguel embodies Nadal's background. Nadal grew up in Mallorca, Spain in a very family-centric setting. The song "Remember Me" is a Spanish-English song from the Disney movie, Coco, about remembering family. This line,

"Aun en la distancia Nunca vayas a olvidar Que yo contigo siempre voy",

translates to something along the lines of, " even in the distance, never forget that I always go with you". When Nadal leaves Mallorca for his tournaments, that sometimes means leaving his family, too. Even so, Nadal says that he still feels them there with him, in his heart, even in the distance. The setting of a close-knit family in Spain is similar between Nadal and this song.

I can imagine "We Are The Champions" by Queen playing as Nadal wins the 2008 Wimbledon final (and the US Open final in 2010 against Djokovic). The moment of victory is euphoric, an undefeatable feeling. The line

"Cause we are the champions of the World" embodies this feeling. In the moment that the match finally ends and you come out as victor, you feel on top of the world. In Nadal's case, he was literally the champion of the world. The overall feel of "We Are The Champions" is triumphant, proud, and celebratory. It's the perfect expression of victory. Furthermore, it's not "I am the champion of the world", but "we". Nadal says that a win of his is a win for his entire family. Therefore, because Nadal is always carrying his family in his heart and his family is always carrying him, it's a win for the entire Nadal family."