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Rising French star Arthur Cazaux reveals watching a Rafael Nadal French Open match on TV inspired him to pick up a racket and try tennis. Cazaux, who turned 21 in August, is one of the most promising young French players. So far in 2023, Cazaux has been enjoying his breakout season on the Tour.
This season, Cazaux has had several deep runs at the Challenger level and he also achieved his career-high ranking of No 119 after starting the season ranked at 382 in the world. This week, Cazaux is competing at the Malaga Challenger and there he revealed that his tennis journey started because of Nadal.
"Rafa has always been my idol since I was little, it was because of him that I started playing tennis. Nobody in my family played tennis. I remember that when he was very little my father watched Roland Garros every year on TV, the only tournament he watched.
I watched a Rafa Nadal match and something clicked. I asked my mother to buy me a tennis racket, I must have been three or four years old and that's how I started. Since then, I have not stopped following Nadal and I have not stopped tennis either.
I play because of him," Cazaux told Punto de Break.
Cazaux met Nadal once
When asked if he ever met Nadal in person, Cazaux revealed that happened once at the French Open when he was a junior.
"I met him once at Roland Garros when I was a junior, five years ago, but I just asked him for a photo in the weight room, but I didn't talk much," Cazaux revealed. Meanwhile, Cazaux also expressed a desire to see his idol Nadal return healthy and competitive in 2024.
"I hope hecomes back. I would love to see him playing and having the rivalry with Djokovic, Alcaraz and all these players and I also hope, if I continue to progress why not play with him in a tournament, it would be a crazy match," Cazaux said.