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The Warrior

Rafael Nadal and His Kingdom of Clay

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About this listen

 LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR

A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

From the bestselling author of The Master, longlisted for the 2025 William Hill Sports Book of the Year.

An intimate, original biography of tennis legend Rafael Nadal, and the first to cover his entire career.

After his award-winning look at Roger Federer, Christopher Clarey, one of the world's pre-eminent tennis writers, focuses his lens on Nadal, the Spanish force of nature. When he arrived on the scene in 2005, the record for men's singles titles at the French Open stood at six. Nadal more than doubled that total to a mind-blowing fourteen titles: one of the greatest sporting achievements in history.

Nadal won big and won often on all of tennis's surfaces: securing two Wimbledon titles on grass and six on the US Open and Australian Open hard courts. But clay, the grittiest of the game's playgrounds, is where it all came together best for his whipping forehand and warrior mindset.

Clarey, who has covered Nadal since he was seventeen, draws on interviews over twenty years with Nadal, his team and rivals like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Brimming with behind-the-scenes insight, The Warrior tells the story of a global sporting icon, interlacing man and place in a unique, must-read account of the evolution of excellence.©2025 Christopher Clarey Sports Tennis

Critic reviews

Shrewd and informative (The Times)
An affectionate and insightful biography . . . Clarey supplements this two-decade highlight reel with rich digressions into tennis history (Financial Times)
The definitive volume on the definitive clay court player of all time (Vogue)
[Clarey] wrote what is widely regarded as the definitive book on Roger Federer: "The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer." Now he has produced a similarly authoritative book on Federer's longtime rival and friend, Rafael Nadal (New York Times)
If you have ever held a racket or seen a champion play, you will find this splendid book a rich source of pleasure and inspiration (Daily Mail)
Comprehensive . . . Rafa's humility and sportsmanship shine in this glowing portrait that also abounds with wider tennis trivia (Daily Mail)
The definitive portrait of the Spanish champion (Sunday Times, Books of the Year)
A scintillating account of the elastic Spaniard's epic run to the pinnacle of men's professional tennis (Wall Street Journal Book Review)
Masterful . . . this splendid book is a rich source of pleasure and inspiration (Mail on Sunday)
All stars
Most relevant
Like thousands, I adore Rafa. I silently prayed that he would play forever. Begged him never to give up. I had no idea of physical pain and torture he was suffering and putting himself through.
So refreshing to learn about the wider team over the years and all their influence and the other great players.
The book also reaffirmed everyone’s belief that Rafa, the legend is Human and above all, a thoroughly decent person.

The reality of the fight

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Besides few trivia about Nadal and tennis, it is unfortunately waste of time.
For solid tennis fans - avoid this book.
If you enjoy listening author flaunting his spanish or french pronunciation like Carlos Moyaaaa, then this is a book for you.

Poor content

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Not much insights. The author clearly didn’t have an inside track into Nadal life/mindset. He just compiled a book based on public info/what we already know. In addition, there were quite a few chapters that are off-topic as well. Not sure why they would be of relevance for a story covering Nadal

Would not recommend it

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