Famous left-handers in sports

Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal actually started out playing right-handed, but his uncle and former coach Toni Nadal thought it a better idea for him to play left-handed - as in football he was left-footed. Could he have possibly won 18 Grand Slams playing right-handed? We'll never know.

Pele burst onto the international scene when playing for Brazil at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. He helped Brazil win that and two further World Cups in 1962 and 1970. He would make 92 appearances for his country, scoring 77 goals. He spent most of his career at his first club, Santos, before finishing his career with two seasons at the New York Cosmos of the old North American Soccer League.

Like Pele, Diego Maradona is also considered one of the greatest footballers of all time.He represented Argentina in four World Cups, including in Mexico in 1986. In that tournament he won the Golden Ball as best player and led Argentina to the World Cup title, beating West Germany in the final. He also had a distinguished club career with Barcelona, Napoli and Sevilla, among others.

Even if he's using his right hand to show where he wants the ball, former Germany player Mesut Özil is actually left-handed - and that's the hand with which he signed his contracts at Schalke, Werder Bremen, Real Madrid and Arsenal.

In 2001, Goran Ivanisevic pulled off one of the biggest surprises in tennis history, becoming the only person to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. The native of Split, Croatia, was ranked 125th in the world going into that year’s edition of the most prestigious tournament in tennis – but had reached the final on three previous occasions, in 1992, 1994 and 1998.

Professional golfer Phil Mickelson swings the club left-handed even though he is actually right-handed. He has 44 PGA titles to his name, including three Masters, one PGA Championship and a British Open Championship. The only major he hasn’t won is the US Open, where he has finished as runner-up a record six times. He is one of 12 players to have won three of the four majors.

One of the most famous left-handers in sports was Babe Ruth. The "Bambino" began his career as a left-handed pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, but is best remembered for behing a left-handed slugging outfielder for the New York Yankees. He had 714 career home runs, putting him third on the all-time list behind Barry Bonds and Hank Aaron.

Table-tennis player Timo Boll’s accomplishments include numerous German and European singles titles as well as the silver medal in the team event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and bronze both in London four years later and the 2016 Rio Games. That’s where the left-hander was given the honor of carrying the German flag into the stadium for the opening ceremony.