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Unstoppable Nadal is just getting started

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'You see this kid over here ... he's going to be something special one day.'

It was August 2003 and the prediction about Rafael Nadal came from former Asian number one Vijay Amritraj, who was covering the US Open at Flushing Meadows for STAR Sports.

Nadal was barely 17 years old, a few centimetres shorter and playing before sparse, day-session crowds during the first week of only his second grand slam.

He made it to the second round in New York before losing in straight sets to number 22 seed Younes El Aynaoui, of Morocco. With a shaggy hairstyle and street-style clothes, the Spanish left-hander was an unlikely tennis superstar in the making, but even then his muscular, power-packed style gave a hint of great things to come.

As the word spread across the ATP circuit like Chinese whispers, Nadal won two Challenger titles to finish the year in the top 50, the second youngest in history to be ranked so high.

But a series of injuries - including a stress fracture of his left ankle - meant that it wasn't until 2005 that Nadal played the French Open for the first time and his career really took off. Since then, he's never been beaten on the red clay of Roland Garros, claiming four titles and 28 consecutive victories.

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