2006 Rafael Nadal tennis season

2006 Rafael Nadal tennis season
Full name	Rafael Nadal Parera
Country	Spain
Calendar prize money	$3,746,360 (Singles $3,732,760, Doubles $13,600)
Singles
Season record	59–12 (83.1%)
Calendar titles	5
Year-end ranking	No. 2
Ranking change from previous year
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian Open	DNS
French Open	W
Wimbledon	F
US Open	QF
Injuries
Injuries	Knee injury

The 2006 Rafael Nadal tennis season started in February as Nadal missed the Australian Open because of a foot injury.^[3] Nadal won five singles titles in 2006.

Hard court

In February, Nadal 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.

Clay season

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.^[4]

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 tournament final.^[5]

Nadal injured his shoulder while playing a quarterfinal match against Lleyton Hewitt at the Artois Championships, played on grass at the Queen's Club in London.^[6] Nadal was unable to complete the match, which ended his 26-match winning streak.

Wimbledon

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 in 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 to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.

US Open Series

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. 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. 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. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer.

Singles matches

Tournament	Match Win	Round	Opponent	Rank	Result	Score
Open 13 Marseille, France ATP World Tour 250 Hard, indoor February 13, 2006 – February 19, 2006		1R	Olivier Rochus	30	Win	4-6, 6-2, 7-5
		2R	Gilles Simon	80	Win	7-5, 6-4
		QF	Paul-Henri Mathieu	35	Win	7-5, 6-4
		SF	Arnaud Clement	65	Loss	6-2, 3-6, 5-7
Dubai Tennis Championships Dubai, U. A. E. ATP World Tour 500 Hard, outdoor February 27, 2006 - March 5, 2006		1R	Paul-Henri Mathieu	34	Win	6-7^(5–7), 6-1, 6-2
		2R	Younes El Aynaoui	211	Win	(W/O)
		QF	Tim Henman	49	Win	7-6^(7–1), 6-1
		SF	Rainer Schuttler	98	Win	6-4, 6-2
		W	Roger Federer	1	Win (1)	2-6, 6-4, 6-4
Pacific Life Open Indian Wells, United States ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor March 6–19, 2006	–	1R	Bye
	-	2R	Jan Hernych	87	Win	6–4, 6-4
	-	3R	Mardy Fish	294	Win	6–1, 6-4
	-	4R	Sebastien Grosjean	22	Win	6–4, 6-2
		QF	Marcos Baghdatis	27	Win	7–5, 6-0
		SF	James Blake	14	Loss	5-7, 3-6
Sony Ericsson Open Miami, United States ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor March 20–April 2, 2006	–	1R	Bye
		2R	Carlos Moya	35	Loss	6-2, 1-6, 1-6
Monte Carlo Masters Monte Carlo, Monaco ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor April 15–23, 2006		1R	Arnaud Clement	56	Win	6–4, 6-4
		2R	Jean-Rene Lisnard	154	Win	6–4, 6-1
		3R	Kristof Vliegen	57	Win	6–3, 6–3
		QF	Guillermo Coria	9	Win	6–2, 6-1
		SF	Gastón Gaudio	8	Win	5-7, 6-1, 6-1
		W	Roger Federer	1	Win (2)	6–2, 6-7^(2–7), 6-3, 7-6^(7–5)
Torneo Godo Barcelona, Spain ATP World Tour 500 Clay, outdoor April 24–30, 2006	–	1R	Bye
		2R	Feliciano Lopez	38	Win	6–4, 6–2
		3R	Ivan Navarro	164	Win	6–4, 6–2
		QF	Jarkko Nieminen	16	Win	4-6, 6-4, 6-3
		SF	Nicolas Almagro	57	Win	7–6^(7-2), 6–3
		W	Tommy Robredo	15	Win (3)	6–4, 6–4, 6-0
Internazionali BNL d'Italia Rome, Italy ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 8–14 May 2006		1R	Carlos Moya	33	Win	6-1, 2-6, 6-2
		2R	Filippo Volandri	46	Win	6–1, 6–2
		3R	Tim Henman	70	Win	6–2, 6–2
		QF	Fernando Gonzalez	9	Win	6–4, 6–3
		SF	Gael Monfils	35	Win	6-2, 6-2
		W	Roger Federer	1	Win (4)	6–7^(0-7), 7-6^(7-5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6^(7-5)
French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 29 May–11 June 2006		1R	Robin Soderling	50	Win	6-2, 7-5, 6-1
		2R	Kevin Kim	116	Win	6–2, 6–1, 6–4
		3R	Paul-Henri Mathieu	32	Win	5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
		4R	Lleyton Hewitt	14	Win	6–2, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
		QF	Novak Djokovic	63	Win	6–4, 6–4 RET
		SF	Ivan Ljubicic	4	Win	6-4, 6-2, 7-6^(9-7)
		W	Roger Federer	1	Win (5)	1-6, 6-1, 6–4, 7-6^(7-4)
Stella Artois Championships London, United Kingdom ATP World Tour 250 Grass, outdoor 12–18 June 2006	–	1R	Bye
		2R	Mardy Fish	86	Win	7-6^(7-1), 6-1
		3R	Fernando Verdasco	30	Win	2-6, 7-6^(7-3), 7-6^(7-3)
		QF	Lleyton Hewitt	13	Loss	6-3, 3-6 RET
The Championships, Wimbledon Wimbledon, United Kingdom Grand Slam Grass, outdoor 26 June–9 July 2006		1R	Alex Bogdanovic	135	Win	6–4, 7–6^(7–3), 6–4
		2R	Robert Kendrick	237	Win	6-7^(4–7), 3-6, 7-6^(7–2), 7-5, 6-4
		3R	Andre Agassi	20	Win	7-6^(7-5), 6-2, 6-4
		4R	Irakli Labadze	166	Win	6-3, 7-6^(7-4), 6-3
		QF	Jarkko Nieminen	18	Win	6-3, 6-4, 6-4
		SF	Marcos Baghdatis	16	Win	6-1, 7-5, 6-3
		F	Roger Federer	1	Loss (1)	0-6, 6-7^(5-7), 7-6^(7-2), 3-6
Rogers Cup Montreal, Canada ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 7–13 August 2006		1R	Nicolás Massú	38	Win	6-3, 6-2
		2R	Hyung-Taik Lee	85	Win	6-4, 6-3
		3R	Tomas Berdych	14	Loss	1-6, 6-3, 2-6
Western & Southern Financial Group Masters Cincinnati, United States ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 14–20 August 2006		1R	Sam Querrey	178	Win	6-7^(5–7), 6-2, 6-3
		2R	Hyung-Taik Lee	73	Win	6-4, 6-3
		3R	Tommy Haas	17	Win	7-6^(7–5), 6-3
		QF	Juan Carlos Ferrero	31	Loss	6-7^(2–7), 6-7^(3–7)
US Open New York, USA Grand Slam Hard, outdoor August 28–September 10, 2006		1R	Mark Phillipoussis	113	Win	6-4, 6-4, 6-4
		2R	Luis Horna	61	Win	6–4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2
		3R	Wesley Moodie	82	Win	6-4, 7-6^(7–4), 7-6^(7–5)
		4R	Jiri Novak	179	Win	6-1, 7-6^(7–3), 6-4
		QF	Mikhail Youzhny	54	Loss	3-6, 7-5, 6-7^(5–7), 1-6
Davis Cup, ITA v/s ESP World Group Play Offs Spain Davis Cup Clay, outdoor 18–24 September 2006		RR	Andreas Seppi	69	Win	6-0, 6-4, 6-3
		RR	Filippo Volandri	38	Win	3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-3
If Stockholm Open Stockholm, Sweden ATP World Tour 250 Hard, indoor October 9, 2006 – October 15, 2006		1R	Raemon Sluiter	90	Win	6-4, 6-2
		2R	Joachim Johansson	690	Loss	4-6, 6-7^(4–7)
Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid Madrid, Spain ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, indoor 16–22 October 2006	–	1R	Bye
		2R	Mardy Fish	54	Win	6–4, 6–2
		3R	Tommy Haas	13	Win	6-4, 6-3
		QF	Tomas Berdych	11	Loss	3-6, 6-7^(6–8)
Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, China Year-end Championships Hard, indoor 13-19 November 2006		RR	James Blake	8	Loss	4-6, 6-7^(0–7)
		RR	Tommy Robredo	6	Win	7-6^(7–2), 6-2
		RR	Nikolay Davydenko	3	Win	5-7, 6–4, 6–4
		SF	Roger Federer	1	Loss	4–6, 5-7