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When the legendary Rafael Nadal retired<\/a> at the end of 2024 at the age of 38, he seemed to take with him not just his 22 Grand Slam titles (a record 14 of them at the French Open), but an entire world of secrets, too. Unlike so many other athletes who played a sport at the highest level for a long period of time, Nadal didn\u2019t much seem to care to unburden his soul. Unfailingly polite, one of the greatest sportsmen to play any sport, revered by his rivals, sure\u2014but, as a man of few words, eternally something of a cipher.<\/p>\n Director Zach Heinzerling\u2019s new four-part documentary, Rafa<\/em><\/a>, which premieres on Netflix on May 29, goes a long way to change all that. Yes, we see Nadal grow up in Majorca, a tennis prodigy from an early age, coached and shaped (for almost the entirety of his career, as it would turn out) by his uncle Toni, who taught him to push, and push, and push, and push. Crucially, though, we also see the toll of this pushing\u2014on Nadal\u2019s body as well as his psyche.<\/p>\n