Why Do Famous Tennis Players Rafael Nadal and Boris Becker Like to Play Poker?

What tennis players do in their free time? It is a pretty interesting question. I researched the Internet and found out that some of the most famous tennis players like to play poker.

Actually, everyone who has money, desire and confidence can try to play poker on professional level. Many websites allow everybody to play this interesting game which has become very popular over the recent years.

So, what is the common thing between pro tennis and poker? Psychologists say that changing activities is often the best way to recharge the batteries. May be playing poker to help tennis players feel relaxed or may be it increases their analytical ability.

Anyway, poker becomes more popular among men tennis players. Six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker is one of the biggest former tennis stars who plays poker. Another tennis star who plays poker is Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Kafelnikov has participated on the Poker Champions Tour and showed pretty good results. Gael Monfils, James Blake are also among those famous tennis players who play poker.

And finally, the number one Rafael Nadal plays this game too. Yes, it is true. I was surprised regarding that fact.  Next week Nadal will head to Prague in the Czech Republic for one of his final challenges of 2013 – a live charity poker tournament.  He said about poker:”It’s no secret that I love the competition and that’s what I like about poker. It’s a game of skill that requires mental strength and the ability to out-think your opponents and in that way there are similarities to tennis. I have been playing poker online for almost 18 months and now I’m looking forward to the challenge of playing my first live tournament.”

May be we will see Rafael Nadal playing poker after he leave playing tennis? Who knows.

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