Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal

Full name	Rafael Nadal Parera
Country (sports)	Spain
Residence	Manacor, Majorca, Spain
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Turned pro	2001
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money	$32,905,902 3rd All-time leader in earnings
Singles
Career record	451–97 (82.20%)
Career titles	41
Highest ranking	No. 1 (18 August 2008)
Current ranking	No. 1 (21 June 2010)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	W (2009)
French Open	W (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010)
Wimbledon	W (2008, 2010)
US Open	SF (2008, 2009)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (2006, 2007)
Olympic Games	Gold medal (2008)
Doubles
Career record	81–52
Career titles	6
Highest ranking	No. 26 (8 August 2005)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	3R (2004, 2005)
Wimbledon	2R (2005)
US Open	SF (2004)
Last updated on: 17 May 2010.

Olympic medal record
Representing Spain
Men's Tennis
	2008 Beijing	Singles

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (Catalan pronunciation: [rəˈfɛɫ nəˈðaɫ pəˈɾeɾə]; Spanish pronunciation: [rafaˈel naˈðal paˈɾeɾa]; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked No. 1 in the world. Nadal has won eight Grand 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. He is regarded by many as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

Nadal was ranked World No. 2, behind Roger Federer for a record 160 consecutive weeks before earning the top spot, which he then held from 18 August 2008 to 5 July 2009. He regained the World No.1 ranking on 7 June 2010 after winning his fifth French Open title. His success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay", and has prompted many experts to regard him as the greatest clay court player of all time.

In 2008, Nadal was given the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, in recognition of his achievements in tennis. In 2009, Nadal became the first person to simultaneously hold Grand Slam singles titles on clay, grass, and hardcourt.

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 player who played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team. Nadal supports football clubs Real Madrid and RCD Mallorca. Recognizing that Rafael had a natural talent for tennis, another 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.

At age eight, Nadal won an under-12 year regional tennis championship at a time when he was also a promising football player. 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. 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. 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."

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, 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." 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.

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. Later that year, Nadal won all of his matches en-route to a winning campaign with Spain, over the US, 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. 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. 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. During 2004, Nadal played his first match against World No. 1 Roger Federer at the 2004 Miami Masters, and won in straight sets. He is one of the six players that defeated Federer that year (along with Tim Henman, Albert Costa, Gustavo Kuerten, Dominik Hrbatý and Tomáš Berdych). He missed most of the clay court season, including the French Open, because of a stress fracture in his left ankle. 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. 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.

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. 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 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, being one of only four players who defeated the top seeded that year (along with Marat Safin, Richard Gasquet and David Nalbandian). Two days later, he defeated Mariano Puerta in the final, becoming the third male player to win the French Open on his first attempt since Mats Wilander in 1982 and Gustavo Kuerten in 1997. He also became the first teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19. Winning the French Open improved Nadal's ranking to World No. 3.

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. 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.

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. 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. 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 due to a foot injury. 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 (in 2006, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were the only two men who defeated Federer). 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. 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. 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.

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. 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 his first Wimbledon final, which was against 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 6–0 7–6(5) 6–7(2) 6–3 to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.

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.

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.

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".

2008

Nadal against Nicolás Almagro in the 2008 French Open quarterfinals

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. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Nadal 6–2, 6–3, 6–2 in the semi-final of 2008 Australian Open. Tsonga's semi-final performance was characterized by his powerful and precise serve, finesse volleys, and aggressive baseline play; it was a performance that drew the Melbourne crowd to their feet. Tsonga did not face a break point until the third set while breaking the Spaniard five times in the match. Nadal was almost in tears during this match. Nadal 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. 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 the fifth man in the open era to win a Grand Slam singles title without losing a set. 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. This was Nadal's fourth consecutive French title, tying Björn Borg's all-time record. Nadal became 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. 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. 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. By winning his first Wimbledon title, Nadal became 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.

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 eventual runner up, 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. 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. 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 completely.

2009

Nadal's first official ATP tour event for the year was the 250 series Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. After his first-round match with Fabrice Santoro, Nadal was awarded the 2008 ATP World Tour Champion trophy. Nadal eventually lost in the quarter-finals to Gaël Monfils. 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.

At the Australian Open, Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set before defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the semi-finals, the longest match in Australian Open history at 5 hours and 14 minutes. 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, making him the first Spaniard 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. 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.

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. 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.

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 and Novak Djokovic. 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.

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. 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. Nadal advanced to the quarter-finals, where he again faced Argentinian del Potro, this time losing the match. This was the first time del Potro had defeated Nadal in five career matches.

Nadal began his European clay court season at the 2009 Monte Carlo Masters, where he won a record fifth consecutive singles title there. He defeated Novak Djokovic in the final for his fifth consecutive win, a record in the open era. Nadal is the first male player to win the same ATP Master series event for five consecutive years.

Nadal then competed in the ATP 500 event in Barcelona. He advanced to his fifth consecutive Barcelona final where he faced David Ferrer. Nadal went on to beat Ferrer 6–2, 7–5 to record five consecutive Barcelona victories.

At the Rome Masters, Nadal reached the final, where he defeated Novak Djokovic to improve his overall record to 13–4 and clay record to 8–0 against the Serb. He became the first player to win four Rome titles.

Nadal at 2009 Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, Florida, United States

After winning two clay court Masters, he participated in the Madrid Open. He lost to Roger Federer 4–6, 4–6 in the final. This was the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer since the semi-finals of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup.

On 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 eventual runner-up, 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 AEGON Championships. It was confirmed that Nadal was suffering from tendinitis in both of his knees. On 19 June, Nadal withdrew from the 2009 Wimbledon Championship, citing his recurring knee injury. He was the first champion to not defend the title since Goran Ivanišević in 2001. 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. There, in his first tournament since Roland Garros, Nadal lost in the quarter-finals to Juan Martín del Potro. 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 the quarter-finals of the US Open he defeated Fernando González 7–6(4), 7–6(2), 6–0 in a rain delayed encounter. However, like his previous US Open campaign, he fell in the semi-finals, this time losing to eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro 2–6, 2–6, 2–6. Despite the loss, he regained his No. 2 ranking after Andy Murray's early exit.

At the World Tour Finals, Nadal lost all three of his matches against Robin Söderling, Nikolay Davydenko and Novak Djokovic respectively without winning a set.

In December, Nadal participated in the second Davis Cup final of his career. He defeated Czech number 2 Tomáš Berdych 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. The win gave Nadal his 14th consecutive singles victory at Davis Cup (his 13th on clay).

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

2010

Main article: Rafael Nadal in 2010

Nadal in the 2010 Australian Open quarterfinals

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.

Nadal participated in an Australian Open warm-up tournament, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open ATP 250 event in Doha, where he lost in the finals. 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 fifth 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. Davydenko also defeated Roger Federer in the semifinals before advancing to the finals.

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 Lukáš 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. 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). 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. He and countryman López won the doubles title, though, as wildcard entrants against number one seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić. This boosted his doubles ranking 175 places to world number 66, whereas he was 241st before Indian Wells. After Indian Wells, Nadal reached the semi-finals of Sony Ericsson Open where he lost to eventual champion Andy Roddick in three sets.

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 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. With this win, Nadal became the first player in Open Era to win a tournament title for six straight years.

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 up to this point in 2010. 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 three clay court Masters titles in a single year and the first player to win three consecutive Masters events. Nadal moved back to No. 2 the following day.

Entering the French Open, many were expecting another Nadal-Federer final. However, this became impossible when rival Robin Söderling defeated Federer 3–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4 in the quarterfinals. The failure of Federer to reach the semi-finals allowed Nadal to regain the world number 1 ranking if he were to win the tournament. Nadal advanced to the final and defeated Soderling 6–4, 6–2, 6–4 to win the French Open. The win gave Nadal his seventh Grand Slam, tying him with John McEnroe; John Newcombe and Mats Wilander on the all-time list, and allowed Nadal to reclaim the position of ATP World Number One denying his biggest rival Roger Federer the all time record for weeks at No. 1. By this win, Nadal became the first man to win the three Masters series on clay and the French Open. This was dubbed by the media as the "Clay Slam". This victory at Roland Garros marked the second time (2008) that Nadal had won the French Open without dropping a single set (tying the record held by Björn Borg). With the win in Paris he also booked his place at the World Tour Finals in London, and became the first player to win five French Open titles in six years.

In June, Nadal entered the AEGON Championships—which he won in 2008—at the prestigious Queen's Club. He played singles and doubles at this grass court tournament as a warm up for the Wimbledon Championships. Being one of the top eight seeds, he received a bye in the first round. In the second round, where he played his first match on grass since winning Wimbledon 2008, he defeated Marcos Daniel easily, 6–2, 6–2. In the third round, he played Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, whom he defeated 7–6(4), 4–6, 6–4, to advance to the quarterfinals. However, he was defeated by compatriot Feliciano López 6–7(5), 4–6 in that quarterfinal stage.

At the 2010 Wimbledon Championships Nadal beat Kei Nishikori 6–2, 6–4, 6-4. Nadal was taken to the limit by Robin Haase winning 5-7,6-2,3-6,6-0,6-3. He defeated Philipp Petzschner in the third round. The match was a 5 set thriller with Nadal triumphing 6-4 4-6 6-7 6-2 6-3. During his match with Petzschener, Nadal was warned twice for receiving coaching from his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, resulting in a $2,000 fine by Wimbledon officials. Allegedly, encouraging words for Nadal shouted during the match were some sort of coaching code signal. He met Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in the round of 16 and comfortably beat Mathieu 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. In the quarter-finals, he got past Robin Soderling of Sweden in 4 sets 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7-4), 6-1. He defeated Andy Murray in straight sets 6-4 7-6(8-6) 6-4 to reach his fourth Wimbledon final.

Nadal won the 2010 Wimbledon men's title by defeating Tomas Berdych in straight sets 6–3 7–5 6–4. After the win Rafa said "it is more than a dream for me" and thanked the crowd for being both kind and supportive to him and his adversary during the match and in the semi-final against Andy Murray. The win gave him a second Wimbledon title and an eighth career major title just past the age of 24.

In his first hard-court tournament since Wimbledon, Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup, along with No.2 Novak Djokovic, No.3 Roger Federer, and No.4 Andy Murray, after coming back from a one-set deficit to defeat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. In the semifinal, defending champion Murray defeated Nadal 6-3, 6-4, becoming the only player to triumph over the Spaniard twice in 2010.

Rivalry with Roger Federer

Main article: Federer–Nadal rivalry

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 seven Grand Slam finals, with Nadal winning five of the seven finals. Three of these five 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.
• Their 2008 Wimbledon final has been lauded as the greatest match of all time by many long-time tennis critics.
• Many critics consider their rivalry to be the greatest in tennis history.
• 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).

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. Known for his athleticism and speed around the court, Nadal is a capable defender 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. Nadal is primarily a baseliner and seldom volleys, although he has been noted by several commentators (including John McEnroe) as an excellent volleyer, which has contributed to his reaching four Wimbledon finals on grass, winning two of them.

In recent years, Nadal employs a semi-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. Nadal's forehand groundstroke form allows him to hit shots with heavy topspin — more so than many of his contemporaries. 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." 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. 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's serve was initially considered a weak point in his game, although his improvements in both first serve points won and break points saved since 2005 have allowed him to consistently compete for and win major titles on faster surfaces. Nadal relies on the consistency of his serve to gain a strategic advantage in points, rather than going for service winners.

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.

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. 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. 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.

Personal life

Nadal has revealed himself to be Agnostic.

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 Wimbledon Championships.

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	38–1	97.44
Wimbledon	A	3R	A	2R	F	F	W	A	W	2/6	29–4	87.87
US Open	A	2R	2R	3R	QF	4R	SF	SF	4R	0/8	26–8	75.00
Win–Loss	0-0	3–2	3–2	13–3	17–2	20–3	24–2	15–2	23–2	8/25	113–17	86.92

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 10 (8 titles, 2 runner-ups)

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

Equipment and endorsements

During the 2010 French Open, Men's Fitness reported that Nadal wore a $525,000 Richard Mille watch on the court as part of a sponsorship deal with the Swiss watchmaker.

Nadal uses an AeroPro Drive racquet with a 4 1/4-inch 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. Nadal uses no replacement grip, and instead wraps two 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 lb, 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. 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 and associate Nadal with a style that, while less distinctive than his "pirate" look, would be more widely emulated by consumers. At warmup tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Doha, Nadal played matches in a polo shirt specifically designed for him by Nike, 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 and Nadal Long Check Shorts. Nadal wears Nike's Air CourtBallistec 2.3 tennis shoes, bearing various customizations throughout the season, including his nickname "Rafa" on the right shoe and a stylized bull logo on the left.

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. 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. 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.

Career statistics

Main article: Rafael Nadal career statistics

Records in Open Era

• These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.

Grand Slam/Masters	Years	Record accomplished	Player tied
French Open	2005–2010	5 titles in 6 years	Stands alone
French Open	2005–2009	31 consecutive match wins	Stands alone
French Open—Wimbledon	2008	1 "Channel Slam": Both tournaments the same year	Rod Laver Bjorn Borg Roger Federer
French Open—Wimbledon	2008, 2010	Winner of multiple "Channel Slam" singles titles	Bjorn Borg
French Open—Australian Open	2008–2009	Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and Grand Slams on clay, grass and hardcourt	Stands alone
French Open—Australian Open	2008–2009	First Simultaneous holder of Grand Slams on clay, grass and hardcourt	Roger Federer (2009-2010)
French Open	2005–2008	4 consecutive wins	Björn Borg
French Open	2005–2008	4 consecutive finals	Björn Borg Ivan Lendl Roger Federer
French Open	2008, 2010	Most French Open championships without losing a set (2)	Björn Borg

• The first teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19.
• Winner of 24 consecutive Grand Slam sets in the year 2008 & 2010.
• During open era, only Borg, Sampras, Connors, Federer and Nadal have won the same Grand Slam five times or more.

ATP Masters Records

ATP Masters	Year(s)	Record accomplished	Player tied
Monte Carlo Masters—Madrid Masters	2005–2010	Most Masters singles titles (18)	Stands alone
Monte Carlo—Roland Garros	2010	1 "Clay Slam": 3 Masters series on clay and Roland Garros	Stands alone
Monte Carlo Masters	2005–2010	6 consecutive titles	Stands alone
Internazionali BNL d'Italia (Rome Masters)	2005–2010	5 titles in 6 years	Stands alone
ATP Masters	2005	Most Titles in a season - 4	Roger Federer (2005 & 2006)
ATP Masters	Hamburg 2008 – Cincinnati 2010	21 consecutive Quarter-Finals	Stands alone
ATP Masters	2008	Consecutive tournaments won on 3 different surfaces	Roger Federer (2004)
ATP Masters	2005-2010	Most consecutive years winning atleast ONE Masters Title - 6	Stands Alone
Monte Carlo Masters - Internazionali BNL d'Italia(Rome Masters)	2005-2007 2009-2010	Most years winning both Titles - 5	Stands Alone
ATP Masters	2007-2010	Consecutive years winning 3 Masters Titles - 4	Stands Alone

• The only player to reach nine different ATP Masters tournament finals (all except Cincinnati, Shanghai to replace Hamburg as ninth ATP Masters Series singles tournament, Nadal has reached both tournament finals).
• The only player to have lost just one game in an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final (Monte Carlo 2010: 6–0, 6–1)
• The only player to win all three clay court Masters events in the same year.
• The only player to win 3 consecutive Masters titles, irrespective of surface.
• The player having the leading winning percentage of .833 in ATP Masters Tournaments since 1990.
• Winner of the singles and doubles title at the same tournament and same year - Nadal (Monte Carlo 2008)
• The Fastest to win 5 titles: Nadal (8 tournaments/1 years: Monte Carlo 2005 – Monte Carlo 2006) 10 titles: Nadal (24 tournaments/3 years: Monte Carlo 2005 – Monte Carlo 2008) 15 titles: Nadal (34 tournaments/4 years: Monte Carlo 2005 – Rome 2009)

Other Significant Records

• Longest single-surface winning streak (clay): 81 matches (11 April 2005 – 20 May 2007)
• Third teenager since 1973 to reach world no. 2
• Only male player to have won French Open, Wimbledon, and Olympic gold medal in the same year (2008)
• The only man to win the "TREBLE" (2008) – taking titles at the French Open, The Queen's Club and Wimbledon
• Won most titles as a teenager: 16 tied with Björn Borg.
• Most singles titles won in a single season as a teenager: 11 (2005).
• Won 24 consecutive matches, the longest winning streak of any teenager in the open era, in 2005
• Overall Nadal is 203–16 (.927) in his career on clay, the best winning pct. on clay in the Open Era. The quickest male player (losing fewest matches) in the Open Era to reach 200 clay-court wins (200–16).
• Winner of the most Golden Bagel Awards (3) in Open Era during the year 2005,2008 & 2009
• Most consecutive weeks as World Number 2: 160 weeks
• Borg (6-0), Nadal (5-0) and Gustavo Kuerten (3-0) are the only players in the Open Era to never lose a French Open final while appearing in at least 3 finals.
• Ranked #10 in the All time list of weeks occupying ATP No.1 Ranking

Rafael Nadal in popular culture

• In February 2010 Rafael Nadal was featured in the music video of "Gypsy", the forthcoming single from Shakira 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."

See also

• 128036 Rafaelnadal asteroid
• Djokovic–Nadal rivalry
• List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions

External links

• Rafael Nadal's Official Site
• Rafael Nadal at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Rafael Nadal at the Davis Cup
• Zen and the Art of Rafael Nadal