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Rafael Nadal
Full nameRafael Nadal Parera
Country (sports)Spain
ResidenceManacor, Majorca, Spain
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro2001
PlaysLeft-handed; two-handed backhand
Prize moneyUS$ 29,821,044
Singles
Career record432-95 (81.97%)
Career titles39
Highest rankingNo. 1 (18 August 2008)
Current rankingNo. 1 (7 June 2010)[1]
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenW (2009)
French OpenW (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010)
WimbledonW (2008)
US OpenSF (2008, 2009)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsSF (2006, 2007)
Olympic Games Gold medal (2008)
Doubles
Career record81–52
Career titles6
Highest rankingNo. 26 (8 August 2005)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (2004, 2005)
Wimbledon2R (2005)
US OpenSF (2004)
Last updated on: 17 May 2010.
Olympic medal record
Representing  Spain
Men's Tennis
Gold medal – first place 2008 Beijing Singles

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (Catalan pronunciation: [rəfə'ɛɫ nəˈðaɫ pə'ɾeɾə]) (born 3 June 1986) is a former World No. 1 Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked No. 2 in the world. Nadal has won sevenGrand Slam singles titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 18 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004, 2008 and 2009.

Nadal was ranked World No. 1 from 18 August 2008 to 5 July 2009. Nadal was ranked World No. 2, behind Roger Federer for a record 160 weeks before earning the top spot.[4] His success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay".[5][6]

In 2008, Nadal was given the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, in recognition of his achievements in tennis.[7]

Family and early life

Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, Majorca to Sebastián Nadal and Ana María Parera. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a retired professional football (soccer) player, having played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team.[8] Nadal supports football clubs Real Madrid and RCD Mallorca.[9] Recognizing that Rafael had a natural talent for tennis, his other uncle, Toni Nadal, a former professional tennis player, introduced him to tennis when he was three years old. Toni Nadal has been coaching him ever since.[10]

At age eight, Nadal won an under-12 year regional tennis championship at a time where he was also a promising football player.[11] This made Toni Nadal intensify training, and at that time he encouraged Nadal to play left-handed—for a natural advantage on the tennis court, as he noticed Nadal played forehand shots with two hands.[11] When Nadal was 12, he won the Spanish and European tennis titles in his age group and was playing tennis and football all the time.[11] Nadal's father made him choose between football and tennis so that his school work would not deteriorate entirely. Nadal said: "I chose tennis. Football had to stop straight away."[11]

When he was 14, the Spanish tennis federation requested that he leave Mallorca and move to Barcelona to continue his tennis progression and training. Nadal's family turned down this request, partly because they feared it would hurt his education,[11] but also because Toni Nadal said that "I don't want to believe that you have to go to America, or other places to be a good athlete. You can do it from your home."[10] The decision to stay home meant that Nadal received less financial support from the federation; instead Nadal's father covered the costs. In May 2001, he defeated former Grand Slam champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match.[8]

Nadal participated in two events on the ITF junior circuit. In 2002, at the age of 16, Nadal reached the semifinals of the Boy's Singles tournament at Wimbledon, in his first ITF junior event [12]. Later that year, Nadal won all of his matches en-route to a winning campaign with Spain, over the USA, in the junior Davis Cup in his second, and final, appearance on the ITF junior circuit.

By the age of 17, Nadal was ranked in the world's top 50 players.[11] In 2003, Rafael had won the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award.

Tennis career

2002–2004

In April 2002, at 15 years and 10 months, the World No. 762 Nadal won his first ATP match, defeating Ramón Delgado, and became the ninth player in the open era to do so before the age of 16.[13] The following year, Nadal won two Challenger titles and finished the year in the top 50. At his Wimbledon debut in 2003, Nadal became the youngest man to reach the third round since Boris Becker in 1984.[14] During 2004, Nadal played his first match against World No. 1 Roger Federer at the 2004 Miami Masters, and won in straight sets. He missed most of the clay court season, including the French Open, because of a stress fracture in his left ankle.[8] Nadal at 18 years and six months became the youngest player to register a singles victory in a Davis Cup final for a winning nation.[15] By beating World No. 2 Andy Roddick, he helped Spain clinch the 2004 title over the United States in a 3–2 win. He finished the year ranked World No. 51.

2005

At the 2005 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt. Two months later, Nadal reached the final of the 2005 Miami Masters, and despite being two points from a straight-sets victory, he was defeated in five sets by World No. 1 Roger Federer. Both performances were considered to be breakthroughs for Nadal.[16][17]

He then dominated the spring clay court season. He won 24 consecutive singles matches, which broke Andre Agassi's open era record of consecutive match wins for a male teenager.[18] Nadal won Torneo Conde de Godó in Barcelona, Spain and beat 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria in the finals of 2005 Monte Carlo Masters and 2005 Rome Masters. These victories raised his ranking to World No. 5[19] and made him one of the favorites at his career-first French Open. On his 19th birthday, Nadal defeated Federer in the 2005 French Open semifinals. Two days later, he defeated Mariano Puerta in the final, becoming only the third male player to win a Grand Slam on his first attempt since Mats Wilander in 1982 and Gustavo Kuerten in 1997.[20] He also became the first teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19.[8] Winning the French Open improved Nadal's ranking to World No. 3.[19]

Three days after his victory in Paris, Nadal's 24-match winning streak was snapped in the first round of the grass court Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, losing to the German Alexander Waske.[21] He then lost in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon to Gilles Müller of Luxembourg.

Immediately after Wimbledon, Nadal won 16 consecutive matches and three consecutive tournaments, bringing his ranking to World No. 2 on 25 July 2005.

Nadal started his North American summer hard court season by defeating Agassi in the final of the 2005 Canada Masters but lost in the first round of the 2005 Cincinnati Masters. Nadal was seeded second at the 2005 US Open, where he was upset in the third round by World No. 49 James Blake in four sets.

In September, he defeated Coria in the final of the China Open in Beijing and won both of his Davis Cup matches against Italy. In October, he won his fourth ATP Masters Series title of the year, defeating Ivan Ljubičić in the final of the 2005 Madrid Masters. He then suffered a foot injury that prevented him from competing in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup.[22]

Both Nadal and Federer won eleven singles titles and four ATP Masters Series titles in 2005. Nadal broke Mats Wilander's previous teenage record of nine in 1983.[23] Eight of Nadal's titles were on clay and the remainder were on hard courts. Nadal won 79 matches, second only to Federer's 81. Nadal won the Golden Bagel Award for 2005 with eleven 6–0 sets during the year.[24] Also he earned the highest year-end ranking ever by a Spaniard and the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award.

2006

Nadal holding the Coupe des Mousquetaires trophy after winning the 2006 French Open

Nadal missed the Australian Open because of a foot injury.[25] In February, he lost in the semifinals of the first tournament he played, the Open 13 tournament in Marseille, France. Two weeks later, he handed Roger Federer his first loss of the year in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Men's Open. To complete the spring hard court season, Nadal was upset in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California by James Blake, and was upset in the second round of the 2006 Miami Masters.

On European clay, Nadal won all four tournaments he entered and 24 consecutive matches. He defeated Federer in the final of the Masters Series Monte Carlo in four sets. The following week, he defeated Tommy Robredo in the final of the Open Sabadell Atlántico tournament in Barcelona. After a one week break, Nadal won the Masters Series Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating Federer in a fifth set tiebreaker in the final after saving two match points and equaling Björn Borg's tally of 16 ATP titles won as a teenager.[citation needed] Nadal broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas's 29-year male record of 53 consecutive clay-court match victories by winning his first round match at the French Open. Vilas presented Nadal with a trophy but commented later that Nadal's feat was less impressive than his own because Nadal's winning streak covered two years and was accomplished by adding easy tournaments to his schedule.[26] Nadal went on to play Federer in the final of the French Open. The first two sets of the match were hardly competitive as the rivals traded 6–1 sets. Nadal won the third set easily and served for the match in the fourth set before Federer broke him and forced a tiebreaker. Nadal won the tiebreaker and became the first player to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam final.[27]

On grass, Nadal injured his shoulder while playing a quarterfinal match against Lleyton Hewitt at the Artois Championships, played at Queen's Club in London.[28] Nadal was unable to complete the match, which ended his 26-match winning streak. Nadal was seeded second at Wimbledon but was two points from defeat against American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the second round before coming back to win in five sets. In the third round, Nadal defeated World No. 20 Andre Agassi in straight sets at Agassi's last career match at Wimbledon. Nadal also won his next three matches in straight sets, which set up another final with Federer, who had won this tournament the three previous years. Nadal was the first Spanish man since Manuel Santana in 1966 to reach the Wimbledon final, but Federer won the match in four sets.

During the lead up to the US Open, Nadal played the two Masters Series tournaments in North America. He was upset in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Nadal was seeded second at the US Open but lost in the quarterfinals to World No. 54 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in four sets.

Nadal played only three tournaments the remainder of the year. Joachim Johansson, ranked World No. 690, upset Nadal in the second round of the Stockholm Open 6–4, 7–6. The following week, Nadal lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals of the year's last Masters Series tournament, the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid. During the round-robin stage of the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, Nadal lost to James Blake but defeated Nikolay Davydenko and Robredo. Because of those two victories, Nadal qualified for the semifinals, where he lost to Federer 6–4, 7–5. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer.

Nadal went on to become the first player since Andre Agassi in 1994–95 to finish the year as the World No. 2 in consecutive years.

2007

Nadal started the year by playing in six hard court tournaments. He lost in the semifinals and first round of his first two tournaments and then lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to eventual runner-up Fernando González. After another quarterfinal loss at the Dubai Tennis Championships, he won the 2007 Indian Wells Masters before Novak Djoković defeated him in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Miami Masters.

He had comparatively more success after returning to Europe to play five clay court tournaments. He won the titles at the Masters Series Monte Carlo, the Open Sabadell Atlántico in Barcelona, and the Masters Series Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome before losing to Roger Federer in the final of the Masters Series Hamburg. This defeat ended his 81-match winning streak on clay, which is the male open era record for consecutive wins on a single surface. He then rebounded to win the French Open for the third straight year, defeating Federer once again in the final.

Between the tournaments in Barcelona and Rome, Nadal defeated Federer in the "Battle of Surfaces" exhibition match in Majorca, Spain, with the tennis court being half grass and half clay.[29]

Nadal played the Artois Championships at Queen's Club in London for the second consecutive year. As in 2006, Nadal was upset in the quarterfinals. Nadal then won consecutive five-set matches during the third and fourth rounds of Wimbledon before being beaten by Federer in the five-set final. This was Federer's first five-set match at Wimbledon since 2001.[30]

In July, Nadal won the clay court Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, which proved to be his last title of the year. He played three important tournaments during the North American summer hard court season. He was a semifinalist at the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Montreal before losing his first match at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the second-seeded player at the US Open but was defeated in the fourth round by David Ferrer.

After a month-long break from tournament tennis, Nadal played the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid and the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. David Nalbandian upset him in the quarterfinals and final of those tournaments. To end the year, Nadal won two of his three round robin matches to advance to the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, where Federer defeated him 6–4, 6–1.

During the second half of the year, Nadal battled a knee injury suffered during the Wimbledon final. In addition, there were rumors at the end of the year that the foot injury he suffered during 2005 caused long term damage, which were given credence by coach Toni Nadal's claim that the problem was "serious". Nadal and his spokesman strongly denied this, however, with Nadal himself calling the story "totally false".[31]

2008

Nadal began the year in India, where he was comprehensively beaten by Mikhail Youzhny in the final of the Chennai Open. Nadal then reached the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time. He also reached the final of the Miami Masters for the second time.

During the spring clay court season, Nadal won four singles titles and defeated Roger Federer in three finals. He beat Federer at the Masters Series Monte Carlo for the third straight year, capturing his open era record fourth consecutive title there. He won in straight sets, despite Federer holding a 4–0 lead in the second set.[32] Nadal then won his fourth consecutive title at the Open Sabadell Atlántico tournament in Barcelona. A few weeks later, Nadal won his first title at the Masters Series Hamburg, defeating Federer in the three-set final. He then won the French Open, becoming only the fifth man in the open era to win a Grand Slam singles title without losing a set.[33] He defeated Federer in the final for the third straight year, but this was the most lopsided of all their matches, as Nadal only lost four games and gave Federer his first bagel since 1999.[32] This was Nadal's fourth consecutive French title, tying Björn Borg's all-time record. Nadal became only the fourth male player during the open era to win the same Grand Slam singles tournament four consecutive years (the others being Borg, Pete Sampras, and Federer).

Nadal then played Federer in the final of Wimbledon for the third consecutive year, in the most anticipated match of their rivalry.[34][35] Nadal entered the final on a 23-match winning streak, including his first career grass court title at the Artois Championships staged at Queen's Club in London prior to Wimbledon. Federer had won his record fifth grass court title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, and then reached the Wimbledon final without losing a set. Unlike their previous two Wimbledon finals, though, Federer was not the prohibitive favorite, and many analysts picked Nadal to win.[35][36] They played the longest (in terms of time on court, not in terms of numbers of games) final in Wimbledon history, and because of rain delays, Nadal won the fifth set 9–7 in near-darkness. The match was widely lauded as the greatest Wimbledon final ever, with some tennis critics even calling it the greatest match in tennis history.[37][38][39][40][41] By winning his first Wimbledon title, Nadal became only the third man in the open era to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, after Rod Laver in 1969 and Borg in 1978–80, (Federer later accomplished this the following year) as well as the second Spaniard to win Wimbledon. He also ended Federer's record streak of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and 65 straight wins on grass courts. This is also the first time that Nadal won two Grand Slams back to back.

After Wimbledon, Nadal extended his winning streak to a career-best 32 matches. He won his second Rogers Cup title in Toronto, and then made it into the semifinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a result, Nadal clinched the US Open Series and, combined with Federer's early-round losses in both of those tournaments, finally earned the World No. 1 ranking on 18 August, officially ending Federer's record four-and-a-half year reign at the top.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nadal defeated Novak Djoković of Serbia in the semifinals 6–4, 1–6, 6–4 and Fernando González of Chile in the final to win his first Olympic gold medal. Nadal became the first male player ranked in the top five to win the gold medal.[42]

At the US Open, Nadal was the top-seeded player for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament. He did not lose a set during his first three matches, defeating qualifiers in the first and second rounds and Viktor Troicki in the third round. He then needed four sets to defeat both Sam Querrey in the fourth round and Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he lost to Andy Murray 6–2, 7–6(5), 4–6, 6–4. Later in the year in Madrid, Nadal helped Spain defeat the United States in the Davis Cup semifinals.

At the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid, Nadal lost in the semifinals to Gilles Simon 3–6, 7–5, 7–6(6). However, his performance at the event guaranteed that he would become the first Spaniard during the open era to finish the year as the World No. 1.[43] Two weeks later at the BNP Paribas Masters in France, Nadal reached the quarterfinals, where he faced Nikolay Davydenko. Nadal lost the first set 6–1 before retiring in the second with a knee injury.[44] The following week, Nadal announced his withdrawal from the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, citing tendinitis of the knee. On 10 November, Nadal withdrew from Spain's Davis Cup final against Argentina, as his knee injury had not healed sufficiently.[45]

2009

Nadal's first official ATP tour event for the year was the 250 series Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. Nadal faced Fabrice Santoro in the first round for the first time in their careers, with Nadal prevailing 6–0, 6–1 in 47 minutes. After the match, Nadal was awarded the 2008 ATP World Tour Champion trophy.[46] Nadal eventually lost in the quarter-finals to Gaël Monfils 6–4, 6–4, which was his first loss to the World No. 13 in four matches. Nadal also entered and won the tournament's doubles event with partner Marc López, defeating the World No. 1 doubles team of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić in the final. As noted by statistician Greg Sharko, this was the first time since 1990 that the World No. 1 singles player had played the World No. 1 doubles player in a final.[47]

At the Australian Open, Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set before defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the semi-finals 6–7(4), 6–4, 7–6(2), 6–7(1), 6–4—the longest match in Australian Open history at 5 hours and 14 minutes.[48] This win set up a championship match with Roger Federer—their first meeting ever in a hard court Grand Slam tournament and nineteenth meeting overall. Nadal defeated Federer in five sets to earn his first hard court Grand Slam singles title,[49] making him the first Spaniard in history to win the Australian Open and the fourth male tennis player—after Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, and Andre Agassi—to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces (he would be followed by a fifth, Roger Federer, after Federer's win in the 2009 French Open). This win also made Nadal the first male tennis player to hold three Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces at the same time.[50]

Nadal then played the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. In the final, he lost to second-seeded Murray in three sets. During the final, Nadal called a trainer to attend to a tendon problem with his right knee, which notably affected his play in the final set.[51] Although this knee problem was not associated with Nadal's right knee tendonitis, it was serious enough to cause him to withdraw from the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships a week later.[52]

In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Serbia in a Davis Cup World Group first round tie on clay in Benidorm, Spain. Nadal defeated Janko Tipsarević 6–1, 6–0, 6–2 and Novak Djokovic 6–4, 6–4, 6–1. The win over World No. 3 Djokovic was Nadal's twelfth consecutive Davis Cup singles match win and boosted his career win–loss record against Djokovic to 11–4, including 6–0 on clay.[53]

At the 2009 Indian Wells Masters, Nadal won his thirteenth Masters 1000 series tournament. In the fourth round, Nadal saved five match points before defeating David Nalbandian for the first time.[54] Nadal defeated Juan Martín del Potro in the quarterfinals and Andy Roddick in the semi-finals before defeating Murray in the final. The next ATP tour event was the 2009 Miami Masters. Rafael Nadal was made to work hard for a 7-6(2), 7-6(4) victory over Swiss No. 16 seed Stanislas Wawrinka on Tuesday evening to reach the quarter-finals. Nadal saved three match points before losing in the quarter-finals to del Potro 6–4, 3–6, 7–6(3) after Nadal held a 3-0 lead in the final set. This was the first time del Potro had defeated Nadal in five career matches.[55]

Nadal began his European clay court season at the 2009 Monte Carlo Masters, where he won a record fifth consecutive singles title there.[56] He defeated Andy Murray in the semi-finals 6–2, 7–6 and he defeated Novak Djokovic 6–3, 2–6, 6–1 in the final to be the only man to win this tournament 5 times consecutively, a record in the open era. He drew equal with Roger Federer on the number of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles with this being his 14th title & is only behind Andre Agassi's record 17 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles. Nadal is the first male player to win the same ATP Master series event for 5 consecutive years.

Only days after capturing a fifth-straight Monte Carlo title, Nadal competed in the ATP 500 event in Barcelona, looking for a fifth consecutive title there. After receiving a first-round bye, Nadal opened up against Frederico Gil in the second round, who he defeated 6–2, 6–2. In the third round, Nadal defeated Christophe Rochus 6–2, 6–0. In the quarter-finals, Nadal was scheduled to face David Nalbandian, but due to a hip injury, Nalbandian withdrew, thereby sending Nadal to the semi-finals via a walk over. In the semi-finals Nadal defeated Nikolay Davydenko 6–3, 6–2 and advanced to his 5th consecutive final where he faced David Ferrer in a repeat of the all-Spanish 2008 final. Nadal went on to beat Ferrer 6–2, 7–5 to record a stunning 5 consecutive Barcelona victories dating back to 2005 to go with his 5 at Monte Carlo.[57]

After winning at Barcelona, Nadal was back to Rome where he was defeated by Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2008. After receiving a first-round bye, Nadal opened up against Andreas Seppi in the second round, who he defeated 6–2, 6–3. In the third round, he crushed Robin Söderling of Sweden 6–1, 6–0. Though Söderling earned five break point chances in the opening set, Nadal refused to drop serve and in turn broke the Swede six times in eight opportunities during the one hour, 24-minute match. Söderling managed to win just 11 points total in the second set – seven of which came on serve in the final game. He defeated his compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-final 6–3, 6–3 improving his record against Verdasco to 8-0. He faced Fernando González in the semi-finals and won 6–3, 6–3. In the final he faced Novak Djokovic and after some great tennis from both men, Nadal won in straight sets 7–6(2), 6–2 to improve his overall record to 13-4 and clay record to 8-0 against the Serb.[58] He became the first player in history to win four Rome titles. With this win, Nadal was only 2 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles away from Andre Agassi's all-time record (17) and one behind Roger Federer's 16.

After winning two clay court Masters, he participated in the Madrid Open. After receiving a first-round bye, Nadal easily prevailed against Jürgen Melzer 6–3, 6–1 in front of home crowd with only 3 unforced errors during the match. In the third-round, Nadal was scheduled to face Philipp Kohlschreiber, but due to a leg injury, Kohlschreiber withdrew, thereby sending Nadal to the quarter-finals via a walk over. Nadal defeated Fernando Verdasco 6–4, 7–5 in the quarter-finals. In the second set against Verdasco, Nadal was trailing 4–0 but recovered well to win the set 7–5. In semi-finals Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic 3–6, 7–6(5), 7–6(9) coming back from a break down in the third set and winning the tiebreak 11–9, saving three match points. It was the first third-set tiebreak Nadal had played on clay since losing to Nicolás Lapentti at Båstad on 11 July 2003. The victory, in 4 hours 2 minutes, was not only the longest best-of-three match ever played at a Masters event but also the longest best-of-three match in the Open Era. In the final, Nadal lost to Roger Federer 4–6, 4–6. This was the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer since the semi-finals of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup.

On Tuesday, 19 May, the ATP World Tour announced that Nadal was the first player out of eight to qualify for the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals to be played at the O2 Arena in London.

By beating Lleyton Hewitt in the third round of 2009 French Open, Nadal (2005–09 French Open) set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros, beating the previous record of 28 by Björn Borg (1978–81 French Open). Nadal had won 32 consecutive sets at Roland Garros (since winning the last 2 sets at the 2007 French Open final against Federer), the second-longest winning streak in the tournament's history behind Björn Borg's record of 41 consecutive sets. This run came to an end on 31 May 2009, when Nadal lost to Robin Söderling in the 4th Round. The Swede triumphed 6–2, 6–7 (2), 6–4, 7–6 (2). This was Nadal's first loss at the French Open.

After his surprise defeat at Roland Garros, Nadal withdrew from the pre-Wimbledon AEGON Championships, which takes place at Queen's Club. It was confirmed that Nadal was suffering from tendinitis in both of his knees.[59] After traveling to London to practice on grass courts, Nadal competed in two exhibition matches at the Hurlingham Club, losing to Lleyton Hewitt 6–4 6–3, and to Stanislas Wawrinka 4–6, 7–6, 10–8.[60] On 19 June, Nadal withdrew from the 2009 Wimbledon Championship, citing his recurring knee injury.[60] He was the first champion to not defend the title since Goran Ivanišević in 2001.[60] Roger Federer went on to win the title, and Nadal consequently dropped back to World No. 2 on 6 July 2009. Nadal later announced his withdrawal from the Davis Cup.

On 4 August, Nadal's uncle, Toni Nadal, confirmed that Nadal would return to play at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.[61] There, in his first tournament since Roland Garros, Nadal defeated David Ferrer and Philipp Petzschner to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinal round, he lost to Juan Martín del Potro 7-6(5), 6-1.[62] With this loss he relinquished the No. 2 spot to Andy Murray on 17 August 2009, ranking outside the top two for the first time since 25 July 2005.

In Cincinnati, he defeated Andreas Seppi in a tight, rain–interrupted match 7-6, 7-6, before coming back from 4-1 down against Paul-Henri Mathieu to win 7-5, 6-2. Nadal looked good in his match against Mathieu after the first five games, but was not so good against Seppi, where he didn't feel he played his best. However, Nadal was in decent form with no knee pain yet. He advanced to the semis by defeating Tomáš Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5 and met Novak Djokovic, where he lost again (he lost in Cincinnati last year in the semis to Djokovic), this time 6-1, 6-4.

Nadal started his 2009 US Open campaign strongly by brushing aside the challenge of Richard Gasquet of France in the first round, winning 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. In the second round, he defeated Nicolas Kiefer 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Next, he defeated Nicolás Almagro of Spain 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 with a sore abdominal muscle to move into the last sixteen. Nadal then won his fourth round match against 13th seeded Gaël Monfils 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Fernando González 7-6(4), 7-6(2), 6-0 in a rain delayed encounter.[63] However, like his previous US Open campaign, he fell in the semi-finals, this time losing to eventual champioin Juan Martín del Potro 2-6, 2-6, 2-6.[64] Despite the loss, he regained his #2 ranking after Andy Murray's early exit.[65]. In his first tournament since the 2009 US Open in the 2009 China Open he reached the Semifinals being upset by Marin Čilić 6-1 6-3. He then competed in the 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 as the top seed, He defeated James Blake for the 2nd straight week, in the same round (second round) and in three sets as well, he then won his quarterfinals against Ivan Ljubičić and semifinals against Feliciano López matches due to retirement. However in the finals, he lost to 6th seed Nikolay Davydenko 7-6(3) 6-3. Nadal's next tournament was the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. In the second round he came from behind to defeat Nicolás Almagro 3-6, 7-6, 7-5. In the R16 he edged past Tommy Robredo 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. In the quarter-final he defeated Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 7-5. In semi-final he played his 20th career match against Novak Djokovic but lost 6-2, 6-3.

In the World Tour Finals, Nadal had a slight chance to regain the #1 ranking, however he failed to defeat Robin Söderling in the opening round-robin match, losing 6-4 6-4. This, along with Federer's defeat of Andy Murray, allowed Roger Federer to clinch the Year End Number One Ranking, the first to regain the year-end #1 since Ivan Lendl. Nadal then lost his second round-robin match to Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 7-6(4). With this defeat, Nadal was eliminated from reaching the semifinals of the World Tour Finals; he lost his third round-robin match to Djokovic in straight-sets; this was his third straight loss to Djokovic and left him 0-3 in the event without winning a set.

In December, Nadal participated in the second Davis Cup final of his career. He defeated Czech number 2 Tomáš Berdych 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 in his first singles rubber to give the Spanish Davis Cup Team their first point in the tie. After the Spanish Davis Cup team had secured its fourth Davis Cup victory, Nadal defeated Jan Hájek in the first Davis Cup dead rubber of his career 6-3, 6-4. This win gives Nadal his 14th consecutive singles victory at Davis Cup (his 13th on clay) and his 401st career win on the tour.

Nadal finished the year as No.2 for the 4th time in 5 years. Nadal won the Golden Bagel Award for 2009 with nine 6–0 sets during the year. Nadal has won the award 3 times (a tour record).

2010

Nadal began the year by participating in the Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He defeated compatriot David Ferrer 7-6(3), 6-3 to reach his second final in the exhibition tournament. In the final, Nadal defeated Robin Söderling 7-6(3), 7-5.[66]

Nadal participated in an Australian Open warm-up tournament, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open ATP 250 event in Doha, where he lost in the finals.[67] He defeated Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-3, 6-3 in the first round and in the second round, Nadal defeated Potito Starace 6-2, 6-2. Nadal's progress continued in the quarterfinals when he was up 6-1, 2-0 against Steve Darcis of Belgium and who eventually retired from the match. He defeated 5th seed Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-3, winning 11 straight games in the semi-finals. Nadal lost to Nikolay Davydenko 6-0, 6-7(8), 4-6 in the finals despite dominating in the opening set and holding two match points in the second set.[67] Davydenko also defeated Roger Federer in the semifinals before advancing to the finals.[67]

In the first round of the Australian Open, Nadal defeated Peter Luczak of Australia 7-6(0), 6-1, 6-4. In the second round, he beat Lukas Lacko 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. In the third round, he was tested by Philipp Kohlschreiber, finally beating him 6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5. In the fourth round, he beat Ivo Karlović of Croatia, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.[68] In the quarter-finals, Nadal pulled out at 3-0 down in the third set against Andy Murray, having lost the first two sets 6-3, 7-6(2).[69] After examining Nadal's knees, doctors told him that he should take two weeks of rest and then two weeks of rehabilitation.

Nadal reached the semifinals in singles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where he was the defending champion; however, eventual champion Ivan Ljubičić defeated him in three sets.[70] He and countryman López won the doubles title, though, as wildcard entrants against number one seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić.[71] This boosted his doubles ranking 175 places[72] to world number 66, whereas he was 241st before Indian Wells.[73] After Indian Wells, Nadal reached the semi-finals of Sony Ericsson Open where he lost to eventual champion Andy Roddick in three sets.[74]

Nadal reached the final of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in Monaco after beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-finals. This was Nadal's first tour final since Doha earlier in the year. He won the final with a 6-0, 6-1 score over his compatriot Fernando Verdasco. He lost only 14 games throughout all five matches, the fewest he ever lost en route to a championship, and the final was the shortest Masters 1000 final in terms of games in history (since 1990). With this win, Nadal became the first player in Open Era to win a tournament title for 6 straight years [75]

Unlike in previous years, Nadal next chose to skip the Barcelona tournament (despite being that event's five-time defending champion), and his next tournament was the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. He defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber, Victor Hănescu, and Stanlias Wawrinka all in straight sets to win his 57th straight match in April. In the semis, he faced a resilient Ernests Gulbis, who defeated Roger Federer earlier in the tournament and took Nadal to three sets, for the first time, this clay court season. Nadal eventually prevailed with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and forty minutes. He then defeated compatriot David Ferrer in the final 7-5, 6-2 for his fifth title at Rome to equal Andre Agassi's record of winning 17 ATP Masters titles.

Nadal then entered the 2010 Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, where he had finished runner-up the previous year. Being one of the top eight seeds, he received a bye in the first round. In the second round, he defeated qualifier Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr in straight sets. He then played the six foot nine inch tall American John Isner. Nadal comfortably came through in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. He defeated Gaël Monfils in the quarterfinals 6-1, 6-3 and his countryman Nicolás Almagro in the next round, who was playing in his first Masters 1000 semifinal, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2. The first set of his match against Almagro would be just the second set he lost on clay this year up to this point. Nadal then defeated longtime rival Roger Federer 6-4, 7-6(5), avenging his 2009 finals loss to Federer. The win gave him his 18th Masters title, breaking the all-time record. He became the first player to win all 3 clay court Masters titles in a single year and the first player to win 3 consecutive Masters events. Nadal moved back to #2 the following day.

Entering the 2010 French Open, requiring victory to both win his 7th Title and to regain his position at the top, he received an unexpected boost when rival Robin Soderling defeated Federer 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals.[76] Nadal beat Soderling 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 and won the 2010 French Open, he reclaimed the position of ATP World Number One denying his great rival Roger Federer the all time record for weeks at No. 1.[77]

Rivalry with Roger Federer

Main article: Federer–Nadal rivalry
A dark-haired tennis player is reaching to hit a tennis shot with a racket in his left hand, and he is wearing black shoes and shorts with black and white mixture shirt and yellowish-green accessories
Nadal during the 2009 Australian Open final

Nadal and Federer have been playing against each other since 2004, and this rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers:

  • They are the only men in the open era who have played each other in 7 Grand Slam finals, with Nadal winning 5 of the 7 finals. Three of these 5 wins were on Nadal's best surface (clay), and he has beaten Federer twice in non-clay major finals: Wimbledon 2008 and the Australian Open 2009.[78]
  • Their 2008 Wimbledon final has been lauded as the greatest match of all time by many long-time tennis critics.[39][79]
  • Many critics consider their rivalry to be the greatest in tennis history.[37][80][81][82]
  • Ten of Nadal's 14 wins over Federer have come on clay courts, Nadal's best surface. Nadal leads their overall head-to-head series 14-7 (Nadal leads 10-2 on clay, Federer leads 2-1 on grass, they are tied (3-3) on hard courts).
  • Federer's loss in the opening round of the 2010 Campionati Internazionali d'Italia assures that the two players will go at least a year since their last match, where Nadal lost to Roger Federer 4–6, 4–6 in the 2009 Madrid Open finals.

Playing style

Nadal playing on clay

Nadal generally plays an aggressive behind-the-baseline game founded on heavy topspin groundstrokes, consistency, speedy footwork, and tenacious court coverage.[83] Known for his athleticism and speed around the court, Nadal is a capable defender[84] who hits well on the run, constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions. He is a counter-puncher. He also plays very fine dropshots, which work especially well because his heavy topspin often forces opponents to the back of the court.[85] Nadal is primarily a baseliner and seldom volleys but when he does come to the net he is a capable volleyer.

Nadal employs a full western grip forehand, often with a "lasso-whip" follow through, where his left arm hits through the ball and finishes above his left shoulder—as opposed to a more traditional finish across the body or around his opposite shoulder.[86][87] Nadal's forehand groundstroke form allows him to hit shots with heavy topspin—more so than many of his contemporaries.[88] San Francisco tennis researcher John Yandell used a high-speed video camera and special software to count the average number of revolutions of a tennis ball hit full force by Nadal. "The first guys we did were Sampras and Agassi. They were hitting forehands that in general were spinning about 1,800 to 1,900 revolutions per minute. Federer is hitting with an amazing amount of spin, too, right? 2,700 revolutions per minute. Well, we measured one forehand Nadal hit at 4,900. His average was 3,200." [89] While Nadal's shots tend to land short of the baseline, the characteristically high bounces his forehands achieve tend to mitigate the advantage an opponent would normally gain from capitalizing on a short ball.[90] Although his forehand is based on heavy topspin he can hit the ball deep and flat with a more orthodox follow through for clean winners.

Nadal has developed his serve into a solid weapon since his earlier years as a pro.[83] Nadal is able to deliver a high percentage of first serves, struck with moderate pace and placed strategically.[83] Nadal's second serve usually employs a hard left-handed slice towards right-handed opponents' backhands. Nadal relies on the consistency of his serve to gain a strategic advantage in points, rather than going for service winners.[91]

Nadal's mental resilience and strategic approach to the game are other noted strengths. Nadal is able to avoid discouragement regardless of match score, allowing him to singularly focus on winning the current point and gaining an advantage. As a strategic player, Nadal can assess outside variables such as court surface, weather conditions, and his opponent's tactics in order to adjust his own play to best adapt to present conditions.[92]

Although once considered a clay court specialist, Nadal has shed that label due to his success on the tournaments played on other surfaces, including holding Grand Slams simultaneously on grass, hard courts, and clay, winning five Masters series titles on hardcourt, and winning the Olympic gold medal on hardcourt.[83][93][94] Despite praise for Nadal's talent and skill, some have questioned his longevity in the sport, citing his build and playing style as conducive to injury.[95] Nadal himself has admitted to the physical toll hard courts place on ATP Tour players, calling for a reevaluated tour schedule featuring fewer hard court tournaments.[96]

Grand Slams

Grand Slam performance timeline

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2010 Australian Open.

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Career SR Career W-L Career Win %
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open A A 3R 4R A QF SF W QF 1/6 25-5 83.33
French Open A A A W W W W 4R W 5/6 44-1 97.78
Wimbledon A 3R A 2R F F W A 1/5 22-4 84.62
US Open A 2R 2R 3R QF 4R SF SF 0/7 21-7 75.00
Win–Loss N/A 3-2 3-2 13-3 17-2 20-3 24-2 15-2 11-1 N/A 99-17 85.34

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 9 (7 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Outcome Year Championship Surface Opponent in Final Score in Final
Winner 2005 French Open Clay Argentina Mariano Puerta 6–7(6), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5
Winner 2006 French Open (2) Clay Switzerland Roger Federer 1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(4)
Runner-up 2006 Wimbledon Grass Switzerland Roger Federer 0-6, 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 3-6
Winner 2007 French Open (3) Clay Switzerland Roger Federer 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Runner-up 2007 Wimbledon (2) Grass Switzerland Roger Federer 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-2, 2-6
Winner 2008 French Open (4) Clay Switzerland Roger Federer 6–1, 6–3, 6–0
Winner 2008 Wimbledon Grass Switzerland Roger Federer 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–7(8), 9–7
Winner 2009 Australian Open Hard Switzerland Roger Federer 7–5, 3–6, 7–6(3), 3–6, 6–2
Winner 2010 French Open (5) Clay Sweden Robin Söderling 6–4, 6–2, 6–4

Equipment and endorsements

Nadal uses an AeroPro Drive racquet with a 4 1/4" L2 grip. As of 2010 season, Nadal's racquets are painted to resemble the new Babolat AeroPro Drive with Cortex GT racquet in order to market a current model which Babolat sells.[97][98] Nadal uses no replacement grip, and instead wraps 2 overgrips around the handle. Nadal used Duralast 15L strings until the 2010 season, when he switched to Babolat's new, black-colored, RPM Blast string. Nadal's rackets are always strung at 55 lbs, regardless of which surface or conditions he is playing in.

Nike serves as Nadal's clothing and shoe sponsor. Nadal's signature on-court attire entailed a variety of sleeveless shirts paired with 3/4 length capri pants.[99] For the 2009 season, Nadal has adopted more traditional on-court apparel. Nike encouraged Nadal to update his look in order to reflect his new status as the sport's top player at that time[100] and associate Nadal with a style that—while less distinctive than his "pirate" look—would be more widely emulated by consumers.[101][102] At warmup tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Doha, Nadal played matches in a polo shirt specifically designed for him by Nike,[103] paired with shorts cut above the knee. Nadal's new, more conventional style carried over to the 2009 Australian Open, where Nadal was outfitted with Nike's Bold Crew Men's Tee[104] and Nadal Long Check Shorts.[105][106][107] Nadal wears Nike's Air CourtBallistec 2.3 tennis shoes,[108] bearing various customizations throughout the season, including his nickname—"Rafa"—on the right shoe and a stylized bull logo on the left.[109]

Nadal has appeared in advertising campaigns for Kia Motors as a global ambassador for the company. In May 2008, Kia released a claymation viral ad featuring Nadal in a tennis match with an alien. Nadal also has an endorsement agreement with Universal DVDs.[110] In 2010, Luxury watchmaker Richard Mille announced that he had developed an ultra-light wristwatch in collaboration with Nadal called the Richard Mille RM027 Tourbillon watch.[111] The watch is made of titanium and lithium and is valued at US$525,000; Nadal was involved in the design and testing of the watch on the tennis court.[111]

Career statistics

Main article: Rafael Nadal career statistics

Records

  • These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.
Grand Slam Years Record accomplished Player tied
French Open 2005 — 09 31 consecutive match wins Stands alone
French Open — Australian Open 2008 — 09 Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and Grand Slams on clay, grass and hardcourt Stands alone
French Open — Australian Open 2008 — 09 Simultaneous holder of Grand Slams on clay, grass and hardcourt Roger Federer
Monte Carlo Masters — Madrid Masters 2005 — 10 Most Masters singles titles (18) Stands alone
French Open 2005 — 08 4 consecutive wins Björn Borg
French Open 2005 — 08 4 consecutive finals Björn Borg
Ivan Lendl
Roger Federer

Rafael Nadal has either equaled or set various records in tennis history.

  1. Longest single-surface winning streak (clay): 81 matches (11 April 2005 - 20 May 2007)
  2. Winning the French Open at the first attempt. Tied with Mats Wilander (1982)
  3. Only the third teenager in history (since 1973) to reach world no. 2
  4. Most consecutive French Open titles: 4 tied with Björn Borg.
  5. Winning French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. Tied-three others in Open Era history.
  6. Only male player to have won French Open, Wimbledon, and Olympic gold medal in the same year (2008)
  7. The only man in history to win the "treble" (2008) - taking titles at the French Open, The Queen's Club and Wimbledon
  8. Won most titles as a teenager: 16 tied with Björn Borg.
  9. Most singles titles won in a single season as a teenager: 11 (2005).
  10. Won 24 consecutive matches, the longest winning streak of any teenager in the open era, in 2005
  11. Most consecutive French Open finals in the Open Era: 4 (tied with Borg, Lendl and Federer)
  12. The first male tennis player to hold three Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces at the same time.(FO 2008, clay; Wimbledon 2008, grass; AO 2009, Hard)
  13. The only player to win 6 consecutive titles at a single tournament in the Open Era (Monte Carlo 2005-2010).
  14. The only player in history to win Monte Carlo Open 6 times consecutively.
  15. The only player in history to win 5 Rome titles.
  16. The only player to reach 9 different ATP Masters tournament finals (all except Cincinnati, Shanghai to replace Hamburg as 9th ATP Masters Series singles tournament, Nadal has reached both tournament finals).
  17. Most consecutive ATP Masters Quarterfinals or better, 19 (Hamburg 2008- Madrid 2010)
  18. The only player to have lost just one game in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final (Monte Carlo 2010: 6-0, 6-1)
  19. The only player to win the same ATP Masters event for 6 consecutive years (Monte Carlo Masters).
  20. Winner of most ATP Masters 1000 titles (18)
  21. The only player to win 400 singles matches in fewer than 500 matches played (401-91).
  22. The only player in history to win all three clay court Masters events in the same year.
  23. The only player to win three consecutive Masters titles, irrespective of surface.
  24. The only player to win at least three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in a season for four consecutive years
  25. Overall Nadal is 196-16 (.925) in his career on clay, the best winning pct. on clay in the Open Era

Rafael Nadal in popular culture

  • In February 2010 Rafael Nadal was featured in the music video of "Gypsy", the forthcoming single from Shakira[112][113] and part of her album release She Wolf. In explaining why she chose Nadal for the video, Shakira was quoted as saying in an interview with the Latin American Herald Tribune: "I thought that maybe I needed someone I could in some way identify with. And Rafael Nadal is a person who has been totally committed to his career since he was very young. Since he was 17, I believe." She added about "Gypsy": "I’ve been on the road since I was very, very young, so that's where the gypsy metaphor comes from."[114][115][116]

See also

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  112. ^ Music video for "Gypsy" by Shakira featuring Rafael Nadal
  113. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvH5KbwjCoo
  114. ^ Latin American Herald Tribune: Shakira: I Chose Nadal for Video Because I “Identify with Him”
  115. ^ MTV: Shakira's Sexy New Video "Gypsy"
  116. ^ Tom Tebbut in The Globe and Mail: Nadal and Shakira?? Little chance

External links

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