Rafael Nadal Is Neurotic About Everything (Including Ham)

Rafael Nadal is a troubled soul who hates lots of things. This week, Nadal revealed yet another thing he hates:

It would be one thing if Rafa simply preferred not to use sunscreen ("Not for me! Nope! Just baby oil." Or ... something like that). But no. He hates the sticky feeling. It's "awful."

It fits a pattern. Rafa is a deeply, deeply neurotic person. He doesn't have slight preferences. He loathes things. He is a prisoner of his own fears.

Let's recall his 2011 autobiography , in which he reveals his feelings about the following:

Ham and cheese: Hates the stuff. That goes for ham and cheese. His mother reports: "There are his eating habits, his loathing of cheese and tomato, and of ham, the national dish of Spain. I'm not as mad about ham myself as most people seem to be, but cheese? It is a bit peculiar."

Thunder/lightning: Hates it. He is terrified. He was scared as a kid, but "even now, when there's a storm and you need to go outside to fetch something, he won't let you," said his mother, again.

Swimming: Doesn't hate it, but he's terrified of it. And he doesn't swim unless he can see "sand at the bottom," says his sister.

Animals/dogs, in Rafa's own words: "I'm not comfortable with animals, not even with dogs. I doubt their intentions."

He doubts. Their intentions. Uncle Toni may have created a tennis beast, arguably the greatest ever, but it's no wonder that Rafa has spent most of his adult life living with his parents.