Rafael Nadal To Compete in a Poker Tournament in Prague

Rafael Nadal will play in a live charity poker tournament at a casino in Prague, Czech Republic.

According to 10balls.com, the poker tournament will be held on Dec 12 as part of the European Poker Tour. This will be the first time that the World No. 1 will play in a live poker tournament.

"I love the competition and that is what I like about poker," said Nadal. "In a way, poker has similarities with tennis," he said. "It is a game of skills which require the capacity to out-think your opponents as well as mental strength," Nadal said. "I have been playing online poker for more than one and a half years and I am really excited to the challenge of playing my first live poker tournament," he concluded.

Nadal has once appeared in a commercial for PokerStars in March.

It has been reported that the Spanish athlete has been training hard with his poker coach, Alfonso Cardalda. He is really taking it seriously. Cardalda even praised how Nadal has improved so much when it comes to the facts of the game. "The Prague charity poker event is a big milestone for Rafa as a poker player," said Cardalda. "I hope that his success in tennis will translate into success at the poker table," Cardalda added.

Nadal has great talents, so maybe he will also do well in poker.

Aside from practising his poker abilities, Nadal spent his offseason by playing tennis too. He recently played in a tennis match against long-time rival Novak Djokovic to honour Nicolas Massu's retirement. Nadal and Djokovic played on Sunday evening, and the Spanish athlete won.

Nadal's 2013 season has been tremendous. He had definitely made a huge comeback following his 7-month long injury. He claimed the top spot in the world rankings. For the year 2013, he received prize winnings amounting to $12,011,939.

The 2014 tennis season is definitely shaping up to be an exhilarating year for the players and fans.