Rafael Nadal: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 14:35, 6 July 2006
- For other people named Nadal, See Nadal (disambiguation).
You must add a |reason= parameter to this Cleanup template – replace it with {{Cleanup|June 2006|reason=<Fill reason here>}}, or remove the Cleanup template.
| Rafael Nadal Copyright www.cnn.net | |
| Country (sports) |  Spain |
|---|---|
| Residence | Manacor, Mallorca |
| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) |
| Turned pro | 2001 |
| Plays | Left |
| Prize money | $7,113,129 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 161-43 |
| Career titles | 17 |
| Highest ranking | No. 2 (July 25, 2005) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 4th (2005) |
| French Open | W (2005, 2006) |
| Wimbledon | QF (2006) |
| US Open | 3rd (2005) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 45-27 |
| Career titles | 3 |
| Highest ranking | No. 26 (August 8, 2005) |
| Last updated on: June 12, 2006. | |
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (born June 3, 1986 in Manacor, Mallorca) is a Spanish tennis player [1]. He is the nephew of former F.C. Barcelona footballer Miguel Ángel Nadal. He is currently the world's No. 2 male tennis player and was the first man since Boris Becker to reach this ranking in his teenage years.
Nadal plays with a huge topspin, and his quickness on the court allows him to return almost every ball. His conditioning allows him to stay sharp, even after he has played for several hours. He is also very strong in counterattacks.
Although Nadal plays left-handed, he is naturally right-handed. When he was younger, his uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, decided that his two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm, so he taught Rafael to play with his left. [2]
Nadal's current clay-court winning streak (after defeating Roger Federer 1-6 6-1 6-4 7-6(4) in the final of the 2006 French Open) stands at 60 consecutive matches, the longest clay court winning streak among men in the Open Era. Nadal had previously shared the record at 53 with Guillermo Vilas. When he broke this record he was still a teen. Chris Evert holds the record (for both men and women) at 125 matches.
Career
In 2002, he won his first ATP match at Majorca at the age of 15, defeating Ramon Delgado to become the ninth player in the Open Era to win an ATP match before his 16th birthday.
In 2003, Nadal became the second-youngest player to be ranked among the world's top 100 singles players. He finished the year in the top 50, winning two Challenger titles. At his Wimbledon debut in 2003, he became the youngest player (at age 16) to reach the 3rd round since 16-year-old Boris Becker in 1984.
By May 2005, he had reached the top 5 in world rankings, becoming the youngest player to break into the Top 10 since Andrei Medvedev in 1993.
2005 was Nadal's breakthrough year. He won two ATP Masters Series events in Monte Carlo and Rome. Nadal won 24 consecutive matches during early 2005, the longest winning streak of any teenager in the Open Era, topping Andre Agassi's run of 23 matches in 1988. In his Roland Garros debut, he defeated world No. 1 Roger Federer in the semi-finals on his 19th birthday. Two days later, sporting his trademark white Nike head band, sleeveless shirt, and three-quarter length 'pirata' trousers, he became the fourth-youngest Roland Garros champion in the Open Era defeating Argentina's Mariano Puerta in the final. He became the seventh player to win a Grand Slam in his first appearance at the event, and the first since Andre Agassi at the 1995 Australian Open. He became the first teenager to win a Grand Slam since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19. Nadal is the first teenager to win six titles in a year since Agassi in 1988 at the age of 18.
The 2005 grass court season was not as promising, however. Three days after his victory in Paris, his winning streak was snapped on the grass of Halle, Germany, where he was beaten by German Alexander Waske in the first round. He suffered another disappointment at Wimbledon, where he was eliminated in the second round of Wimbledon by Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.
Nadal's hard court season began and ended in disappointment. He was eliminated in the third round of the 2005 US Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, by American James Blake. His second seed overall and third round U.S. Open performance were both career highs. He defeated Bobby Reynolds in the first round and Scoville Jenkins in the second, both Americans. However, after the US Open, he won two more hard court tournaments. In September he defeated Guillermo Coria in the final of the China Open in Beijing. Then, in October, he won his fourth Masters Series event, defeating Ivan Ljubičić in five sets in the final of the Masters Series Madrid tournament, played in Nadal's home country. He then suffered an injury which kept him out of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005 and the start of 2006. Overall, Nadal matched world No. 1 Roger Federer's standard in ATP titles won in a single season, 11; and Masters Series events won, four. He won 79 matches in 2005, second only to Fderer's 81.
2006 marked the peak of the fierce rivalry between Nadal and Federer. On March 4, 2006, Nadal handed Federer his first loss of the 2006 season at the final in Dubai, winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal defeated Federer again at the Monte Carlo Masters 6-2 6-7 6-3 7-6. The two squared off again in the Rome finals. It seemed as though Federer might finally defeat his nemesis thereby ending Nadal's streak of consecutive clay court matches. However, Nadal fought off two match points and won 6-7 7-6 6-4 2-6 7-6.
Nadal broke Guillermo Vilas's 29-year record of 53 consecutive clay court match victories after defeating Robin Söderling in the first round of the 2006 French Open. Following the victory, Nadal was presented with a trophy containing the cross section of the construction of a clay court. Vilas was on hand for the ceremony, though he does not exactly praise Nadal for his accomplishment (see Trivia below).
The 2006 final was one of the most hotly anticipated in the history of the event, pitting No. 1 Federer against No. 2 Nadal in perhaps the most important match of both of their careers. For Federer, the French Open was the missing link in a career Grand Slam, and in holding all four majors simultaneously. For Nadal, he had the enormous task of defending his French Open title as well as that of maintaining a dominant winning record against Federer--something that no other player in all of the ATP has accomplished. Though Nadal was favorite based on clay-court playing ability, Federer was the overwhelming favorite with the raucous French crowd. Everyone expected a highly competitive match, much like the ones that they had played in the last three Masters tournaments. Yet, the first two sets were hardly competitive as the fierce rivals traded 6-1 sets. Nadal steamrolled over Federer through sets 3 and 4, when Federer finally broke Nadal's serve deep in the 4th set, and forced a tiebreak which Nadal eventually won.
With an undefeated 2006 clay court season, Nadal firmly stamped himself as the dominant clay-court player in the world, and as the only player to have Roger Federer's number, so to speak. He has said that he hopes to become a better all-court player, but withdrew due to injury against Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals of Queens, a Wimbledon tune-up tournament. He is seeded No. 2 going into Wimbledon, which began on June 26.
Trivia
- Rafael Nadal is keen Football fan and his favourite player is Frenchman Zinédine Zidane
- Rafael Nadal has met considerable hostility from the Parisian public during his performances at Roland Garros. He is often booed throughout and even after the match, especially when playing against and beating French players such as Mathieu or Gasquet. Commentators on French TV, such as Guy Forget on France 2, openly say they want him to lose during matches, claiming that "we don't need construction worker arms in tennis". After the 2006 Roland Garros final against Federer, Nadal started by praising Federer in his speech. The translator mistranslated the speech, leading the public to think he was praising himself. Nadal was thus booed and whistled at throughout the speech.
- Nadal's record-setting 60-match clay court win streak has been consistently belittled by the man whose record he broke--Guillermo Vilas. Vilas reasons that Nadal's streak isn't as impressive as his was because "things were much more difficult in my day," and because Vilas's 53-match win streak all occurred within the same calendar year--not over two seasons as is the case with Nadal.
- Nadal is the nephew of former Spanish footballer Miguel Ángel Nadal, one of Spain's most capped players. Miguel's brother Toni is the coach of Rafael.
- In preparation for an event, tennis great Pat Cash played a clay-court match against the then fourteen year-old Rafael Nadal. In the end, he was surprised to find himself losing by a close margin.
- Tends to take his time between points much to the chagrin of his opponents. In one point he took close to a full-minute to serve when the allowable time limit was only 20 seconds.
Streaks and Records
- Nadal currently has a 60-match clay court winning streak—an Open Era record for a male player.
- He is one of only two people to win the French Open on his first attempt, the first being Mats Wilander in 1982. By defending his title in 2006, he is a perfect 14-0 in the tournament.
- At 19 years 1 month and 22 days, Nadal became the third teenager in history (since 1973) to reach world no. 2 in the INDESIT ATP Entry Ranking, joining Boris Becker (18 years, 9 months and 17 days) and Björn Borg (18 years, 10 months and 2 days) as the only teenagers to be ranked no. 2.
- He has held two winning streaks of 20 consecutive matches or more. The first one was a 24-match winning streak in mid 2005; the second is a streak of 26 matches dating from his loss to Carlos Moya in March 2006 to his retirement due to injury in the quarterfinals of the Queen's Club tournament against Lleyton Hewitt on 16 June 2006.
Grand Slam singles finals
Wins (2)
| Year | Championship | Opponent in Final | Score in Final |
| 2005 | French Open | Mariano Puerta | 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 |
| 2006 | French Open (2) | Roger Federer | 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 |
Titles (20)
| Legend |
| Grand Slam (2) |
| Tennis Masters Cup (0) |
| ATP Masters Series (6) |
| ATP Tour (9) |
Singles (17)
- Nadal also won 6 entry-level Spanish Futures events in 2002 and 2 Challenger tournaments in 2003 before he fully joined the professional ATP tour.
Performance timeline
| Tournament | Career | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open | 5-2 | - | 4r | 3r | - | - |
| French Open | 14-0 | W | W | - | - | - |
| Wimbledon | 3-2 | (SF) | 2r | - | 3r | - |
| U.S. Open | 4-3 | 3r | 2r | 2r | - | |
| Grand Slam Win-Loss | 26-7 | 7-0 | 13-3 | 3-2 | 3-2 | 0-0 |
| Indian Wells Masters | 6-2 | SF | - | 3r | - | - |
| Miami Masters | 7-3 | 2r | F | 4r | - | - |
| Monte Carlo Masters | 14-1 | W | W | - | 3r | - |
| Rome Masters | 12-0 | W | W | - | - | - |
| Hamburg Masters | 2-1 | - | - | - | 3r | - |
| Canada Masters | 6-1 | W | 1r | - | - | |
| Cincinnati Masters | 0-2 | 1r | 1r | - | - | |
| Madrid Masters | 6-2 | W | 2r | 1r | - | |
| Paris Masters | 0-0 | - | - | - | - | |
| Tennis Masters Cup | 0-0 | - | - | - | - | |
| Finals reached | 19 | 5 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tournaments won | 17 | 5 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hard Win-Loss | 54-21 | 11-3 | 28-6 | 14-10 | 1-2 | 0-0 |
| Clay Win-Loss | 100-12 | 24-0 | 50-2 | 14-3 | 11-6 | 1-1 |
| Grass Win-Loss | 5-4 | 2-1 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 0-0 |
| Indoor Win-Loss | 2-6 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 0-2 | 0-0 | |
| Overall Win-Loss | 161-43 | 37-4 | 79-10 | 30-17 | 14-11 | 1-1 |
| ATP Entry Ranking points | N/A | 4360 | 775 | 766 | 165 | |
| Year End Ranking | N/A | 2 | 51 | 49 | 200 |
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-8 finishes (quarter finals up to finalist.)
Doubles (3)
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partnering | Opponents in the final | Score |
| 1. | August 21, 2003 | Croatia Open Umag, Umag, Croatia | Clay | Álex López Morón (Spain)
|
 Todd Perry (Australia) and Thomas Shimada (Japan)
|
6-1 6-3 |
| 2. | January 5, 2004 | Chennai Open, Chennai, India | Hard | Tommy Robredo (Spain)
|
 Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram (Israel)
|
7-6 4-6 6-3 |
| 3. | January 3, 2005 | Qatar ExxonMobil Open, Doha, Qatar | Hard | Albert Costa (Spain)
|
 Andrei Pavel (Romania) and Mikhail Youzhny (Russia)
|
6-3 4-6 6-3 |
Ranking
Highest Rankings:
2004 Davis Cup
Nadal was one of the heroes for his team in the 2004 Davis Cup, leading Spain to victory.
R1 vs Czech Republic
- Lost to Jiří Novák 7-6, 6-3, 7-6
- Lost to Jiří Novák and Radek Štěpánek 6-4, 7-6(6), 6-3 (w/ T. Robredo)
- Defeated Radek Štěpánek 7-6, 7-6, 6-3
R2 vs France
- Defeated Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-1, 6-2
- Defeated Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 (w/ T. Robredo)
Finals vs USA
- Defeated Andy Roddick 6-7, 6-2, 7-6, 6-2