Rafael Nadal is enjoying his time at the Beijing Olympics--both on and off court. For the Spaniard, it's a welcome novelty to stay in the athletes' village--even if it means being stopped dozens of times in a day for autographs and photos with fellow competitors.Tennis players rank at the top level of the pecking order in Olympic-land, and Nadal--who becomes ATP No.1 on Monday--is atop the heap. But the four-time French Open champion refuses to let his elite status go to his head.
"At the Olympic Village you have no driver at the door and no amazing room accommodations; who needs that to be happy?" he said. Getting back to the people has a good learning experience for the 20-year-old. "It really helps you see what real life is like."
The Swiss flag-bearer is having to stay in a hotel in the Chinese capital, because four years ago he was so inundated with requests for autographs and photos by fellow residents in the Olympic village in Athens that he found himself unable to eat a meal in the dining hall due to the constant interruptions.
Nadal, who insisted on being in the village with the rest of the Spanish team, found out about his new status almost as soon as his plane touched down in the Olympic city. He was surrounded by many other sporting superstars, but it was tennis' man of the moment who was mobbed.
