Journal Entry 5---My favorite player

Watching sports games is one of my entertainments and it helps me greatly to relax from pressure of exams during my high school times. All kinds of sports games from basketball to snooker are absorbing to me. It’s really exciting and amusing to watch those games. Among all kinds of games, tennis games interest me most. I started following tennis games when I was thirteen and since then I have had a crush on the famous player, Rafael Nadal, who is the World Number1 now.
Rafael was born on June 3, 1986 on the island of Mallorca (Spain) where he still lives at home with his parents, younger sister and extended family in a large apartment building in downtown Manacor. Unlike many other talented young players Rafael did not have to suffer the stress of leaving home at an early age in order to train at an established tennis academy. His full-time coach since the age of 11 has been his uncle Toni Nadal (a former top 30 Spanish tennis pro) with whom he lives in Manacor; he also credits his friend and mentor, former World Number1 Carlos Moya, with helping his early development when he was a youngster starting out on his career.
Rafael Nadal , at the age of 15 , turned profession in 2001 and won his first professional ATP match at the same year. With continuous training and his great endeavors, Rafael Nadal has been ranked at World Number1 in ATP since August 18, 2008, just seven years after he turned into a professional player. His incredible progress and exceptional endurance amaze the tennis players and also rouse the attention from the press. However, the reason I love him so much is not only because of his wonderful tennis playing skills but also because his nice personality. Though he is one of the best players in the world, he still keeps his sincerity. He’s willing to praise other players and show his modesty no matter he won the game or not. Besides, Rafael never shows off in front of the media even when he got a championship through keen competition. It’s his polite and amiable attitude that attracts me to be his big fan.