Rafael Nadal
Encyclopedia
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (rəˈfɛɫ nəˈðaɫ pəˈɾeɾə; rafaˈel naˈðal paˈɾeɾa) (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals
(ATP). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time; 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.
Nadal has won ten Grand Slam singles titles, including six French Open titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 19 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 completed the career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open
, being the seventh player in history, and the youngest in the open era
, to achieve it. He is the second male player to complete the Career Golden Slam (winner of the four grand slams and the Olympic Gold medal) after only Andre Agassi
.
Nadal had a 32-match winning streak in 2008, starting at the 2008 Masters Series Hamburg to the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, which included titles at Hamburg, the French Open (where he did not drop a set), Queen's Club
, his first title at Wimbledon
, and the Rogers Cup. In 2011, by winning the Monte Carlo Masters, he became the only player to have won seven editions of a tournament in a row at the ATP level. Nadal was ranked world No. 2, behind Roger Federer
, for a record 160 consecutive weeks before earning the top spot, which he 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. He held it until 3 July 2011, when Novak Djokovic
replaced him as world No. 1.
, Majorca, Spain to Sebastián Nadal, a businessman who owns an insurance company, a glass and window company, Vidres Mallorca, and manages his own restaurant, Sa Punta. His mother is Ana María Parera, a housewife. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal
, is a retired professional footballer, who played for RCD Mallorca
, FC Barcelona
, and the Spanish national team
. Nadal supports football clubs Real Madrid
and RCD Mallorca. Recognizing that Nadal 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.
At age eight, Nadal won an under-12 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 Majorca and move to Barcelona
to continue his tennis training. Nadal's family turned down this request, partly because they feared it would hurt his education, but also because Toni 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.
At 15, he turned pro. 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.
By the age of 17, he beat Roger Federer
the first time they played and became the youngest man to reach the third round at Wimbledon since Boris Becker
. At 18, he helped pace Spain over the US in the junior Davis Cup
in his second, and final, appearance on the ITF junior circuit. At 19, Nadal won the French Open the first time he played it, a feat not accomplished in Paris for more than 20 years. He eventually won it the first four times he played at Roland Garros. In 2003, he had won the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award. Early in his career, Nadal picked up the trademark habit of biting the trophies he won.
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.
, Nadal lost in the 4th 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 the Torneo Conde de Godó
in Barcelona and beat 2004 French Open
runner-up Guillermo Coria
in the finals of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters
and the 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 player that year (along with Marat Safin
, Richard Gasquet
, and David Nalbandian
). Two days later, he defeated Mariano Puerta
in the final, becoming the second male player to win the French Open on his first attempt since Mats Wilander
in 1982: 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, where he lost 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.
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.
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. 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, 6–7, 6–3 to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.
During the leadup 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.
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 the 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".
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 semifinal of 2008 Australian Open. Tsonga's semifinal 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 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's 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 the 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, 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. 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. On 24 October at the Campoamor theatre in Oviedo
, Spain, Nadal was given the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, in recognition of his achievements in tennis. Two weeks after the Madrid Masters 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.
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 quarterfinals 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 2009 Australian Open
, Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set, before defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco
in the semifinals in 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 their 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 quarterfinals, 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.
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 semifinals 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, 6–4, 7–6. 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 quarterfinals 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 quarterfinals of the US Open he defeated Fernando González
7–6, 7–6, 6–0 in a rain-delayed encounter. However, like his previous US Open campaign
, he fell in the semifinals, 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 No. 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).
in Abu Dhabi
, United Arab Emirates. He defeated compatriot David Ferrer
7–6, 6–3 to reach his second final in the exhibition tournament. In the final, Nadal defeated Robin Söderling
7–6, 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 to Nikolay Davydenko
6–0, 6–7, 4–6.
In the first round of the Australian Open, Nadal defeated Peter Luczak
of Australia 7–6, 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 quarterfinals, Nadal pulled out at 3–0 down in the third set against Andy Murray, having lost the first two sets 6–3, 7–6. 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 semifinals of the 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 semifinals. This was Nadal's first tour final since Doha
earlier in the year. He won the final 6–0, 6–1 over his compatriot Fernando Verdasco
. He lost 14 games throughout all five matches, the fewest he had 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 the 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 2 hours and 40minutes. 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 Madrileña 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 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, 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 semifinals allowed Nadal to regain the world No. 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 world No. 1, 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 had won in 2008, at the prestigious Queen's Club
. He played singles and doubles at this grass court tournament as a warmup for Wimbledon. 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, 4–6, 6–4, to advance to the quarterfinals. However, he was defeated by compatriot Feliciano López
6–7, 4–6.
At the Wimbledon
, 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 $2000 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 quarterfinals, he got past Robin Söderling of Sweden in four sets 3–6, 6–3, 7–6, 6–1. He defeated Andy Murray in straight sets 6–4, 7–6, 6–4 to reach his fourth Wimbledon final.
Nadal won the 2010 Wimbledon men's title
by defeating Tomáš Berdych
in straight sets 6–3, 7–5, 6–4. After the win, Nadal 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 semifinal against Andy Murray. The win gave him a second Wimbledon title and an eighth career major title just past the age of 24. The win also gave Nadal his first "Old World Triple"; the last person to achieve this was Björn Borg
in 1978 ("Old World Triple" is a term given to winning the Italian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon in the same year).
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. Nadal also competed in the doubles with Djokovic in a one-time, high-profile partnership of the world No. 1 and No. 2, the first such team since the Jimmy Connors
and Arthur Ashe
team in 1976. However, Nadal and Djokovic lost in the first round to Canadians Milos Raonic
and Vasek Pospisil
. The next week, Nadal was the top seed at the Cincinnati Masters
, losing in the quarterfinals to 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis
.
At the 2010 US Open, Nadal was the top seed for the second time in three years. He defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili, Denis Istomin
, Gilles Simon
, number 23 seed Feliciano López
, number 8 seed Fernando Verdasco
, and number 12 seed Mikhail Youzhny
all without dropping a set, to reach his first US Open final, becoming only the eighth man in the Open Era to reach the final of all four majors, and at age 24 the second youngest ever to do so, behind only Jim Courier
. In the final, he defeated Novak Djokovic
6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2 which completed the Career Grand Slam for Nadal and he became the second male after Andre Agassi
to complete a Career Golden Slam. Nadal also became the first man to win grand slams on clay, grass, and hard court in the same year, and the first to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in the same year since Rod Laver
in 1969. Nadal and Mats Wilander
are the only male players to win at least two Grand Slams each on clay, grass, and hardcourts in their careers. Nadal also became the first left-handed man to win the US Open since John McEnroe
in 1984. Nadal's victory also clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for 2010, making Nadal only the third player (after Ivan Lendl
in 1989 and Roger Federer
in 2009) to regain the year-end number one ranking after having lost it.
Nadal began his Asian tour at the 2010 PTT Thailand Open
in Bangkok
where he reached the semifinals, losing to compatriot Guillermo García López
. Nadal was able to regroup, and at the 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
in Tokyo (debut), he defeated Santiago Giraldo
, Milos Raonic
, and Dmitry Tursunov
. In the semifinals against Viktor Troicki
, Nadal saved two match points in the deciding set tiebreaker to win it 9–7 in the end. In the final, Nadal comfortably defeated Gaël Monfils
6–1, 7–5 for his seventh title of the season.
Nadal next played in the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters in Shanghai, where he was the top seed, but lost to world No. 12 Jürgen Melzer
in the third round, snapping his record streak of 21 consecutive Masters quarterfinals. On the 5 November, Nadal announced that he was pulling out of the Paris Masters
due to tendinitis in his left shoulder. On 21 November 2010, in London, Nadal won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the first time.
At the 2010 ATP World Tour Finals
in London, Nadal defeated Roddick 3–6, 7–6, 6–4 in the first match, Djokovic 7–5, 6–2 in the second match, and Berdych 7–6, 6–1 in the third match, to advance to the semifinals for the third time in his career. This is the first time that Nadal achieved three wins in the round-robin stage. In the semifinal, he defeated Murray 7–6, 3–6, 7–6 in a hard-fought match to reach his first final at the tournament. In only their second meeting of the year, Federer beat Nadal in the final by a score of 6–3, 3–6, 6–1. After the match, Nadal stated: "Roger is probably the more complete player of the world. I'm not going to say I lost that match because I was tired." This was a reference to his marathon victory over Murray on Saturday. "I tried my best this afternoon, but Roger was simply better than me."
Nadal ended the 2010 season having won three Slams and three Masters 1000 tournaments, and having regained the No. 1 ranking.
Next up for Nadal was a two-match exhibition against Federer for the Roger Federer Foundation. The first match took place in Zürich
on 21 December 2010, and the second in Madrid the next day.
in Abu Dhabi
, United Arab Emirates. He defeated Tomáš Berdych
6–4, 6–4, to reach his third final in the exhibition tournament. In the final, he won over his main rival Roger Federer
7–6, 7–6.
At the Qatar ExxonMobil Open ATP 250 event in Doha
, Qatar, Nadal barely struggled past his first three opponents, Karol Beck
6–3, 6–0, Lukáš Lacko
7–6, 0–6, 6–3, and Ernests Gulbis
7–6, 6–3 citing fever as the primary reason for his poor performance. He fell in straight sets to a resurgent Nikolay Davydenko
in the semifinals 3–6, 2–6. He and countryman López
won the doubles title by defeating the Italian duo Daniele Bracciali
and Andreas Seppi
6–3, 7–6.
In the first round of the Australian Open
, Nadal defeated Marcos Daniel
of Brazil 6–0, 5–0 ret. In the second round, he beat upcoming qualifier Ryan Sweeting
of the United States 6–2, 6–1, 6–1. In the third round, he was tested by emerging player Bernard Tomic
of Australia, who previously ousted Nadal's countryman Feliciano López
, but Nadal was victorious 6–2, 7–5, 6–3. He went on to defeat Marin Čilić
of Croatia
6–2, 6–4, 6–3, in the fourth round. He suffered an apparent hamstring injury against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer
early in the pair's quarterfinal match and ultimately lost in straight sets 4–6, 2–6, 3–6, thus ending his effort to win four major tournaments in a row.
On 7 February 2011, in Abu Dhabi
, United Arab Emirates, Nadal won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
for the first time, ahead of footballer Lionel Messi
, Sebastian Vettel
, Spain's Andres Iniesta
, Lakers
basketball player Kobe Bryant
, and Filipino
boxer Manny Pacquiao
.
In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Belgium in a 2011 Davis Cup World Group
first-round tie on hard indoor courts in the Spiroudome
in Charleroi
, Belgium. Nadal defeated Ruben Bemelmans
6–2, 6–4, 6–2. After Spain's victory in three matches, Nadal played a second dead rubber against Olivier Rochus
and won 6–4, 6–2.
At the 2011 BNP Paribas Open
in Indian Wells
, Nadal defeated upcoming qualifier Rik de Voest
of South Africa 6–0, 6–2, in his first match. In the third round, he beat qualifier Ryan Sweeting
6–3, 6–1. He then defeated Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman
7–5, 6–4, in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals, Nadal had a hard time against Croatian Ivo Karlovic
, but won 5–7, 6–1, 7–6, and in the semifinals he met Argentine Juan Martin del Potro
, back from a long injury. The last three confrontations between the players was in favor of del Potro, but despite some difficulties, Nadal won 6–4, 6–4. He reached his third final at Indian Wells, and in the final lost against Novak Djokovic
6–4, 3–6, 2–6. The next day, Nadal and Djokovic played a friendly match in Bogota
, Colombia, which Nadal won.
Nadal started the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open
with a win over Japanese player Kei Nishikori
6–4, 6–4, then met his compatriot Feliciano Lopez
in the third round, whom he defeated 6–3, 6–3. In the fourth round, he defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6–1, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, Nadal had the first real test of the tournament when he met the world no. 7 Tomas Berdych
. After a good first set, Nadal's level of play fell significantly due to an injured right shoulder, and he lost the second set. He eventually triumphed 6–2, 3–6, 6–3. In the semifinals, Nadal met his main rival Roger Federer
, their first meeting in a semifinal since the 2007 Masters Cup
. Nadal was swiftly victorious 6–3, 6–2; this match was one of the fastest matches played on hard courts. For the second time in two weeks, Nadal faced Novak Djokovic
in the final. As in the Indian Wells tournament, Nadal won the first set, and Djokovic the second. The third set ended in a tiebreak, with Djokovic winning the match 4–6, 6–3, 7–6. This is the first time Nadal reached the finals of Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.
Nadal began his clay-court season in style, winning the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
with the loss of just one set. Nadal defeated Jarkko Nieminen
6–2, 6–2, Richard Gasquet
6–2, 6–4, Ivan Ljubičić
6–1, 6–3, and Andy Murray 6–4, 2–6, 6–1, in the semifinals to reach his seventh consecutive final in Monte Carlo. In the final, Nadal avenged his defeat by David Ferrer
in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Australian Open
and won the match 6–4, 7–5. He is the first man to have won the same tournament seven times in a row at the ATP level in the open era. Nadal chalked up his 37th straight win at the clay-court event, where he has not lost since the 2003 Monte Carlo Masters
. It was his 44th career title and 19th at a Masters event. Nadal lost his three previous finals, twice to Novak Djokovic
and once to Roger Federer
. It was his first title since winning the Japan Open. Nadal shares third place with Björn Borg
and Manuel Orantes
in the list of players with the most titles on clay.
Just a week later, Nadal won his sixth Barcelona Open crown, winning the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell
final in straight sets. He won the final over Ferrer again 6–2, 6–4. In doing so, Nadal became the first man in the open era to have won two tournaments at least six times each. Nadal was then the leader in terms of matches won in the year, with 29. He did not gain any points for this victory, however, as only four ATP 500 tournaments can be counted towards a players ranking at one time, but they will go into effect 8 August 2011, when the result of the 2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
expires.
At the Madrid
in May, he defeated Marcos Baghdatis
, had a walkover against Juan Martin del Potro
, and defeated Michael Llodra
and Roger Federer
, before losing the final to Novak Djokovic
5–7, 4–6.
Nadal lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic
in the Rome Masters final
4–6, 4–6.
This marked the first time that Nadal has lost twice on clay to the same player in a single season.
However, Nadal retained his no. 1 ranking during the clay court season and won his sixth French Open title by defeating Roger Federer
7–5, 7–6, 5–7, 6–1.
At Wimbledon, Nadal beat Michael Russell in the first round 6–4, 6–2, 6–2, Ryan Sweeting
6–3, 6–2, 6–4, in the second round, and Gilles Muller
7–6, 7–6, 6–0, in the third round. He then faced former US Open Champion Juan Martin del Potro
in the fourth round, prevailing 7–6, 3–6, 7–6, 6–4. He then faced tenth seeded Mardy Fish
in the quarterfinals, prevailing in four sets 6–3, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4. His semifinal opponent was world no. 4 Andy Murray. Murray took the first set, but Nadal upped his game and won in four sets 5–7, 6–2, 6–2, 6–4. This set up a final against world no. 2 Novak Djokovic
, who had beaten Nadal in all four of their matches in 2011 (all in Masters finals). Djokovic broke in the 10th game of the first set to take it 6–4; he then won the second comfortably 6–1, but Nadal fought back, breaking early in the third to win it 6–1. In a tense fourth set, Djokovic broke in the ninth game and clinched the title, with Nadal losing 4–6, 1–6, 6–1, 3–6. This was the first Grand Slam final that Nadal had lost to someone other than Roger Federer
and his first loss at Wimbledon since his five-set loss to Federer in the 2007 final. The loss ended Nadal's winning streak in Grand Slam finals at seven, preventing him from tying the all-time record of eight victories in a row set by Pete Sampras
. Djokovic's success at the tournament also meant that the Serb ascended to world no. 1 for the first time, breaking the dominance of Federer and Nadal on the position, which one of them had held for every week since 2 February 2004. Nadal fell to world no. 2 in the rankings for the first time since June 2010.
After resting from a foot injury sustained during Wimbledon for a month, he contested the 2011 Rogers Cup
, where he was shocked by Croatian Ivan Dodig
in a third-set tiebreak. He next played in the 2011 Cincinnati Masters
, where he lost to Mardy Fish
in the quarterfinals.
At the 2011 US Open
, Nadal defeated Andrey Golubev
in straight sets and advanced to the third round after Frenchman Nicholas Mahut retired. After defeating David Nalbandian
on September 4, Nadal collapsed in his post-match press conference due to severe cramps. Nadal lost to Novak Djokovic
in the final in four sets 2–6, 4–6, 7–6, 1–6.
After the US Open, Nadal made the final of the Japan Open Tennis Championships
. Nadal, who was the 2010 champion, was defeated by Andy Murray 6–3, 2–6, 0–6. At the Shanghai Masters
, Nadal was top seed with the absence of Novak Djokovic
but was upset in the third round by no. 23 ranked Florian Mayer
in straight sets 6–7, 3–6. At the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals
, Nadal was defeated by Roger Federer
in the round robin stage by a score of 3–6, 0–6 in one of the quickest matches between the two lasting just 60 minutes. In the following match, Nadal would be defeated by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with a score of 6–7, 6–4, 3–6 and be eliminated from the tournament.
.
Nadal and Federer have been playing against each other since 2004, and this rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers:
groundstrokes, consistency, speedy footwork and tenacious court coverage thus making him an aggressive counterpuncher. Known for his athleticism and speed around the court, Nadal is an excellent defender who hits well on the run, constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions. 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, 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, and has been observed approaching the net more often since 2009.
In recent years, 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. 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. However, before the 2010 season, he altered his service motion, arriving in the trophy pose earlier and pulling the racket lower during the trophy pose. Before the 2010 U.S. Open, Nadal modified his service grip to a more continental one. These two changes in his serve have increased its average speed by around 10 mph, maxing out at 135 mph (217 km), allowing him to win more free points on his serve.
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.
Nadal is a clay court specialist in the sense that he has been extremely successful on that surface. Since 2005, he won six times at Roland Garros, seven times at Monte Carlo and five at Rome. However, Nadal has shed that label due to his success on other surfaces, including holding Grand Slams simultaneously on grass, hard courts, and clay on two separate occasions, 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.
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.
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 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 he 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.
Becomes the face of Lanvin's
L'Homme Sport cologne, launched April 2009.
Nadal uses an AeroPro Drive racquet with a 4-inch L2 grip. , 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. He 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 (24.9 kg), regardless of which surface or conditions he is playing on.
, Nadal is the international ambassador for Quely
, a company from his native Majorca that manufactures biscuits, bakery and chocolate coated products; he has consumed their products ever since he was a young child.
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. During the 2010 French Open, Men's Fitness
reported that Nadal wore the Richard Mille watch on the court as part of a sponsorship deal with the Swiss watchmaker.
Nadal replaces Cristiano Ronaldo
as the new face of Emporio Armani Underwear and Armani Jeans for the spring/summer 2011 collection that will launch in February. This is the first time that the label has chosen a tennis player for the job; association football has ruled lately prior to Ronaldo, David Beckham
graced the ads since 2008. Armani said that he selected Nadal as his latest male underwear model because "...he is ideal as he represents a healthy and positive model for youngsters."
", 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."
is a Main belt asteroid discovered in 2003 at the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca, Spain and named after Rafael Nadal.
football. Nadal is an avid fan of soccer club Real Madrid
. On 8 July 2010, it was reported that Nadal has become a shareholder of RCD Mallorca
, his local club by birth, in an attempt to assist the club from debt. Rafa reportedly owns 10 percent and was offered the role of vice president, but he rejected that offer. Though, his uncle Miguel Ángel Nadal
, became assistant coach under Michael Laudrup
. Nadal remains a passionate Real Madrid
supporter; ESPN.com
writer Graham Hunter wrote, "He's as Merengue as [Real Madrid icons] Raúl
, Iker Casillas
and Alfredo Di Stéfano
." Shortly after acquiring his interest in Mallorca, he called out UEFA
for apparent hypocrisy in ejecting the club from the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League for excessive debts, saying through a club spokesperson, "Well, if those are the criteria upon which UEFA is operating, then European competition will only comprise two or three clubs because all the rest are in debt, too."
He is also a fervent supporter of the Spanish national team
, and was one of only six people not affiliated with the team or the national federation allowed into the team's locker room immediately following Spain's victory in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final
.
on a visit to Hua Hin
during his Thailand Open 2010. "For me it's an honour to part of this project," said Nadal. "It's a very good project. I want to congratulate the Thai people and congratulate the King for this unbelievable day. I wish all the best for this idea. It's very, very nice."
, in India. The truth is we live great here....I can contribute something with my image..." Nadal was inspired by the Red Cross benefit match against malaria
with Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas
, recalling, "We raised an amount of money that we would never have imagined. I have to thank Iker, my project partner, who went all out for it, [...] That is why the time has come to set up my own foundation and determine the destination of the money." Ana Maria Parera, Rafa's mom, chairs the organization and father Sebastian is vice-chairman. Coach and uncle Toni Nadal
and his agent, former tennis player Carlos Costa, are also involved. Roger Federer
has been giving Nadal advice on getting involved in philanthropy. Despite the fact that poverty in India struck him particularly hard, Nadal wants to start by helping "people close by, in the Balearic Islands
, in Spain, and then, if possible, abroad."
On 16 October 2010, Nadal traveled to India for the first time to assist in the transformation of one of the poorest and most needy areas of India, Andhra Pradesh
. He has an academy in the south of the country, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. His foundation has also worked in the Anantapur Educational Center project, in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation
.
. Nadal lived with his parents and younger sister Maria Isabel, at an age when many tennis stars have long moved out, in a five-story apartment building in their hometown of Manacor, Mallorca. In June 2009, Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia
and then The New York Times
reported that Nadal's parents, Ana Maria and Sebastian, had separated. This news came after weeks of heated speculation in Internet posts and message boards over Nadal's personal issues as the cause of his setback. Nadal has revealed himself to be Agnostic.
Nadal's autobiography, Rafa, written with assistance from John Carlin
was published in August 2011.
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
(ATP). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time; his success on clay
Clay court
A clay court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The red clay is slower than the green, or Har-Tru "American" clay. The French Open uses clay courts, making it unique among the Grand Slam tournaments.Clay courts are more common...
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.
Nadal has won ten Grand Slam singles titles, including six French Open titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 19 ATP World Tour Masters 1000
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...
tournaments, and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team
Spain Davis Cup team
The Spain Davis Cup team represents Spain in the Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Real Federación Española de Tenis, presided over by José Luis Escañuela....
that won the finals in 2004
2004 Davis Cup
The 2004 Davis Cup was the 93rd edition of the most important tournament between nations in men's tennis. A total of 131 nations participated in the tournament...
, 2008
2008 Davis Cup
The 2008 Davis Cup was the 97th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. Sixteen teams participated in the World Group and more than one hundred others took part in different regional groups. The first matches were played on February 8–10...
and 2009
2009 Davis Cup
The 2009 Davis Cup was the 98th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in men's tennis. Sixteen teams participated in the World Group and more than one hundred other took part in different regional groups. Spain won their fourth title...
. He completed the career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open
2010 US Open (tennis)
The 2010 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 30 to September 13, 2010 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, United States....
, being the seventh player in history, and the youngest in the open era
Open era
Open era or Open Era may refer to:* Open Era , the period since 1968 where professionals can compete in Grand Slams* Glasnost era, the increased openness in the Soviet Union from the mid-1980s...
, to achieve it. He is the second male player to complete the Career Golden Slam (winner of the four grand slams and the Olympic Gold medal) after only Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
.
Nadal had a 32-match winning streak in 2008, starting at the 2008 Masters Series Hamburg to the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, which included titles at Hamburg, the French Open (where he did not drop a set), Queen's Club
Queen's Club Championships
The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. Between 1970 and 1989 it was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit. The event is now an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of...
, his first title at Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...
, and the Rogers Cup. In 2011, by winning the Monte Carlo Masters, he became the only player to have won seven editions of a tournament in a row at the ATP level. Nadal was ranked world No. 2, behind Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
, for a record 160 consecutive weeks before earning the top spot, which he 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. He held it until 3 July 2011, when Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
replaced him as world No. 1.
Early life
Rafael Nadal was born in ManacorManacor
Manacor is a town and municipality on the Mediterranean island of Majorca, part of the Spanish autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It is one of the biggest municipalities in Majorca. It has tourist areas like Porto Cristo, site of the famous Caves of Drach, and Calas de Mallorca. Manacor...
, Majorca, Spain to Sebastián Nadal, a businessman who owns an insurance company, a glass and window company, Vidres Mallorca, and manages his own restaurant, Sa Punta. His mother is Ana María Parera, a housewife. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal
Miguel Ángel Nadal
Miguel Ángel Nadal Homar is a retired Spanish footballer and current coach.Nicknamed The Beast, Nadal based his game in a tremendous physical display, also being adaptable to various defender and midfielder positions....
, is a retired professional footballer, who played for RCD Mallorca
RCD Mallorca
Real Club Deportivo Mallorca is a Spanish football team based on Palma, Majorca, in the Balearic Islands. Founded on 5 March 1916, the team currently plays in the Spanish first division, holding home games at Son Moix....
, FC Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
, and the Spanish national team
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
. Nadal supports football clubs Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
and RCD Mallorca. Recognizing that Nadal had a natural talent for tennis, another uncle, Toni Nadal
Toni Nadal
Antonio "Toni" Nadal Homar is a Spanish tennis coach who has coached his nephew Rafael Nadal to the top of the world rankings....
, a former professional tennis player, introduced him to tennis when he was three years old.
At age eight, Nadal won an under-12 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
Forehand
The forehand in tennis and other racket sports such as table tennis, squash and badminton is a shot made by swinging the racquet across one's body in the direction of where the player wants to place the shot...
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 Majorca and move to Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
to continue his tennis training. Nadal's family turned down this request, partly because they feared it would hurt his education, but also because Toni 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
Pat Cash
Patrick Hart "Pat" Cash is a retired Australian professional tennis player who won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1987.-Early career:...
in a clay-court exhibition match.
At 15, he turned pro. Nadal participated in two events on the ITF
International Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...
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.
By the age of 17, he beat Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
the first time they played and became the youngest man to reach the third round at Wimbledon since Boris Becker
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...
. At 18, he helped pace Spain over the US in the junior Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
in his second, and final, appearance on the ITF junior circuit. At 19, Nadal won the French Open the first time he played it, a feat not accomplished in Paris for more than 20 years. He eventually won it the first four times he played at Roland Garros. In 2003, he had won the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award. Early in his career, Nadal picked up the trademark habit of biting the trophies he won.
2002–2004
In April 2002, at 15 years and 10 months, the world No. 762 Nadal won his first ATPAssociation of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
match, defeating Ramón Delgado
Ramon Delgado
Ramón Delgado is a tennis player from Paraguay, who turned professional in 1995. At the 1998 French Open, he defeated Pete Sampras in the second round. He has not won a single title during his career so far...
, and became the ninth player in the open era
Open era
Open era or Open Era may refer to:* Open Era , the period since 1968 where professionals can compete in Grand Slams* Glasnost era, the increased openness in the Soviet Union from the mid-1980s...
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
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...
in 1984. During 2004, Nadal played his first match against world No. 1 Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
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
Tim Henman
Timothy Henry "Tim" Henman OBE is a retired English professional tennis player and former British Number One. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis that suited the grass courts of Wimbledon. He was the first player from the United Kingdom since Roger Taylor in the 1970s to reach the...
, Albert Costa
Albert Costa
Albert Costa i Casals is a former professional tennis player from Spain. He is best remembered for winning the men's singles title at the French Open in 2002.-Tennis career:...
, Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten
Gustavo Kuerten is a retired former World No. 1 tennis player from Brazil. He won the French Open three times between 1997 and 2001, and was the Tennis Masters Cup champion in 2000...
, Dominik Hrbatý
Dominik Hrbatý
Dominik Hrbatý is a retired professional tennis player from Slovakia.-Personal life:Hrbatý was born on 4 January 1978 in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia. His father was an architecture engineer and his younger brother is an umpire...
, and Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...
). 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
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
final for a winning nation. By beating world No. 2 Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
, 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 Open2005 Australian Open
The 2005 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 until 30 January 2005.-Men's Singles: Marat Safin def. Lleyton Hewitt, 1–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4...
, Nadal lost in the 4th round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...
. Two months later, Nadal reached the final of the 2005 Miami Masters
2005 Miami Masters
The 2005 Miami Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 21st edition of the this tournament, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2005 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2005 WTA Tour...
, and despite being two points from a straight-sets victory, he was defeated in five sets by world No. 1 Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
. 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
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
's open era
Open era
Open era or Open Era may refer to:* Open Era , the period since 1968 where professionals can compete in Grand Slams* Glasnost era, the increased openness in the Soviet Union from the mid-1980s...
record of consecutive match wins for a male teenager. Nadal won the Torneo Conde de Godó
Torneo Godó
The Barcelona Open also known as Torneo Godó, Trofeo Conde de Godó, Open Banco Sabadell, is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players. The event has been held annually in Barcelona, Spain since 1953, and is played on clay courts. Originally an event of the Grand Prix tennis circuit...
in Barcelona and beat 2004 French Open
2004 French Open
The 2004 French Open was the 103rd edition of the tournament. Gastón Gaudio became the first men's Open Era Grand Slam title winner to save match points in the final; the last time that had happened was 70 years earlier. Gaudio also became the first Argentine man since Guillermo Vilas to win a...
runner-up Guillermo Coria
Guillermo Coria
Guillermo Sebastián Coria , nicknames include El Mago , is a retired professional tennis player from Argentina who was runner-up in the 2004 French Open...
in the finals of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters
2005 Monte Carlo Masters
The 2005 Monte Carlo Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 99th edition of the event and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2005 ATP Tour. It took place from April 11 through April 17, 2005....
and the 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
2005 French Open
The 2005 French Open was the 104th edition of the tournament. Rafael Nadal, seeded fourth in his first French Open, was a strong favorite after winning the Rome and Monte Carlo Masters, with Guillermo Coria, a 2004 finalist and runner-up in Monaco, calling Nadal the best clay-court player in the...
semifinals, being one of only four players who defeated the top-seeded player that year (along with Marat Safin
Marat Safin
Marat Mikhailovich Safin is a retired Russian tennis player of Tatar descent. Safin won two grand slams and reached the world number 1 ranking during his career. He was also famous for his emotional outbursts and sometimes fiery temper on court. Safin also holds the record for most broken...
, Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...
, and David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...
). Two days later, he defeated Mariano Puerta
Mariano Puerta
Mariano Ruben Puerta is a former Argentine professional male tennis player best known for making the final of the French Open in 2005, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in four sets.-Career:...
in the final, becoming the second male player to win the French Open on his first attempt since Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
in 1982: He also became the first teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....
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
Gerry Weber Open
The Gerry Weber Open is a tennis tournament held in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Held since 1993, the tournament is played on four outdoor grass courts and is a part of the ATP World Tour 250 series on the ATP Tour schedule....
in Halle, Germany, where he lost to the German Alexander Waske
Alexander Waske
Alexander Waske is a professional male tennis player from Germany. He turned pro in 2000.On June 12, 2006, Waske achieved his career-high singles ranking: World No. 89.-Doubles: 7 :-External links:...
. He then lost in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon
2005 Wimbledon Championships
The 2005 Wimbledon Championships was the 119 edition. It was held at the All England Club between 20 June and 3 July.Roger Federer successfully defended the men's singles crown defeating Andy Roddick in straight sets. Whilst Venus Williams and Lindsay Davenport played the longest women's final in...
to Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller is a Luxembourgish professional tennis player. He was a US Open junior champion and is the most successful male tennis player in the history of his country...
of Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
.
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
2005 Canada Masters
The 2005 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 116th edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2005 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2005 WTA Tour...
, 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
James Blake
James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...
in four sets.
In September, he defeated Coria in the final of the China Open
China Open (tennis)
The China Open is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Beijing, China. The men's singles and doubles events were first held in 1993, the year in which the Qatar Open and Dubai Tennis Championships were also introduced to the men's tour, as the ATP opened a series of new tournaments in...
in Beijing and won both of his Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
matches against Italy. In October, he won his fourth ATP Masters Series title of the year, defeating Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....
in the final of the 2005 Madrid Masters
Madrid Masters
There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters...
. He then suffered a foot injury that prevented him from competing in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup
Tennis Masters Cup
The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is a tennis tournament played at the end of each year, involving the top eight players in the men's tennis world rankings....
.
Both Nadal and Federer won eleven singles titles and four ATP Masters Series titles in 2005. Nadal broke Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
'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
Golden Bagel Award
The Golden Bagel Award is an award established in 2004 that honors the professional male tennis player who has handed out more "bagels" , than any other player on the circuit.-About the 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 missed the Australian Open due to a foot injury. In February, he lost in the semifinals of the first tournament he played, the Open 13Open 13
The Open 13 is an annual men's tennis tournament played in Marseille, France. The tournament is an ATP World Tour 250 series event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. It is held for one week in February...
tournament in Marseille, France. Two weeks later, he handed Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
his first loss of the year in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Men's Open
Dubai Tennis Championships
The Dubai Tennis Championships is a professional tennis tournament owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free and held annually in Dubai, United Arab...
(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
Indian Wells Masters
The Indian Wells Masters is an annual tennis tournament held in Indian Wells, California....
in Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....
, by James Blake, and was upset in the second round of the 2006 Miami Masters
2006 Miami Masters
The 2006 NASDAQ-100 Open was the 22nd edition of this tennis tournament and was played on outdoor hard courts. The tournament was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2006 ATP Tour and was classified as a Tier I event on the 2006 WTA Tour...
.
On European clay
Clay court
A clay court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The red clay is slower than the green, or Har-Tru "American" clay. The French Open uses clay courts, making it unique among the Grand Slam tournaments.Clay courts are more common...
, 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
Tommy Robredo
Tommy Robredo Garcés is a Spanish professional tennis player. On 8 May 2006, he broke into the world's top ten for the first time. His highest singles ranking to date is No...
in the final of the Open Sabadell Atlántico
Torneo Godó
The Barcelona Open also known as Torneo Godó, Trofeo Conde de Godó, Open Banco Sabadell, is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players. The event has been held annually in Barcelona, Spain since 1953, and is played on clay courts. Originally an event of the Grand Prix tennis circuit...
tournament in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. After a one-week break, Nadal won the Masters Series Internazionali BNL d'Italia
Rome Masters
The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's...
in Rome, defeating Federer in a fifth-set tiebreaker in the final, after saving two match points and equaling Björn Borg
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
's tally of 16 ATP titles won as a teenager. Nadal broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas
Guillermo Vilas
Guillermo Apolinario Vilas is a retired and former World No. 2 professional tennis player from Argentina. He was the second Latin-American to win a Grand Slam tournament.-Career:...
's 29-year male record of 53 consecutive clay-court match victories by winning his first round match at the French Open
2006 French Open
The 2006 French Open was held in Paris, France from May 28 to June 11, 2006. Both defending champions, Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin-Hardenne, retained their titles. It is one of the four tennis Grand Slams. This edition made history as it became the first Grand Slam tournament to start on a...
. 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.
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...
at the Artois Championships
Queen's Club Championships
The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. Between 1970 and 1989 it was part of the Grand Prix tennis circuit. The event is now an ATP World Tour 250 series tournament on the Association of...
, played on grass at the Queen's Club
Queen's Club
The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. Founded in 1886, the Queen's Club was the world's first multipurpose sports complex and named after Queen Victoria, its first patron...
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
Robert Kendrick
Robert Bradley Kendrick is an American tennis player. He turned professional in 1999. His career high single ranking is world no. 69, achieved on July 20, 2009. He was suspended for a year after testing positive at the 2011 French Open for the drug methylhexanamine, which has been banned in sport...
in the second round before coming back to win in five sets. In the third round, Nadal defeated world No. 20 Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
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
Manuel Santana
Manuel Martínez Santana, best known as Manolo Santana, is a former tennis champion from Spain. He was born in Madrid....
in 1966, to reach the Wimbledon final, but Federer won the match in four sets 6–0, 7–6, 6–7, 6–3 to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.
During the leadup 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
Canada Masters
The Canada Masters , currently sponsored as the Rogers Cup, is an annual tennis tournament held in Canada. The men's competition is a Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. The women's competition is a Premier 5 tournament on the Women's Tennis Association tour...
in Toronto and the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open is an annual outdoor hardcourts tennis event held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio, USA. The event started on September 18, 1899 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city., Between...
in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. Nadal was seeded second at the US Open, but lost in the quarterfinals to world No. 54 Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
of Russia in four sets.
Nadal played only three tournaments the remainder of the year. Joachim Johansson
Joachim Johansson
Joachim Johansson is a former professional male tennis player from Sweden.-Background:Johansson was born in Lund and currently lives in Södertälje, Sweden. His father, Leif Johansson, was also a tennis player and represented Sweden in the Davis Cup in the 1970s. He goes by the nickname "Pim Pim",...
, ranked world No. 690, upset Nadal in the second round of the Stockholm Open
Stockholm Open
The If Stockholm Open is a tennis event on the ATP Tour held in Stockholm, Sweden in the end of October or beginning of November each year. The organizer of the tournament is The Royal Lawn Tennis Club of Stockholm....
6–4, 7–6. The following week, Nadal lost to Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...
in the quarterfinals of the year's last Masters Series tournament, the Mutua Madrileña Masters
Madrid Masters
There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters...
in Madrid. During the round-robin stage of the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup
Tennis Masters Cup
The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is a tennis tournament played at the end of each year, involving the top eight players in the men's tennis world rankings....
, Nadal lost to James Blake
James Blake
James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...
but defeated Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...
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
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
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 Open2007 Australian Open
The 2007 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 15 January until 28 January 2007.The total prize pool was set at exactly A$20 million, with the winners of both the men's and women's singles competition each receiving A$1,281,000. Over 500 players...
to eventual runner-up Fernando González
Fernando González
----Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi is a professional tennis player from Chile. He is known for having one of the hardest forehands on the circuit. In Spanish he is called El Bombardero de La Reina and Mano de Piedra...
. After another quarterfinal loss at the Dubai Tennis Championships
Dubai Tennis Championships
The Dubai Tennis Championships is a professional tennis tournament owned and organized by Dubai Duty Free and held annually in Dubai, United Arab...
, he won the 2007 Indian Wells Masters
2007 Indian Wells Masters
The 2007 Indian Wells Masters was a tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the 31st edition of the Indian Wells Masters and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2007 ATP Tour...
, before Novak Djoković
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
defeated him in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Miami Masters
2007 Miami Masters
The 2007 Sony Ericsson Open was the 23rd edition of this tennis tournament and was played on outdoor hardcourts. The tournament was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2007 ATP Tour and was classified as a Tier I event on the 2007 WTA Tour...
.
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
Torneo Godó
The Barcelona Open also known as Torneo Godó, Trofeo Conde de Godó, Open Banco Sabadell, is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players. The event has been held annually in Barcelona, Spain since 1953, and is played on clay courts. Originally an event of the Grand Prix tennis circuit...
in Barcelona, and the Masters Series Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, before losing to Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
in the final of the Masters Series Hamburg. This defeat ended his 81-match winning streak on clay, which is the male open era
Open era
Open era or Open Era may refer to:* Open Era , the period since 1968 where professionals can compete in Grand Slams* Glasnost era, the increased openness in the Soviet Union from the mid-1980s...
record for consecutive wins on a single surface. He then rebounded to win the French Open
2007 French Open - Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, and won in the final 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, against Roger Federer.-Seeds:# Roger Federer # Rafael Nadal # Andy Roddick # Nikolay Davydenko ...
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
Battle of Surfaces
The Battle of Surfaces was a men's tennis exhibition match that was held on May 2, 2007, between Roger Federer, then the top-ranked men's player, and Rafael Nadal, then World No. 2. The match was played in the capital city of Nadal's home island, Palma de Mallorca, in front of a home crowd at Palma...
" exhibition match in Majorca, Spain, with the tennis court being half grass
Grass court
A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Grass courts are made of rye grass in different compositions depending on the tournament...
and half clay.
Nadal played the Artois Championships at the Queen's Club
Queen's Club
The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. Founded in 1886, the Queen's Club was the world's first multipurpose sports complex and named after Queen Victoria, its first patron...
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
2007 Wimbledon Championships - Men's Singles
Roger Federer won his fifth consecutive Wimbledon to equal the record of Björn Borg, defeating Rafael Nadal in five sets in the final.-Seeds:# Roger Federer # Rafael Nadal # Andy Roddick # Novak Djoković ...
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
Mercedes Cup
The Mercedes Cup is an ATP World Tour 250 series tennis tournament on the ATP Tour. Held since 1916 in Stuttgart, Germany, the Mercedes Cup is played on clay courts...
in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, 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
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
before losing his first match at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. He was the second-seeded player at the US Open, but was defeated in the fourth round by David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...
.
After a month-long break from tournament tennis, Nadal played the Mutua Madrileña Masters
Madrid Masters
There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters...
in Madrid and the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...
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
Tennis Masters Cup
The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is a tennis tournament played at the end of each year, involving the top eight players in the men's tennis world rankings....
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
Toni Nadal
Antonio "Toni" Nadal Homar is a Spanish tennis coach who has coached his nephew Rafael Nadal to the top of the world rankings....
'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 began the year in India, where he was comprehensively beaten by Mikhail YouzhnyMikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
in the final of the Chennai Open
Chennai Open
The Chennai Open is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour...
. Nadal then reached the semifinals of the Australian Open
2008 Australian Open
The 2008 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 96th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 14 through 27 January 2008.After twenty years of playing on...
for the first time. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Nadal 6–2, 6–3, 6–2 in the semifinal of 2008 Australian Open. Tsonga's semifinal 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 also reached the final of the Miami Masters
2008 Miami Masters
The 2008 Miami Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 24th edition of the Miami Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2008 WTA Tour...
for the second time.
During the spring clay-court season, Nadal won four singles titles and defeated Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
in three finals. He beat Federer at the Masters Series Monte Carlo
2008 Monte Carlo Masters
The 2008 Masters Series Monte-Carlo was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 102nd edition of the Monte Carlo Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour...
for the third straight year, capturing his open era
Open era
Open era or Open Era may refer to:* Open Era , the period since 1968 where professionals can compete in Grand Slams* Glasnost era, the increased openness in the Soviet Union from the mid-1980s...
record fourth consecutive title there. He won in straight sets, despite Federer's holding a 4–0 lead in the second set. Nadal then won his fourth consecutive title at the Open Sabadell Atlántico
2008 Torneo Godó
The 2008 Open Sabadell Atlántico Barcelona was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 56th edition of the Torneo Godó, and was part of the International Series Gold of the 2008 ATP Tour...
tournament in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. A few weeks later, Nadal won his first title at the Masters Series Hamburg
2008 Hamburg Masters
The 2008 Masters Series Hamburg was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 101st edition of the Masters Series Hamburg, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at the Rothenbaum Tennis Center in Hamburg, Germany, from May 10 through May 18,...
, defeating Federer in the three-set final. He then won the French Open
2008 French Open
The 2008 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 107th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from May 25 through June 8, 2008....
, becoming the fifth man in the open era
Open era
Open era or Open Era may refer to:* Open Era , the period since 1968 where professionals can compete in Grand Slams* Glasnost era, the increased openness in the Soviet Union from the mid-1980s...
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
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
'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
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....
, and Federer).
Nadal then played Federer in the final of Wimbledon
2008 Wimbledon Championships
The 2008 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 122nd edition of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand Slam event of the year...
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
2008 Queen's Club Championships - Singles
Andy Roddick was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Rafael Nadal.Rafael Nadal won in the final 7–6, 7–5, against Novak Djokovic.-Seeds:The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.# Rafael Nadal ...
staged at the Queen's Club
Queen's Club
The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. Founded in 1886, the Queen's Club was the world's first multipurpose sports complex and named after Queen Victoria, its first patron...
in London prior to Wimbledon. Federer had won his record fifth grass-court title at the Gerry Weber Open
2008 Gerry Weber Open
The 2008 Gerry Weber Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 16th edition of the Gerry Weber Open, and was part of the International Series of the 2008 ATP Tour. It took place at the Gerry Weber Stadion in Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, from June 7 through...
in Halle
Halle, North Rhine-Westphalia
Halle is a town in the German Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia and belongs to the district of Gütersloh....
, 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
Rod Laver
Rodney George "Rod" Laver MBE is an Australian former tennis player who holds the record for titles won in career, and was the World No. 1 player for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970...
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
2008 Canada Masters
The 2008 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 119th edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2008 WTA Tour...
title in Toronto, and then made it into the semifinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters
2008 Cincinnati Masters
The 2008 Cincinnati Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts...
in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. As a result, Nadal clinched the US Open Series
2008 US Open Series
- 2008 Series Results :To be included in the standings and subsequently the bonus prize money, a player has to have countable results from two different tournaments. Players finishing in the top three in the series can earn up to $1 million in extra prize money...
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
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
in the semifinals 6–4, 1–6, 6–4 and Fernando González
Fernando González
----Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi is a professional tennis player from Chile. He is known for having one of the hardest forehands on the circuit. In Spanish he is called El Bombardero de La Reina and Mano de Piedra...
of Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
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
Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has Serb and Russian ethnic roots. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Tver and Rostov-on-Don to Serbia in 1917. His career-high ranking is no. 12, achieved on 6 June 2011. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup,...
in the third round. He then needed four sets to defeat both Sam Querrey
Sam Querrey
Sam Austin Querrey is a professional American tennis player from Thousand Oaks, California currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of August 2010, he is the fourth-highest ranked American. His career high rank was #17, achieved on January 31, 2011. His height allows him to play with a strong...
in the fourth round and Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...
in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he lost to eventual runner up, Andy Murray 6–2, 7–6, 4–6, 6–4. Later in the year in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Nadal helped Spain defeat the United States in the Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
semifinals.
At the Mutua Madrileña Masters
Madrid Masters
There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters...
in Madrid, Nadal lost in the semifinals to Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour...
3–6, 7–5, 7–6. 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. On 24 October at the Campoamor theatre in Oviedo
Oviedo
Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city....
, Spain, Nadal was given the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, in recognition of his achievements in tennis. Two weeks after the Madrid Masters at the BNP Paribas Masters in France, Nadal reached the quarterfinals, where he faced Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...
. 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
Tennis Masters Cup
The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is a tennis tournament played at the end of each year, involving the top eight players in the men's tennis world rankings....
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 seriesATP World Tour 250 series
The ATP World Tour 250 series is a new series for tennis tournaments of the Association of Tennis Professionals from the 2009 ATP World Tour...
Qatar ExxonMobil Open
Qatar ExxonMobil Open
The Qatar Open, currently known as the Qatar ExxonMobil Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour...
in Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
. After his first-round match with Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Santoro
Fabrice Vetea Santoro is a retired French professional male tennis player from Tahiti. Though not counted among the top ranked players, he had an unusually long professional career – with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career – and he is popular among spectators and other...
, Nadal was awarded the 2008 ATP World Tour Champion trophy. Nadal eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
. Nadal also entered and won the tournament's doubles event
2009 Qatar ExxonMobil Open - Doubles
Philipp Kohlschreiber and David Škoch were the defending champions, but Škoch chose not to participate, and only Kohlschreiber competed that year.Kohlschreiber partnered with Christopher Kas, but lost in the quarterfinals to Marc López and Rafael Nadal....
with partner Marc López
Marc López
Marc López i Tarrés is a professional male tennis player from Spain, who started playing tennis at the age of 8 years old and became professional in 1999...
, defeating the world No. 1 doubles team of Daniel Nestor
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor, CM , born Danijel Nestorović September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
and Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjic
Nenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.-Career:...
in the final. As noted by statistician Greg Sharko
Greg Sharko
Greg Sharko is the director of Media Relations and Information for the Association of Tennis Professionals but he is perhaps best known for his statistical work, sometimes called the "staff guru" of the ATP...
, 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 2009 Australian Open
2009 Australian Open
The 2009 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 97th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 January through 1 February 2009. The 2009 men's...
, Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set, before defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...
in the semifinals in the longest match in Australian Open history at 5 hours and 14 minutes. This win set up a championship match with Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
, their first meeting ever in a hard-court Grand Slam tournament and their 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
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
, Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
, and Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
—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
2009 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament
The 2009 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 37th edition of the event known as the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament, and is part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2009 ATP World Tour. It took place at the Ahoy Rotterdam indoor...
in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
. 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
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
World Group first-round tie on clay in Benidorm
Benidorm
Benidorm is a coastal town and municipality located in the comarca of Marina Baixa, in the province of Alicante, Valencian community, Spain, by the Western Mediterranean....
, Spain. Nadal defeated Janko Tipsarević
Janko Tipsarevic
Janko Tipsarević is a Serbian tennis player. His career-high ranking is No. 9, achieved on 14 November 2011. He is the 117th player in history to crack the top 10....
and Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
. 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
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...
series tournament. In the fourth round, Nadal saved five match points, before defeating David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...
for the first time. Nadal defeated Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...
in the quarterfinals and Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
in the semi-finals, before defeating Murray in the final. The next ATP tour event was the 2009 Miami Masters. Nadal advanced to the quarterfinals, 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
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...
. Nadal went on to beat Ferrer 6–2, 7–5 to record five consecutive Barcelona victories.
At the Rome Masters
Rome Masters
The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's...
, 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.
2007 Tennis Masters Cup
The 2007 Tennis Masters Cup was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the year-end singles championships, the 33rd edition of the year-end doubles championships, and was part of the 2007 ATP Tour...
.
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
2009 ATP World Tour Finals
The 2009 ATP World Tour Finals was held in London, United Kingdom between November 22 and November 29, 2009...
, to be played at the O2 Arena
The O2 arena (London)
The O2 Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the centre of The O2, a large entertainment complex on the Greenwich peninsula in London, England.With a capacity of up to 20,000 depending on the event, it is second largest...
in London.
By beating Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt
Lleyton Glynn Hewitt born 24 February 1981) is an Australian professional tennis player and former world no. 1.In 2000, Hewitt had won ATP titles on all three major surfaces and reached one final on carpet. By 2001, he became the youngest male ever to be ranked no. 1 at the age of 20...
in the third round of 2009 French Open
2009 French Open
The 2009 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 108th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year...
, Nadal (2005–09 French Open) set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros, beating the previous record of 28 by Björn Borg
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
(1978–81 French Open). Nadal had won 32 consecutive sets at Roland Garros (since winning the last 2 sets at the 2007 French Open
2007 French Open
The 2007 French Open was held in Paris, France from 27 May through to 10 June 2007. Followed two weeks later, as usual, by Wimbledon in London, United Kingdom. Rafael Nadal became the first man to win the tournament 3 times consecutively since Björn Borg, 1978–81; and maintained his unbeaten run...
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
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...
in the 4th round. The Swede triumphed 6–2, 6–7, 6–4, 7–6. 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
Goran Ivaniševic
Goran Ivanišević is a retired Croatian professional tennis player. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998. Ivanišević is famous...
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
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
.
On 4 August, Nadal's uncle, Toni Nadal
Toni Nadal
Antonio "Toni" Nadal Homar is a Spanish tennis coach who has coached his nephew Rafael Nadal to the top of the world rankings....
, confirmed that Nadal would return to play at the Rogers Cup in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. There, in his first tournament since Roland Garros, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...
. 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 quarterfinals of the US Open he defeated Fernando González
Fernando González
----Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi is a professional tennis player from Chile. He is known for having one of the hardest forehands on the circuit. In Spanish he is called El Bombardero de La Reina and Mano de Piedra...
7–6, 7–6, 6–0 in a rain-delayed encounter. However, like his previous US Open campaign
2008 U.S. Open - Men's Singles
Roger Federer was the defending champion, and won in the final 6–2, 7–5, 6–2, against Andy Murray.-Seeds:# Rafael Nadal # Roger Federer # Novak Djoković # David Ferrer ...
, he fell in the semifinals, this time losing to eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...
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
2009 ATP World Tour Finals
The 2009 ATP World Tour Finals was held in London, United Kingdom between November 22 and November 29, 2009...
, Nadal lost all three of his matches against Robin Söderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...
, Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...
, and Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
respectively without winning a set.
In December, Nadal participated in the second Davis Cup final of his career. He defeated Czech No. 2 Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...
in his first singles rubber to give the Spanish Davis Cup Team their first point in the tie. After the Spanish Davis Cup team
Spain Davis Cup team
The Spain Davis Cup team represents Spain in the Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Real Federación Española de Tenis, presided over by José Luis Escañuela....
had secured its fourth Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
victory, Nadal defeated Jan Hájek
Jan Hájek (tennis)
Jan Hájek is a male professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. He is right-handed with a double handed backhand. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on November 6, 2006, when he reached world number 71....
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
Golden Bagel Award
The Golden Bagel Award is an award established in 2004 that honors the professional male tennis player who has handed out more "bagels" , than any other player on the circuit.-About the award:...
for 2009, with nine 6–0 sets during the year. Nadal has won the award three times (a tour record).
2010
Nadal began the year by participating in the Capitala World Tennis Championship2010 Capitala World Tennis Championship
The 2010 Capitala World Tennis Championship was a non-ATP affiliated exhibition tournament. Four of the world's top ten were competing in the knockout event, which has prize money of $250,000 to the winner. The event was held at the Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex at the Zayed Sports City in...
in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
, United Arab Emirates. He defeated compatriot David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...
7–6, 6–3 to reach his second final in the exhibition tournament. In the final, Nadal defeated Robin Söderling
Robin Söderling
Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010...
7–6, 7–5.
Nadal participated in an Australian Open warm-up tournament, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open
2010 Qatar ExxonMobil Open
The 2010 Qatar Open, known as the 2010 Qatar ExxonMobil Open for sponsorship reasons, was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was be the 18th edition of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, and part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...
ATP 250 event in Doha, where he lost in the finals to Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...
6–0, 6–7, 4–6.
In the first round of the Australian Open, Nadal defeated Peter Luczak
Peter Luczak
Peter Luczak is a professional tennis player for Australia. His career-high ATP Entry ranking was No. 64 on 12 October 2009.At the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi, Luczak won the gold in the doubles....
of Australia 7–6, 6–1, 6–4. In the second round, he beat Lukáš Lacko
Lukáš Lacko
Lukáš Lacko is a professional Slovak tennis player. His highest ATP singles ranking was 60, which he reached on February 22, 2010. His career high doubles ranking was 213 on November 30, 2009.- Tennis career :...
6–2, 6–2, 6–2. In the third round, he was tested by Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...
, finally beating him 6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5. In the fourth round, he beat Ivo Karlović
Ivo Karlovic
Ivo Karlović is a Croatian tennis player. He has won four ATP singles titles: three in 2007 and one in 2008. Karlović is the tallest player ever on the ATP Tour at 208 cm . He is a serve-and-volleyer, Karlovic holds the fastest serve recorded in professional tennis, measured at 251 km/h ...
of Croatia, 6–4, 4–6, 6–4, 6–4. In the quarterfinals, Nadal pulled out at 3–0 down in the third set against Andy Murray, having lost the first two sets 6–3, 7–6. 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
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....
, where he was the defending champion; however, eventual champion Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....
defeated him in three sets. He and countryman López
Marc López
Marc López i Tarrés is a professional male tennis player from Spain, who started playing tennis at the age of 8 years old and became professional in 1999...
won the doubles title, though, as wildcard entrants against number one seeds Daniel Nestor
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor, CM , born Danijel Nestorović September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
and Nenad Zimonjić
Nenad Zimonjic
Nenad Zimonjić is a professional Serbian tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 3 in men's doubles. He is the second tennis doubles player from Serbia to hold the World No.1, after Slobodan Živojinović.-Career:...
. This boosted his doubles ranking 175 places to world number 66, whereas he was 241st before Indian Wells. After Indian Wells, Nadal reached the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open
2010 Sony Ericsson Open
The 2010 Sony Ericsson Open , was a tennis tournament for men and women held from March 22 to April 4, 2010. It was the 26th edition of the Miami Masters event and is played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Key Biscayne, Florida, located near Miami...
, where he lost to eventual champion Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
in three sets.
Nadal reached the final of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in Monaco, after beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...
6–3, 6–2 in the semifinals. This was Nadal's first tour final since Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
earlier in the year. He won the final 6–0, 6–1 over his compatriot Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...
. He lost 14 games throughout all five matches, the fewest he had 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 the 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
2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
The 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia was a tennis tournament, being played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 67th edition of the event and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2010 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2010 WTA Tour...
. 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
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis is a Latvian professional tennis player. In 2008, Gulbis won his first ATP Tour doubles title at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, teaming with Rainer Schüttler, and in 2010 won his first ATP Tour singles title in the Delray Beach, defeating Ivo Karlović in the final...
, who defeated Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
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 2 hours and 40minutes. He then defeated compatriot David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...
in the final 7–5, 6–2 for his fifth title at Rome to equal Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
's record of winning 17 ATP Masters titles.
Nadal then entered the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open
2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open
The 2010 Madrid Masters was played on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from May 7 – May 16. It was the 9th edition of the event on the ATP and 2nd on the WTA...
, 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
Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr
Alexandr Dolgopolov , formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is the top ranked Ukrainian male tennis player. He changed his first name spelling to the current form in May 2010.-Early life:...
in straight sets. He then played the six-foot-nine-inch American John Isner
John Isner
John Robert Isner is an American professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high rank of no. 18 on July 5, 2010, and has been as high as the second-ranked American tennis player behind Andy Roddick...
. Nadal comfortably came through in straight sets, 7–5, 6–4. He defeated Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
in the quarterfinals 6–1, 6–3 and his countryman Nicolás Almagro
Nicolás Almagro
Nicolas Almagro Sanchez Rolle is a professional Spanish tennis player, ranked 10 on the ATP World Tour.-2005:...
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
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
6–4, 7–6, 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 semifinals allowed Nadal to regain the world No. 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
2010 French Open
The 2010 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 109th edition of the French Open, and the second Grand Slam event of the year...
. The win gave Nadal his seventh Grand Slam, tying him with John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, John Newcombe
John Newcombe
John David Newcombe, AO, OBE is a former World No. 1 tennis player.-Biography:He won seven Grand Slam singles titles, A natural athlete, Newcombe played several sports as a boy until devoting himself to tennis. He was the Australian junior champion in 1961, 1962, and 1963 and was a member of...
, and Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
on the all-time list, and allowed Nadal to reclaim the position of world No. 1, denying his biggest rival Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
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
2010 ATP World Tour Finals
The 2010 ATP World Tour Finals was held at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom between November 21 and November 28, 2010...
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 had won in 2008, at the prestigious Queen's Club
Queen's Club
The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. Founded in 1886, the Queen's Club was the world's first multipurpose sports complex and named after Queen Victoria, its first patron...
. He played singles and doubles at this grass court tournament as a warmup for Wimbledon. 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
Marcos Daniel
Marcos Diniz Daniel is a professional tennis player from Brazil who turned professional in 1997. The right-hander reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on September 14, 2009, when he became World No. 56...
easily, 6–2, 6–2. In the third round, he played Denis Istomin
Denis Istomin
Denis Istomin is a professional Uzbek tennis player. His career high rank is #39, achieved on August 30, 2010. He is coached by his mother.- 2006 :...
of Uzbekistan, whom he defeated 7–6, 4–6, 6–4, to advance to the quarterfinals. However, he was defeated by compatriot Feliciano López
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Diaz-Guerra is a Spanish professional male tennis player. He was born in Toledo and now lives in the Spanish capital Madrid....
6–7, 4–6.
At the Wimbledon
2010 Wimbledon Championships
The 2010 Wimbledon Championships took place on the outdoor grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The tournament ran from Monday 21 June until Sunday 4 July 2010. It was the 124th staging of the Wimbledon Championships, and the third Grand...
, Nadal beat Kei Nishikori
Kei Nishikori
is a Japanese tennis player, currently ranked 25th in the world, as of 10 October 2011. He began playing tennis at the age of five, and on 17 July 2007 he qualified for his first ATP main draw event at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, California at the age of 17.-Junior career:Nishikori won...
6–2, 6–4, 6–4. Nadal was taken to the limit by Robin Haase
Robin Haase
Robin Haase is a Dutch tennis player. Haase is currently the highest-ranked Dutch player, with his career high of No. 41 coming on 29 August 2011. He is endorsed by Head and SNS Reaal.-Career:...
winning 5–7, 6–2, 3–6, 6–0, 6–3. He defeated Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner is a professional German tennis player. He is known for his hard-hitting and incredible bursts of speed around the court, and now for controversy in the US Open Men's Doubles Final which he won partnered with Jurgen Melzer against the Polish team of Fystenberg/Matkowski...
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
Toni Nadal
Antonio "Toni" Nadal Homar is a Spanish tennis coach who has coached his nephew Rafael Nadal to the top of the world rankings....
, resulting in a $2000 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
Paul-Henri Mathieu
Paul-Henri Mathieu is a French tennis player.-Tennis career:Mathieu was born in Strasbourg, France. He first began playing tennis at age 3, with his older brother Pierre-Yves. Between 1997 and 2000 he trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida...
of France in the round of 16 and comfortably beat Mathieu 6–4, 6–2, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, he got past Robin Söderling of Sweden in four sets 3–6, 6–3, 7–6, 6–1. He defeated Andy Murray in straight sets 6–4, 7–6, 6–4 to reach his fourth Wimbledon final.
Nadal won the 2010 Wimbledon men's title
2010 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles
The Men's Singles event at the 2010 saw Rafael Nadal, the World No. 1 and 2nd seed, defeat 12th seed Tomáš Berdych 6–3 7–5 6–4 in the final to win his 2nd Wimbledon title, and his 8th Grand Slam title overall....
by defeating Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...
in straight sets 6–3, 7–5, 6–4. After the win, Nadal 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 semifinal against Andy Murray. The win gave him a second Wimbledon title and an eighth career major title just past the age of 24. The win also gave Nadal his first "Old World Triple"; the last person to achieve this was Björn Borg
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
in 1978 ("Old World Triple" is a term given to winning the Italian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon in the same year).
In his first hard-court tournament since Wimbledon, Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup, along with No. 2 Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
, No. 3 Roger Federer, and No. 4 Andy Murray, after coming back from a one-set deficit to defeat Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Kohlschreiber is a tennis player from Germany, who turned professional in 2001. The right-hander has won six doubles and three singles titles. He reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 28 September 2009, when he achieved a ranking of World No. 22...
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. Nadal also competed in the doubles with Djokovic in a one-time, high-profile partnership of the world No. 1 and No. 2, the first such team since the Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
and Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...
team in 1976. However, Nadal and Djokovic lost in the first round to Canadians Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic is a Canadian professional tennis player from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada.Born in what is now Podgorica, Montenegro, Raonic moved to Canada with his family at the age of 3. Raonic is Canada's highest ATP ranked male singles player and the country's highest ever ranked player since...
and Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil is a Canadian professional tennis player. Pospisil is currently ranked World No. 124 in singles and No. 115 in doubles, both career highs. As Canada's No. 2 in singles and No...
. The next week, Nadal was the top seed at the Cincinnati Masters
Cincinnati Masters
The Cincinnati Open is an annual outdoor hardcourts tennis event held in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, Ohio, USA. The event started on September 18, 1899 and is the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city., Between...
, losing in the quarterfinals to 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis
At the French Open, Baghdatis lost in the second round in five sets to Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 4-6.At Wimbledon, Baghdatis defeated British player Andy Murray in the fourth round in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Baghdatis beat the 2002 champion and former world no. 1...
.
At the 2010 US Open, Nadal was the top seed for the second time in three years. He defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili, Denis Istomin
Denis Istomin
Denis Istomin is a professional Uzbek tennis player. His career high rank is #39, achieved on August 30, 2010. He is coached by his mother.- 2006 :...
, Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour...
, number 23 seed Feliciano López
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Diaz-Guerra is a Spanish professional male tennis player. He was born in Toledo and now lives in the Spanish capital Madrid....
, number 8 seed Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...
, and number 12 seed Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
all without dropping a set, to reach his first US Open final, becoming only the eighth man in the Open Era to reach the final of all four majors, and at age 24 the second youngest ever to do so, behind only Jim Courier
Jim Courier
James Spencer "Jim" Courier, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won four Grand Slam singles titles, two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open...
. In the final, he defeated Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2 which completed the Career Grand Slam for Nadal and he became the second male after Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
to complete a Career Golden Slam. Nadal also became the first man to win grand slams on clay, grass, and hard court in the same year, and the first to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in the same year since Rod Laver
Rod Laver
Rodney George "Rod" Laver MBE is an Australian former tennis player who holds the record for titles won in career, and was the World No. 1 player for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970...
in 1969. Nadal and Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
are the only male players to win at least two Grand Slams each on clay, grass, and hardcourts in their careers. Nadal also became the first left-handed man to win the US Open since John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
in 1984. Nadal's victory also clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for 2010, making Nadal only the third player (after Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...
in 1989 and Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
in 2009) to regain the year-end number one ranking after having lost it.
Nadal began his Asian tour at the 2010 PTT Thailand Open
2010 PTT Thailand Open
The 2010 PTT Thailand Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 8th edition of the Thailand Open, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...
in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
where he reached the semifinals, losing to compatriot Guillermo García López
Guillermo Garcia Lopez
Guillermo García López is a professional male tennis player from Spain.He is good friends with fellow Spanish tennis player Juan Carlos Ferrero, and both train at the JC Ferrero Equelite Tennis Academy in Villena, Spain.- Professional career :On November 23, 2009, García-López achieved his...
. Nadal was able to regroup, and at the 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
The 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the event known that year as the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, and was part of the 500 Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...
in Tokyo (debut), he defeated Santiago Giraldo
Santiago Giraldo
Santiago Giraldo Salazar is a Colombian male tennis player from Pereira in Colombia. He plays on the ATP tour and represents Colombia in the Davis Cup competition.-ATP Tour:...
, Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic is a Canadian professional tennis player from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada.Born in what is now Podgorica, Montenegro, Raonic moved to Canada with his family at the age of 3. Raonic is Canada's highest ATP ranked male singles player and the country's highest ever ranked player since...
, and Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Tursunov
Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov is a Russian professional male tennis player. He was 12 years old when he came to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player....
. In the semifinals against Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki
Viktor Troicki is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has Serb and Russian ethnic roots. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Tver and Rostov-on-Don to Serbia in 1917. His career-high ranking is no. 12, achieved on 6 June 2011. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup,...
, Nadal saved two match points in the deciding set tiebreaker to win it 9–7 in the end. In the final, Nadal comfortably defeated Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
6–1, 7–5 for his seventh title of the season.
Nadal next played in the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters in Shanghai, where he was the top seed, but lost to world No. 12 Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer is an Austrian tennis player. He reached a career-high ranking of no. 8 on 18 April 2011, and a doubles ranking of no. 6 on 13 September 2010. He is the only current player on the ATP Tour to be ranked in the top 10 in both singles and doubles. He is a left-handed tennis player, but...
in the third round, snapping his record streak of 21 consecutive Masters quarterfinals. On the 5 November, Nadal announced that he was pulling out of the Paris Masters
2010 BNP Paribas Masters
The 2010 BNP Paribas Masters was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 36th edition of the tournament known that year as the BNP Paribas Masters after the sponsor BNP Paribas. It was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2010 ATP World Tour. It was held at the Palais...
due to tendinitis in his left shoulder. On 21 November 2010, in London, Nadal won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the first time.
At the 2010 ATP World Tour Finals
2010 ATP World Tour Finals
The 2010 ATP World Tour Finals was held at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom between November 21 and November 28, 2010...
in London, Nadal defeated Roddick 3–6, 7–6, 6–4 in the first match, Djokovic 7–5, 6–2 in the second match, and Berdych 7–6, 6–1 in the third match, to advance to the semifinals for the third time in his career. This is the first time that Nadal achieved three wins in the round-robin stage. In the semifinal, he defeated Murray 7–6, 3–6, 7–6 in a hard-fought match to reach his first final at the tournament. In only their second meeting of the year, Federer beat Nadal in the final by a score of 6–3, 3–6, 6–1. After the match, Nadal stated: "Roger is probably the more complete player of the world. I'm not going to say I lost that match because I was tired." This was a reference to his marathon victory over Murray on Saturday. "I tried my best this afternoon, but Roger was simply better than me."
Nadal ended the 2010 season having won three Slams and three Masters 1000 tournaments, and having regained the No. 1 ranking.
Next up for Nadal was a two-match exhibition against Federer for the Roger Federer Foundation. The first match took place in Zürich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
on 21 December 2010, and the second in Madrid the next day.
2011
Nadal started 2011, by participating in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship2011 Mubadala World Tennis Championship
The 2011 Mubadala World Tennis Championship was a non-ATP affiliated exhibition tournament. World's top players were competing in the knock-out event, which has prize money of $250,000 to the winner. The event was held at the Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex at the Zayed Sports City in Abu...
in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
, United Arab Emirates. He defeated Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...
6–4, 6–4, to reach his third final in the exhibition tournament. In the final, he won over his main rival Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
7–6, 7–6.
At the Qatar ExxonMobil Open ATP 250 event in Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
, Qatar, Nadal barely struggled past his first three opponents, Karol Beck
Karol Beck
Karol Beck is a male tennis player from Slovakia, who turned professional in 2001. He has been ranked as high as 36th in the world .- Career :On October 25, 2004, Beck lost in the final of the St...
6–3, 6–0, Lukáš Lacko
Lukáš Lacko
Lukáš Lacko is a professional Slovak tennis player. His highest ATP singles ranking was 60, which he reached on February 22, 2010. His career high doubles ranking was 213 on November 30, 2009.- Tennis career :...
7–6, 0–6, 6–3, and Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis is a Latvian professional tennis player. In 2008, Gulbis won his first ATP Tour doubles title at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, teaming with Rainer Schüttler, and in 2010 won his first ATP Tour singles title in the Delray Beach, defeating Ivo Karlović in the final...
7–6, 6–3 citing fever as the primary reason for his poor performance. He fell in straight sets to a resurgent Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Davydenko
Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko is a Ukrainian-Russian tennis player. Davydenko's best result in a Grand Slam tournament has been reaching the semifinals, which he has done on four occasions: twice each at the French Open and the U.S. Open. His biggest achievement to date was winning the 2009 ATP...
in the semifinals 3–6, 2–6. He and countryman López
Marc López
Marc López i Tarrés is a professional male tennis player from Spain, who started playing tennis at the age of 8 years old and became professional in 1999...
won the doubles title by defeating the Italian duo Daniele Bracciali
Daniele Bracciali
Daniele Bracciali is an Italian tennis player. His career-high ranking in singles is World No. 49, achieved on May 8, 2006.-Career:Bracciali won his only ATP singles title so far in April 2006, at Casablanca, on clay...
and Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi
Andreas Seppi is a professional tennis player from South Tyrol, northern Italy, who turned professional in 2000. He considers clay and hard courts his favourite surfaces. and is coached by Massimo Sartori....
6–3, 7–6.
In the first round of the Australian Open
2011 Australian Open
The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players were held...
, Nadal defeated Marcos Daniel
Marcos Daniel
Marcos Diniz Daniel is a professional tennis player from Brazil who turned professional in 1997. The right-hander reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on September 14, 2009, when he became World No. 56...
of Brazil 6–0, 5–0 ret. In the second round, he beat upcoming qualifier Ryan Sweeting
Ryan Sweeting
Ryan Sweeting is a Bahamian-born American professional tennis player.-Tennis career:Sweeting was born in Nassau, Bahamas, and has lived and trained in Ft. Lauderdale since the age of 12...
of the United States 6–2, 6–1, 6–1. In the third round, he was tested by emerging player Bernard Tomic
Bernard Tomic
Bernard Tomic is an Australian professional tennis player. As of 24 October 2011, Tomic is ranked the World No. 41, making him the highest ranked Australian male tennis player and the youngest player in the top 100...
of Australia, who previously ousted Nadal's countryman Feliciano López
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Diaz-Guerra is a Spanish professional male tennis player. He was born in Toledo and now lives in the Spanish capital Madrid....
, but Nadal was victorious 6–2, 7–5, 6–3. He went on to defeat Marin Čilić
Marin Cilic
Marin Čilić , is a Croatian professional tennis player. His career high ATP ranking is no. 9, achieved on 22 February 2010, following his best-ever performance at a Grand Slam, reaching the semi-finals in the 2010 Australian Open...
of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
6–2, 6–4, 6–3, in the fourth round. He suffered an apparent hamstring injury against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...
early in the pair's quarterfinal match and ultimately lost in straight sets 4–6, 2–6, 3–6, thus ending his effort to win four major tournaments in a row.
On 7 February 2011, in Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
, United Arab Emirates, Nadal won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year
Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year
-List of winners and nominees:-Trivia:-See also:*Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year*L'Équipe Champion of Champions Award*Athlete of the Year-References:...
for the first time, ahead of footballer Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi is an Argentine footballer who plays for FC Barcelona and captains the Argentina national team, mainly as a striker. Messi received several Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year nominations by the age of 21, and won in 2009 and 2010...
, Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....
, Spain's Andres Iniesta
Andrés Iniesta
Andrés Iniesta Luján is a Spanish football player. He currently plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team....
, Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
basketball player Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...
, and Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
boxer Manny Pacquiao
Manny Pacquiao
Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao, PLH is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world champion; having won six world titles, as well as the first to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the...
.
In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Belgium in a 2011 Davis Cup World Group
2011 Davis Cup World Group
The World Group is the highest level of Davis Cup competition in 2011. The first round losers go into the Davis Cup World Group Play-offs while the winners progress to the quarterfinals...
first-round tie on hard indoor courts in the Spiroudome
Spiroudome
Spiroudome is an indoor arena in Charleroi, Belgium. Opened in 2002, it currently can hold 6,300 spectators . It hosts indoor sporting events such as tennis and basketball. The arena hosted the annual ULEB Cup final from 2004 to 2008. It is also the home arena of the Spirou Charleroi basketball...
in Charleroi
Charleroi
Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
, Belgium. Nadal defeated Ruben Bemelmans
Ruben Bemelmans
Ruben Bemelmans , is a Belgian male professional tennis player. His career-high rank ATP singles ranking was No. 172 reached on October 26, 2009. His best doubles rank is No. 245....
6–2, 6–4, 6–2. After Spain's victory in three matches, Nadal played a second dead rubber against Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus
Olivier Rochus is a Belgian tennis player. He was born in Namur, Belgium, and currently resides in Auvelais, Belgium.-Career:...
and won 6–4, 6–2.
At the 2011 BNP Paribas Open
2011 BNP Paribas Open
The 2011 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2011. It was the 36th edition of the event, known as the BNP Paribas Open, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the 2011...
in Indian Wells
Indian Wells, California
Indian Wells is a city in Riverside County, California, in the Coachella Valley , in between Palm Desert and La Quinta. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 4,958....
, Nadal defeated upcoming qualifier Rik de Voest
Rik de Voest
Rik de Voest is a professional South African tennis player. As of September 6, 2007, de Voest's career-high ranking was World Number 110, which he achieved on August 21, 2006....
of South Africa 6–0, 6–2, in his first match. In the third round, he beat qualifier Ryan Sweeting
Ryan Sweeting
Ryan Sweeting is a Bahamian-born American professional tennis player.-Tennis career:Sweeting was born in Nassau, Bahamas, and has lived and trained in Ft. Lauderdale since the age of 12...
6–3, 6–1. He then defeated Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman
Somdev Devvarman
Somdev Devvarman , is a professional Indian tennis player. Three of Devvarman's college conquests, John Isner, Kevin Anderson, and Jesse Levine have successful pro careers. He hit the headlines for being the only collegiate player to have made three consecutive finals at the NCAA, winning...
7–5, 6–4, in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals, Nadal had a hard time against Croatian Ivo Karlovic
Ivo Karlovic
Ivo Karlović is a Croatian tennis player. He has won four ATP singles titles: three in 2007 and one in 2008. Karlović is the tallest player ever on the ATP Tour at 208 cm . He is a serve-and-volleyer, Karlovic holds the fastest serve recorded in professional tennis, measured at 251 km/h ...
, but won 5–7, 6–1, 7–6, and in the semifinals he met Argentine Juan Martin del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...
, back from a long injury. The last three confrontations between the players was in favor of del Potro, but despite some difficulties, Nadal won 6–4, 6–4. He reached his third final at Indian Wells, and in the final lost against Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
6–4, 3–6, 2–6. The next day, Nadal and Djokovic played a friendly match in Bogota
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...
, Colombia, which Nadal won.
Nadal started the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open
2011 Sony Ericsson Open
The 2011 Sony Ericsson Open , a men's and women's tennis tournament, was held from March 21 to April 3, 2011. It was the 27th edition of the Miami Masters event and played on outdoor hard courts at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park in Miami...
with a win over Japanese player Kei Nishikori
Kei Nishikori
is a Japanese tennis player, currently ranked 25th in the world, as of 10 October 2011. He began playing tennis at the age of five, and on 17 July 2007 he qualified for his first ATP main draw event at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles, California at the age of 17.-Junior career:Nishikori won...
6–4, 6–4, then met his compatriot Feliciano Lopez
Feliciano López
Feliciano López Diaz-Guerra is a Spanish professional male tennis player. He was born in Toledo and now lives in the Spanish capital Madrid....
in the third round, whom he defeated 6–3, 6–3. In the fourth round, he defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6–1, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, Nadal had the first real test of the tournament when he met the world no. 7 Tomas Berdych
Tomáš Berdych
Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005...
. After a good first set, Nadal's level of play fell significantly due to an injured right shoulder, and he lost the second set. He eventually triumphed 6–2, 3–6, 6–3. In the semifinals, Nadal met his main rival Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
, their first meeting in a semifinal since the 2007 Masters Cup
2007 Tennis Masters Cup
The 2007 Tennis Masters Cup was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 38th edition of the year-end singles championships, the 33rd edition of the year-end doubles championships, and was part of the 2007 ATP Tour...
. Nadal was swiftly victorious 6–3, 6–2; this match was one of the fastest matches played on hard courts. For the second time in two weeks, Nadal faced Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
in the final. As in the Indian Wells tournament, Nadal won the first set, and Djokovic the second. The third set ended in a tiebreak, with Djokovic winning the match 4–6, 6–3, 7–6. This is the first time Nadal reached the finals of Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.
Nadal began his clay-court season in style, winning the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters
The 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, a tennis tournament for male professional players, was played from April 9 through April 17, 2011, on outdoor clay courts. It was the 105th edition of the annual Monte Carlo Masters tournament, which was sponsored by Rolex for the third time...
with the loss of just one set. Nadal defeated Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen is a professional tennis player from Finland.His highest ranking is 13th, which was achieved on July 10, 2006. He has won one ATP singles title and two doubles titles in his career so far. His best performances in Grand Slam tournaments have been reaching the quarter-finals...
6–2, 6–2, Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gasquet is a French professional tennis player. He won the mixed doubles Grand Slam title at the 2004 French Open, partnering Tatiana Golovin. His highest ranking in singles is #7. His best achievements in tennis are reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon in 2007 and later that year...
6–2, 6–4, Ivan Ljubičić
Ivan Ljubicic
----Ivan Ljubičić is a Croatian tennis player born in Bosnia and Herzegovina . His career-high ATP ranking to date has been no. 3, and he stands at no. 37....
6–1, 6–3, and Andy Murray 6–4, 2–6, 6–1, in the semifinals to reach his seventh consecutive final in Monte Carlo. In the final, Nadal avenged his defeat by David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...
in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Australian Open
2011 Australian Open
The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players were held...
and won the match 6–4, 7–5. He is the first man to have won the same tournament seven times in a row at the ATP level in the open era. Nadal chalked up his 37th straight win at the clay-court event, where he has not lost since the 2003 Monte Carlo Masters
2003 Monte Carlo Masters
The 2003 Monte Carlo Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 97th edition of the Monte Carlo Masters and was part of the Tennis Masters Series of the 2003 ATP Tour...
. It was his 44th career title and 19th at a Masters event. Nadal lost his three previous finals, twice to Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
and once to Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
. It was his first title since winning the Japan Open. Nadal shares third place with Björn Borg
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
and Manuel Orantes
Manuel Orantes
Manuel Orantes Corral was a tennis champion in the 1970s and 1980s. He won the US Open in 1975, beating defending champion Jimmy Connors in the final.-Career:...
in the list of players with the most titles on clay.
Just a week later, Nadal won his sixth Barcelona Open crown, winning the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell
2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell
The 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 59th edition of the event known this year as the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, and was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour...
final in straight sets. He won the final over Ferrer again 6–2, 6–4. In doing so, Nadal became the first man in the open era to have won two tournaments at least six times each. Nadal was then the leader in terms of matches won in the year, with 29. He did not gain any points for this victory, however, as only four ATP 500 tournaments can be counted towards a players ranking at one time, but they will go into effect 8 August 2011, when the result of the 2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic
The 2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic was a tennis tournament to played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 42nd edition of this event and was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2010 ATP World Tour. It took place at the William H.G...
expires.
At the Madrid
2011 Mutua Madrid Open
The 2011 Madrid Masters was played on outdoor clay courts at the Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from April 30 – May 8. It was the 10th edition of the event on the ATP and 3rd on the WTA...
in May, he defeated Marcos Baghdatis
Marcos Baghdatis
At the French Open, Baghdatis lost in the second round in five sets to Frenchman Julien Benneteau, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6, 4-6.At Wimbledon, Baghdatis defeated British player Andy Murray in the fourth round in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Baghdatis beat the 2002 champion and former world no. 1...
, had a walkover against Juan Martin del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...
, and defeated Michael Llodra
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.-Life and career:...
and Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
, before losing the final to Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
5–7, 4–6.
Nadal lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
in the Rome Masters final
2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia
The 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia was a tennis tournament, being played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 68th edition of the event and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier 5 event on the 2011 WTA Tour...
4–6, 4–6.
This marked the first time that Nadal has lost twice on clay to the same player in a single season.
However, Nadal retained his no. 1 ranking during the clay court season and won his sixth French Open title by defeating Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
7–5, 7–6, 5–7, 6–1.
At Wimbledon, Nadal beat Michael Russell in the first round 6–4, 6–2, 6–2, Ryan Sweeting
Ryan Sweeting
Ryan Sweeting is a Bahamian-born American professional tennis player.-Tennis career:Sweeting was born in Nassau, Bahamas, and has lived and trained in Ft. Lauderdale since the age of 12...
6–3, 6–2, 6–4, in the second round, and Gilles Muller
Gilles Müller
Gilles Müller is a Luxembourgish professional tennis player. He was a US Open junior champion and is the most successful male tennis player in the history of his country...
7–6, 7–6, 6–0, in the third round. He then faced former US Open Champion Juan Martin del Potro
Juan Martin Del Potro
Juan Martín del Potro is an Argentine professional tennis player. Del Potro achieved a top-10 ranking by the Association of Tennis Professionals for the first time on October 6, 2008. In January 2010, he reached a career-high ranking of world no. 4...
in the fourth round, prevailing 7–6, 3–6, 7–6, 6–4. He then faced tenth seeded Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...
in the quarterfinals, prevailing in four sets 6–3, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4. His semifinal opponent was world no. 4 Andy Murray. Murray took the first set, but Nadal upped his game and won in four sets 5–7, 6–2, 6–2, 6–4. This set up a final against world no. 2 Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
, who had beaten Nadal in all four of their matches in 2011 (all in Masters finals). Djokovic broke in the 10th game of the first set to take it 6–4; he then won the second comfortably 6–1, but Nadal fought back, breaking early in the third to win it 6–1. In a tense fourth set, Djokovic broke in the ninth game and clinched the title, with Nadal losing 4–6, 1–6, 6–1, 3–6. This was the first Grand Slam final that Nadal had lost to someone other than Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
and his first loss at Wimbledon since his five-set loss to Federer in the 2007 final. The loss ended Nadal's winning streak in Grand Slam finals at seven, preventing him from tying the all-time record of eight victories in a row set by Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....
. Djokovic's success at the tournament also meant that the Serb ascended to world no. 1 for the first time, breaking the dominance of Federer and Nadal on the position, which one of them had held for every week since 2 February 2004. Nadal fell to world no. 2 in the rankings for the first time since June 2010.
After resting from a foot injury sustained during Wimbledon for a month, he contested the 2011 Rogers Cup
2011 Rogers Cup
The 2011 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament to be played on outdoor hard courts in Canada. It was the 122nd edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2011 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2011 WTA Tour...
, where he was shocked by Croatian Ivan Dodig
Ivan Dodig
Ivan Dodig is a Croatian tennis player. His career-high rank ATP singles ranking is No. 32 and his best doubles rank is No. 129.-2010:...
in a third-set tiebreak. He next played in the 2011 Cincinnati Masters
2011 Western & Southern Open – Men's Singles
Roger Federer was the two-time defending champion, but lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals.Andy Murray won the tournament beating No.1 seed Novak Djokovic in the final, 6–4, 3–0 ret. It was the 7th ATP Masters 1000 title of Murray's career, and his first in 2011...
, where he lost to Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...
in the quarterfinals.
At the 2011 US Open
2011 US Open – Men's Singles
Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic with a score of 6–2, 6–4, 6–7, 6–1. Djokovic claimed his first US Open title, his third Grand Slam of the year, and his fourth Grand Slam overall.-Seeds:...
, Nadal defeated Andrey Golubev
Andrey Golubev
Andrey Golubev is a Kazakhstani professional tennis playercurrently living in Italy. His career high rank is #33, achieved on October 4, 2010. He has participated in all Grand Slam tournaments, the first being the 2008 US Open, as well in the main draw of ATP Masters Series and ATP International...
in straight sets and advanced to the third round after Frenchman Nicholas Mahut retired. After defeating David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...
on September 4, Nadal collapsed in his post-match press conference due to severe cramps. Nadal lost to Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
in the final in four sets 2–6, 4–6, 7–6, 1–6.
After the US Open, Nadal made the final of the Japan Open Tennis Championships
Japan Open Tennis Championships
The Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships is a tennis tournament held in Ariake Tennis Forest Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum, located in Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. The championship includes both men's and women's, as well as singles and doubles competitions...
. Nadal, who was the 2010 champion, was defeated by Andy Murray 6–3, 2–6, 0–6. At the Shanghai Masters
Shanghai Masters
The Shanghai Masters, also known as the Bank of Communication Shanghai Masters for sponsorship purposes, is a professional ranking snooker tournament.- History :...
, Nadal was top seed with the absence of Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
but was upset in the third round by no. 23 ranked Florian Mayer
Florian Mayer
Florian Mayer is a German professional tennis player. He plays on both the ATP Tour and the Challenger Tour. He has won nine Challenger events, which has helped him stay in the top 50 on the rankings....
in straight sets 6–7, 3–6. At the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals
2011 ATP World Tour Finals
The 2011 ATP World Tour Finals was a tennis tournament that was played at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom between November 20 and November 27, 2011. The defending champion in singles was world no. 4 Roger Federer, while the defending champions in doubles were Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić...
, Nadal was defeated by Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
in the round robin stage by a score of 3–6, 0–6 in one of the quickest matches between the two lasting just 60 minutes. In the following match, Nadal would be defeated by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with a score of 6–7, 6–4, 3–6 and be eliminated from the tournament.
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 2011 US Open2011 US Open (tennis)
The 2011 US Open was a tennis tournament played on the outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, of Queens, New York City, United States...
.
| Tournament | 2003 2003 ATP Tour The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.- January :... | 2004 2004 ATP Tour The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.- January :... | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 2007 ATP Tour The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.-January:... | 2008 2008 ATP Tour The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and the International Series tournaments.-Schedule:This... | 2009 2009 ATP World Tour The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organised by the ATP. The 2009 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World... | 2010 2010 ATP World Tour The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2010 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World... | 2011 2011 ATP World Tour The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2011 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World... | 2012 2012 ATP World Tour The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2012 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World... | SR | W–L | Win % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||||||||
| Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
A | 3R 2004 Australian Open - Men's Singles Andre Agassi, the defending champion, lost in the semifinal 6–7, 6–7, 7–5, 6–1, 3–6, against Marat Safin.Roger Federer defeated Marat Safin 7–6, 6–4, 6–2 in the final to win the Men's Singles title at the 2004 Australian Open.- Seeds :... |
4R 2005 Australian Open - Men's Singles Roger Federer was the defending champion but lost in the semifinals to Marat Safin.Safin won the title, defeating home player Lleyton Hewitt in the final, 1–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–4... |
A | QF 2007 Australian Open - Men's Singles Roger Federer was the defending champion, and won in the final 7–6, 6–4, 6–4, against Fernando González, becoming the first man since Björn Borg in 1976 to win a Grand Slam tournament without dropping a set.-Seeds:... |
SF 2008 Australian Open - Men's Singles Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic.Novak Djokovic won in the final 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6, against unseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga... |
W 2009 Australian Open - Men's Singles The 2009 men's tournament is considered to be one of the best Grand Slam tournaments in open era history. It is remembered for containing many of the best matches of the 2009 year, including the Nadal v Verdasco semi final and the Nadal v Federer final... |
QF | QF | 1 / 7 | 29–6 | 82.86 | ||
| French Open | A | A | W 2005 French Open - Men's Singles Gastón Gaudio was the defending champion, but lost in the fourth round to David Ferrer.Rafael Nadal won in the final 6–7, 6–3, 6–1, 7–5, against Mariano Puerta.-Seeds:# Roger Federer # Andy Roddick ... |
W 2006 French Open - Men's Singles Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, and won in the final 1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6, against Roger Federer.-Seeds:# Roger Federer # Rafael Nadal ... |
W 2007 French Open - Men's Singles Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, and won in the final 6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, against Roger Federer.-Seeds:# Roger Federer # Rafael Nadal # Andy Roddick # Nikolay Davydenko ... |
W 2008 French Open - Men's Singles Rafael Nadal was the defending champion and did not drop a set in the tournament and won in the final 6–1, 6–3, 6–0, against Roger Federer.-Seeds:# Roger Federer # Rafael Nadal # Novak Djoković ... |
4R | W | W | 6 / 7 | 45–1 | 97.83 | ||
| Wimbledon | 3R 2003 Wimbledon Championships - Men's Singles Roger Federer defeated Mark Philippoussis 7-6, 6-2, 7-6 in the final to win the Gentlemen's Singles title at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships. It was Federer's first Grand Slam tournament win.-Seeds:The seeded players are listed below.-Key:... |
A | 2R 2005 Wimbledon Championships - Men's Singles Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick 6-2 7-6 6-4 in the final to win the Gentlemen's Singles title at the 2005 Wimbledon Championships.-Seeds:# Roger Federer '# Andy Roddick # Lleyton Hewitt ... |
F 2006 Wimbledon Championships - Men's Singles The 2006 Wimbledon Championships - Men's Singles began on June 26 and finished on July 9, 2006. Roger Federer defeated Rafael Nadal 6-0 7-6 6-7 6-3 in the final to win his fourth successive Wimbledon title.- Schedule :-Seeds:... |
F 2007 Wimbledon Championships - Men's Singles Roger Federer won his fifth consecutive Wimbledon to equal the record of Björn Borg, defeating Rafael Nadal in five sets in the final.-Seeds:# Roger Federer # Rafael Nadal # Andy Roddick # Novak Djoković ... |
W 2008 Wimbledon Championships - Men's Singles Rafael Nadal defeated five-time defending Wimbledon champion, Roger Federer, in five sets to win his first Wimbledon title and fifth Grand Slam championship. It was the longest championship match in Wimbledon history with play lasting four hours and 48 minutes, and with two rain delays... |
A | W | F | 2 / 7 | 35–5 | 87.50 | ||
| US Open | 2R 2003 US Open - Men's Singles Pete Sampras was the defending champion, but retired earlier in the year.Andy Roddick claimed his first and so far only Grand Slam title, defeating Juan Carlos Ferrero, 6–3, 7–6, 6–3, in the final. -Seeds:# Andre Agassi ... |
2R 2004 US Open - Men's Singles Andy Roddick was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals against Joachim Johansson.Roger Federer won the title, defeating Lleyton Hewitt, 6-0, 7-6, 6-0, in the final... |
3R | QF | 4R | SF | SF 2009 US Open - Men's Singles Roger Federer was the defending champion, but was defeated by Juan Martín del Potro in the final, 6–3, 6–7, 6–4, 6–7, 2–6.-Seeds:# Roger Federer # Andy Murray # Rafael Nadal # Novak Djokovic ... |
W | F | 1 / 9 | 34–8 | 80.95 | ||
| Win–Loss | 3–2 | 3–2 | 13–3 | 17–2 | 20–3 | 24–2 | 15–2 | 25–1 | 23–3 | 10 / 30 | 143–20 | 87.73 | ||
Singles: 14 (10 titles, 4 runner-ups)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 2005 | French Open | Clay |  Argentina Mariano PuertaMariano Puerta Mariano Ruben Puerta is a former Argentine professional male tennis player best known for making the final of the French Open in 2005, where he lost to Rafael Nadal in four sets.-Career:... |
6–7(6–8), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5 |
| Winner | 2006 | French Open (2) | Clay |  Switzerland Roger FedererRoger Federer Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles... |
1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(7–4) |
| Runner-up | 2006 2006 Wimbledon Championships The 2006 Wimbledon Championships began on 26 June and finished on 9 July 2006.-Gentlemen's singles: Roger Federer defeated Rafael Nadal 6-0 7-6 6-7 6-3-Ladies' singles: Amélie Mauresmo defeated Justine Henin-Hardenne 2-6 6-3 6-4... |
Wimbledon | Grass | Switzerland Roger Federer |
0–6, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–2), 3–6 |
| Winner | 2007 | French Open (3) | Clay | Switzerland Roger Federer |
6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
| Runner-up | 2007 2007 Wimbledon Championships The 2007 Wimbledon Championships were held between 25 June and 8 July 2007. For the first time there was equal prize money for the men's and women's singles champions. Reconstruction work on Centre Court was in progress and thus it had no roof.... |
Wimbledon (2) | Grass | Switzerland Roger Federer |
6–7(7–9), 6–4, 6–7(3–7), 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(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7 |
| Winner | 2009 | Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
Hard | Switzerland Roger Federer |
7–5, 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 3–6, 6–2 |
| Winner | 2010 2010 French Open – Men's Singles Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the quarterfinals to Robin Söderling, which allowed him to make a second-successive final here. This was the first time since the 2004 French Open that Federer did not reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament.Rafael Nadal won his fifth... |
French Open (5) | Clay |  Sweden Robin SöderlingRobin Söderling Robin Bo Carl Söderling is a professional tennis player from Sweden who is currently ranked number 13 in the ATP rankings. Söderling reached successive French Open finals in 2009 and 2010... |
6–4, 6–2, 6–4 |
| Winner | 2010 2010 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles The Men's Singles event at the 2010 saw Rafael Nadal, the World No. 1 and 2nd seed, defeat 12th seed Tomáš Berdych 6–3 7–5 6–4 in the final to win his 2nd Wimbledon title, and his 8th Grand Slam title overall.... |
Wimbledon (2) | Grass |  Czech Republic Tomáš BerdychTomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His most notable achievements are reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, and the semifinals of the 2010 French Open. He defeated the Croatian player Ivan Ljubičić in five sets to win the Paris Masters in 2005... |
6–3, 7–5, 6–4 |
| Winner | 2010 2010 US Open – Men's Singles Juan Martín del Potro was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year, after undergoing a wrist operation in May and only starting to practice again in August... |
US Open | Hard |  Novak DjokovicNovak Djokovic Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open... |
6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2 |
| Winner | 2011 2011 French Open – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal, the defending champion and, after this tournament, six-time winner of this event defended his title by beating long-time rival Roger Federer for his sixth French Open title, tying him with Björn Borg for most all-time in the open era. Notably, the Spaniard played his first ever... |
French Open (6) | Clay | Roger Federer | 7–5, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 6–1 |
| Runner-up | 2011 2011 Wimbledon Championships The 2011 Wimbledon Championships took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England, from 20 June to 3 July 2011. It was the 125th edition of the championships, and the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. It was played on grass courts and was part of the... |
Wimbledon (3) | Grass | Novak Djokovic |
4–6, 1–6, 6–1, 3–6 |
| Runner-up | 2011 2011 US Open – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal was the defending champion, but was defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic with a score of 6–2, 6–4, 6–7, 6–1. Djokovic claimed his first US Open title, his third Grand Slam of the year, and his fourth Grand Slam overall.-Seeds:... |
US Open | Hard | Novak Djokovic |
2–6, 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 1–6 |
Year-End Championships
| Tournament | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 2008 Tennis Masters Cup – Singles Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the round robin. Rafael Nadal would have been seeded number one, but pulled out pre-tournament citing a knee injuryNovak Djokovic won in the final 6–1, 7–5, against Nikolay Davydenko.-Seeds:... | 2009 | 2010 2010 ATP World Tour Finals – Singles Nikolay Davydenko was the defending champion, but did not qualify for the event.Roger Federer won the tournament after beating Rafael Nadal 6–3, 3–6, 6–1 in the final. It was his fifth title of the year and his fifth year-end championships title. The single set that he lost to Nadal was the only... | 2011 2011 ATP World Tour The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2011 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World... | 2012 2012 ATP World Tour The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2012 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World... | SR | W–L | Win % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year-End Championship Tournaments | |||||||||||||||||
| YEC | A | A | A | A | SF | SF | A 2008 Tennis Masters Cup – Singles Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the round robin. Rafael Nadal would have been seeded number one, but pulled out pre-tournament citing a knee injuryNovak Djokovic won in the final 6–1, 7–5, against Nikolay Davydenko.-Seeds:... |
RR | F 2010 ATP World Tour Finals – Singles Nikolay Davydenko was the defending champion, but did not qualify for the event.Roger Federer won the tournament after beating Rafael Nadal 6–3, 3–6, 6–1 in the final. It was his fifth title of the year and his fifth year-end championships title. The single set that he lost to Nadal was the only... |
RR 2011 ATP World Tour Finals – Singles Roger Federer was the defending champion and confirmed the title, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6–3, 6–7, 6–3 in the final. It was the 6th ATP World Tour Finals title for Federer and the 70th title of his whole career.-Seeds:... |
0 / 5 | 9–10 | 47.37 | ||||
Singles: 1 Runner-up
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Runner-up | 2010 2010 ATP World Tour Finals The 2010 ATP World Tour Finals was held at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom between November 21 and November 28, 2010... |
2010 ATP World Tour Finals 2010 ATP World Tour Finals The 2010 ATP World Tour Finals was held at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom between November 21 and November 28, 2010... |
Hard | Roger Federer Roger Federer Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles... |
3–6, 6–3, 1–6 |
Singles: 1 (1 title)
| Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 2008 | Beijing Olympics 2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events... |
Hard |  Fernando GonzálezFernando González ----Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi is a professional tennis player from Chile. He is known for having one of the hardest forehands on the circuit. In Spanish he is called El Bombardero de La Reina and Mano de Piedra... |
6–3, 7–6(7–2), 6–3 |
Career statistics
All time tournament records
| Tournament | Since | Record accomplished | Player tied |
| All | 1877 | Most consecutive titles at any single tournament (7) | Sears, Gonzales Pancho Gonzales Ricardo Alonso González , generally known as Richard "Pancho" Gonzales was an American tennis player. He was the world no. 1 professional tennis player for an unequalled eight years in the 1950s and early 1960s... , Rosewall Ken Rosewall Kenneth Robert Rosewall AM MBE is a former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player from Australia. He won 23 Majors including eight Grand Slam singles titles and before the Open Era a record fifteen Pro Slam titles . Rosewall won 9 slams in doubles with a career double grand slam... |
| Monte Carlo Masters | 1897 | Most men's singles titles (7) | Stands alone |
| French Open | 1925 | Most men's singles titles (6) | Björn Borg Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles... |
| Rome Masters | 1930 | Most men's singles titles (5) | Stands alone |
| Barcelona Open | 1953 | Most men's singles titles (6) | Stands alone |
ITF Grand Slam tournament records
- These records were attained in the Open EraOpen eraOpen era or Open Era may refer to:* Open Era , the period since 1968 where professionals can compete in Grand Slams* Glasnost era, the increased openness in the Soviet Union from the mid-1980s...
of tennis (since 1968).
| ITF Grand Slam tournaments | Year(s) | Record accomplished | Player tied |
| Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open Olympics |
2009 2005 2008 2010 2008 |
Career Golden Slam | Andre Agassi Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game... |
| Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open |
2009 2005 2008 2010 |
Career Grand Slam | Rod Laver Rod Laver Rodney George "Rod" Laver MBE is an Australian former tennis player who holds the record for titles won in career, and was the World No. 1 player for seven consecutive years, from 1964 to 1970... Andre Agassi Roger Federer Roger Federer Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles... |
| Australian Open – French Open – Wimbledon – US Open | 2005–2010 | At least two Majors on grass, clay, and hard courts | Mats Wilander Mats Wilander Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title... |
| French Open – US Open | 2010 | Winner of Majors on clay, grass, and hard court in calendar year | Stands alone |
| French Open – US Open | 2010 | Winner of three consecutive Majors in calendar year | Rod Laver |
| French Open – US Open | 2010 | Simultaneous holder of Majors on clay, grass, and hard court | Roger Federer |
| Olympics – US Open | 2010 | Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and Majors on clay, grass, and hard court | Stands alone |
| Olympics – Wimbledon | 2010 | Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and Wimbledon | Stands alone |
| Olympics – French Open | 2010 | Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and three Majors | Andre Agassi |
| Olympics – US Open | 2010 | Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and clay & hard court Majors | Andre Agassi |
| French Open | 2005–2011 | 6 titles in 7 years | Stands alone |
| French Open | 2005–2011 | 6 titles | Björn Borg Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles... |
| French Open | 2005–2009 | 31 consecutive match wins | Stands alone |
| French Open—Wimbledon | 2008, 2010 | 1 "Channel Slam": Winning both tournaments in the same year | Rod Laver Björn Borg Roger Federer Roger Federer Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles... |
| French Open | 2005–2008 | 4 consecutive wins | Björn Borg Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles... |
| French Open | 2005–2008 | 4 consecutive finals | Björn Borg Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles... Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis... Roger Federer Roger Federer Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles... |
| French Open | 2008, 2010 | Most French Open championships without losing a set (2) | Björn Borg |
| French Open | 2005–2008, 2010–2011 | 6 French Open Finals overall | Björn Borg Björn Borg Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles... |
| Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open |
2005–2010 | Finalist in all the 4 majors | Rod Laver Ken Rosewall Ken Rosewall Kenneth Robert Rosewall AM MBE is a former world top-ranking amateur and professional tennis player from Australia. He won 23 Majors including eight Grand Slam singles titles and before the Open Era a record fifteen Pro Slam titles . Rosewall won 9 slams in doubles with a career double grand slam... Ivan Lendl Stefan Edberg Stefan Edberg Stefan Bengt Edberg is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Sweden. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles. He also won one season ending championship title the Masters Grand Prix... Jim Courier Jim Courier James Spencer "Jim" Courier, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won four Grand Slam singles titles, two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open... Andre Agassi Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game... Roger Federer |
ATP Masters records
- ATP Masters was introduced in 1990.
| ATP Masters Series | Year(s) | Record accomplished | Player tied |
| Monte Carlo Masters—Madrid Masters Madrid Masters There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters... |
2005–2011 | Most Masters singles titles (19) | Stands alone |
| Madrid Masters Madrid Masters There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters... |
2009 | Longest best-of-three sets Men's singles match ever played (4 hours, 3 minutes) | Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open... |
| Monte Carlo Masters—Roland Garros | 2010 | 1 Clay Slam: 3 Masters series on clay and Roland Garros | Stands alone |
| Monte Carlo Masters | 2005–2011 | 7 consecutive titles | Stands alone |
| Rome Masters Rome Masters The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's... |
2005–2010 | 5 titles in 6 years | Stands alone |
| ATP Masters | 2008–2010 | 21 consecutive Quarter-Finals | Stands alone |
| ATP Masters | 2008 | Consecutive tournaments won on 3 different surfaces | Roger Federer (2004) |
| ATP Masters | 2005–2011 | Most consecutive years winning at least 1 Masters Title – 7 | Stands alone |
| Monte Carlo Masters—Rome Masters Rome Masters The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's... |
2005–2007 2009–2010 |
Most years winning both Titles – 5 | Stands alone |
| ATP Masters | 2007–2010 | Consecutive years winning at least 3 Masters Titles – 4 | Stands alone |
| ATP Masters | 2005–2011 | Winning Percentage above 80% | Stands alone |
| Monte Carlo Masters—Rome Masters Rome Masters The Italian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is the most prestigious red clay tennis tournament in the world after the French Open, with the men's competition being an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, and the women's... —Madrid Masters Madrid Masters There are two sporting events named the Madrid Masters:*Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open — a men's and women's tennis tournament*Madrid Masters... |
2010 | Winning 3 consecutive ATP Masters Titles | Novak Djokovic (2011) |
| Monte Carlo Masters | 2008 | Winner of the Singles and Doubles Tournament at the same Tournament and the same year | Jim Courier Jim Courier James Spencer "Jim" Courier, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won four Grand Slam singles titles, two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open... (Indian Wells 1991) |
| ATP Masters | 2011 | Most Consecutive Finals reached – 5 | Stands alone |
Rivalry with Roger Federer
- They are the only men in the open eraOpen eraOpen era or Open Era may refer to:* Open Era , the period since 1968 where professionals can compete in Grand Slams* Glasnost era, the increased openness in the Soviet Union from the mid-1980s...
who have played each other in eight Grand Slam finals, with Nadal winning six of the eight finals. Four of these six 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 final2008 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles finalThe 2008 Wimbledon Men's Singles final was the championship tennis match of the Men's Singles tournament at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships. A part of the storied Federer-Nadal rivalry, it pitted then-World No. 1 Roger Federer against then-World No. 2 Rafael Nadal. After 4 hours and 48 minutes,...
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.
- Twelve of Nadal's 17 wins over Federer have come on clay courts which is statistically Nadal's best surface and statistically Federer's worst surface. Nadal leads their overall head-to-head series 17–9 (Nadal leads 12–2 on clay, Federer leads 2–1 on grass, Federer leads 5–4 on hard courts).
Playing style
Nadal generally plays an aggressive, behind-the-baseline game founded on heavy topspinTopspin
In ball sports, topspin is a property of a ball that rotates as if rolling in the same direction as it is moving. Topspin on a shot imparts a downward force that causes the ball to drop, due to its interaction with the air . It can be generated by hitting the ball with an up-and-forward swing, with...
groundstrokes, consistency, speedy footwork and tenacious court coverage thus making him an aggressive counterpuncher. Known for his athleticism and speed around the court, Nadal is an excellent defender who hits well on the run, constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions. 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, although he has been noted by several commentators (including John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
) as an excellent volleyer, which has contributed to his reaching four Wimbledon finals on grass, winning two of them, and has been observed approaching the net more often since 2009.
In recent years, 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. 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. However, before the 2010 season, he altered his service motion, arriving in the trophy pose earlier and pulling the racket lower during the trophy pose. Before the 2010 U.S. Open, Nadal modified his service grip to a more continental one. These two changes in his serve have increased its average speed by around 10 mph, maxing out at 135 mph (217 km), allowing him to win more free points on his serve.
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.
Nadal is a clay court specialist in the sense that he has been extremely successful on that surface. Since 2005, he won six times at Roland Garros, seven times at Monte Carlo and five at Rome. However, Nadal has shed that label due to his success on other surfaces, including holding Grand Slams simultaneously on grass, hard courts, and clay on two separate occasions, 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.
Equipment and endorsements
Nadal has appeared in advertising campaigns for Kia MotorsKia Motors
Kia Motors , headquartered in Seoul, is South Korea's second-largest automobile manufacturer, following the Hyundai Motor Company, with sales of over 1.4 million vehicles in 2010...
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.
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
Capri pants
Capri pants are mid-calf pants worn in warm weather. Variants end below the knee and calf...
. For the 2009 season, Nadal 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
2009 Capitala World Tennis Championship
The 2009 Capitala World Tennis Championship was a non-ATP affiliated exhibition tournament. It was the first edition of the event held in Abu Dhabi, from January 1 through January 3 2009 and. Six of the world's top ten were competing in the knockout event, which had prize money of $250,000 to the...
and Doha
Qatar ExxonMobil Open
The Qatar Open, currently known as the Qatar ExxonMobil Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour...
, 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
2009 Australian Open
The 2009 Australian Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 97th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia, from 19 January through 1 February 2009. The 2009 men's...
, where he 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.
Becomes the face of Lanvin's
Lanvin (clothing)
Lanvin is a high fashion house founded by Jeanne Lanvin.-History:Lanvin made such beautiful clothes for her daughter that they began to attract the attention of a number of wealthy people who requested copies for their own children...
L'Homme Sport cologne, launched April 2009.
Nadal uses an AeroPro Drive racquet with a 4-inch L2 grip. , 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. He 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 (24.9 kg), regardless of which surface or conditions he is playing on.
, Nadal is the international ambassador for Quely
Quely
Quely is a family-run company founded in Majorca, Spain, in 1853 that manufactures biscuits, baked goods, and chocolate coated products.-History:...
, a company from his native Majorca that manufactures biscuits, bakery and chocolate coated products; he has consumed their products ever since he was a young child.
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. During the 2010 French Open, Men's Fitness
Men's Fitness
Men's Fitness is a men's magazine published by American Media, Inc and founded in the United States in 1987. The premier issue featured Michael Pare from the television series The Greatest American Hero....
reported that Nadal wore the Richard Mille watch on the court as part of a sponsorship deal with the Swiss watchmaker.
Nadal replaces Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, , commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team...
as the new face of Emporio Armani Underwear and Armani Jeans for the spring/summer 2011 collection that will launch in February. This is the first time that the label has chosen a tennis player for the job; association football has ruled lately prior to Ronaldo, David Beckham
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
graced the ads since 2008. Armani said that he selected Nadal as his latest male underwear model because "...he is ideal as he represents a healthy and positive model for youngsters."
In popular culture
In February 2010, Rafael Nadal was featured in the music video of "GypsyGypsy (Shakira song)
-Versions:There are currently three versions released. The Original Album Version which runs 3:18 seconds. The Spanish version, 3:29, which follows the same instrumental arrangement as the "original album version" but is slightly extended, and the "Radio Edit", 3:29, which was produced by...
", the forthcoming single from Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
and part of her album release She Wolf
She Wolf (album)
She Wolf is the sixth studio album by Colombian singer-songwriter Shakira, first released on October 9, 2009 through Epic Records and Sony Music Latin. The album sees Shakira shift from Latin pop and pop rock to electropop while also exploring dancehall...
. 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."
Misc
128036 Rafaelnadal128036 Rafaelnadal
128036 Rafaelnadal is a Main belt asteroid discovered in 2003 at the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca, Spain and named after the Majorca born tennis player Rafael Nadal.-See also:* Asteroid* List of asteroids named after people* List of asteroids...
is a Main belt asteroid discovered in 2003 at the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca, Spain and named after Rafael Nadal.
Involvement in football
Nadal has recently become seriously involved in SpanishFootball in Spain
Football is the most popular sport in Spain. The Royal Spanish Football Federation is the national governing body and it organizes La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spain national football team, current champion of the FIFA World Cup...
football. Nadal is an avid fan of soccer club Real Madrid
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
. On 8 July 2010, it was reported that Nadal has become a shareholder of RCD Mallorca
RCD Mallorca
Real Club Deportivo Mallorca is a Spanish football team based on Palma, Majorca, in the Balearic Islands. Founded on 5 March 1916, the team currently plays in the Spanish first division, holding home games at Son Moix....
, his local club by birth, in an attempt to assist the club from debt. Rafa reportedly owns 10 percent and was offered the role of vice president, but he rejected that offer. Though, his uncle Miguel Ángel Nadal
Miguel Ángel Nadal
Miguel Ángel Nadal Homar is a retired Spanish footballer and current coach.Nicknamed The Beast, Nadal based his game in a tremendous physical display, also being adaptable to various defender and midfielder positions....
, became assistant coach under Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup
Michael Laudrup is a retired Danish footballer, who works as a manager and last coached La Liga side RCD Mallorca. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of football. His most prominent run of football came with Spanish club Barcelona, with whom he won four straight La...
. Nadal remains a passionate Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
supporter; ESPN.com
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...
writer Graham Hunter wrote, "He's as Merengue as [Real Madrid icons] Raúl
Raúl González
Raúl González Blanco , known simply as Raúl, is a Spanish footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for German club Schalke 04....
, Iker Casillas
Íker Casillas
Iker Casillas Fernández is a Spanish football goalkeeper who plays for the Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Spanish national team, being the captain of both...
and Alfredo Di Stéfano
Alfredo Di Stéfano
Alfredo Stéfano Di Stéfano Laulhé, born into a family of Italian immigrants from Capri, is a former Argentinian footballer and coach, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time...
." Shortly after acquiring his interest in Mallorca, he called out UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
for apparent hypocrisy in ejecting the club from the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League for excessive debts, saying through a club spokesperson, "Well, if those are the criteria upon which UEFA is operating, then European competition will only comprise two or three clubs because all the rest are in debt, too."
He is also a fervent supporter of the Spanish national team
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
, and was one of only six people not affiliated with the team or the national federation allowed into the team's locker room immediately following Spain's victory in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final
2010 FIFA World Cup Final
The 2010 FIFA World Cup Final was a football match that took place on 11 July 2010 at Soccer City in Johannesburg, South Africa, to determine the winner of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Spain defeated the Netherlands 1–0 with a goal from Andrés Iniesta four minutes from the end of extra time...
.
Philanthropy
Rafael Nadal took part in Thailand's 'A Million Trees For The King' project, planting a tree in honour of King Bhumibol AdulyadejBhumibol Adulyadej
Bhumibol Adulyadej is the current King of Thailand. He is known as Rama IX...
on a visit to Hua Hin
Hua Hin
Hua Hin is a famous beach resort town in Thailand, in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula, some 200 km south of Bangkok. It has a population of 84,883 in an area of 911 km², and is one of eight districts of the Prachuap Khiri Khan province.Hua Hin is closely associated with the...
during his Thailand Open 2010. "For me it's an honour to part of this project," said Nadal. "It's a very good project. I want to congratulate the Thai people and congratulate the King for this unbelievable day. I wish all the best for this idea. It's very, very nice."
Fundación Rafa Nadal
The creation of the Fundación Rafa Nadal took place in November 2007, and its official presentation was in February 2008, at the Manacor Tennis Club in Mallorca, Spain. The foundation will focus on social work and development aid particularly on childhood and youth. On deciding why to start a foundation, Nadal said "This can be the beginning of my future, when I retire and have more time, [...] I am doing very well and I owe society, [...] A month-and-a-half ago I was in ChennaiChennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, in India. The truth is we live great here....I can contribute something with my image..." Nadal was inspired by the Red Cross benefit match against malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
with Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas
Íker Casillas
Iker Casillas Fernández is a Spanish football goalkeeper who plays for the Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and the Spanish national team, being the captain of both...
, recalling, "We raised an amount of money that we would never have imagined. I have to thank Iker, my project partner, who went all out for it, [...] That is why the time has come to set up my own foundation and determine the destination of the money." Ana Maria Parera, Rafa's mom, chairs the organization and father Sebastian is vice-chairman. Coach and uncle Toni Nadal
Toni Nadal
Antonio "Toni" Nadal Homar is a Spanish tennis coach who has coached his nephew Rafael Nadal to the top of the world rankings....
and his agent, former tennis player Carlos Costa, are also involved. Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
has been giving Nadal advice on getting involved in philanthropy. Despite the fact that poverty in India struck him particularly hard, Nadal wants to start by helping "people close by, in the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
, in Spain, and then, if possible, abroad."
On 16 October 2010, Nadal traveled to India for the first time to assist in the transformation of one of the poorest and most needy areas of India, Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...
. He has an academy in the south of the country, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. His foundation has also worked in the Anantapur Educational Center project, in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation
Vicente Ferrer Moncho
Vicente Ferrer Moncho was a philanthropist who spent his life working to improve the lives of the poor in the mission he founded in Southern India. Today the Vicente Ferrer Foundation carries out humanitarian projects in Andhra Pradesh, bringing aid to over 2.5 million poor people...
.
Personal life
Nadal owns an Aston Martin DBSAston Martin DBS V12
The modern Aston Martin DBS is a high performance GT sports car from the UK manufacturer Aston Martin. Aston has used the DBS name once before on their 1967–72 grand tourer coupe...
. Nadal lived with his parents and younger sister Maria Isabel, at an age when many tennis stars have long moved out, in a five-story apartment building in their hometown of Manacor, Mallorca. In June 2009, Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia
La Vanguardia
La Vanguardia is Catalonia's leading daily newspaper as well as the fourth best-selling in Spain. It has its headquarters in Barcelona, Catalonia's largest city....
and then The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that Nadal's parents, Ana Maria and Sebastian, had separated. This news came after weeks of heated speculation in Internet posts and message boards over Nadal's personal issues as the cause of his setback. Nadal has revealed himself to be Agnostic.
Nadal's autobiography, Rafa, written with assistance from John Carlin
John Carlin
John Carlin is a journalist and author, dealing with both sports and politics. His book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game that Made a Nation about former South African president Nelson Mandela is the basis for the 2009 film Invictus.-Personal life:Carlin was born to a Scottish father...
was published in August 2011.
See also
- ATP World Tour records
- List of ATP number 1 ranked players
- List of Grand Slam men's singles champions
- List of non-Grand Slam tennis statistics and records
- 128036 Rafaelnadal128036 Rafaelnadal128036 Rafaelnadal is a Main belt asteroid discovered in 2003 at the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca, Spain and named after the Majorca born tennis player Rafael Nadal.-See also:* Asteroid* List of asteroids named after people* List of asteroids...
asteroid - List of open era tennis records
- ATP AwardsATP AwardsThis is a list of all the awards given by the ATP World Tour to players of particular distinction during a given season. The 2011 awards were announced on November 19.-Player of the Year:-Doubles Team of the Year:-Most Improved Player:...