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Rafael Nadal

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For other people named Nadal, see Nadal (disambiguation).
Rafael Nadal
File:NADAL1.jpg
Country (sports)Spain Spain
ResidenceManacor, Mallorca
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro2001
PlaysLeft; Two-handed backhand
Prize money$8,492,034[1]
Singles
Career record186-53
Career titles18
Highest rankingNo. 2 (July 25, 2005)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQF (2007)
French OpenW (2005, 2006)
WimbledonF (2006)
US OpenQF (2006)
Doubles
Career record51-30
Career titles1
Highest rankingNo. 26 (August 8, 2005)
Last updated on: February 16, 2007.

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (IPA: [rafa'el na'ðal]) (born June 3, 1986, in Manacor, Mallorca) is a Spanish tennis player.

As of February 2007, he is ranked second in the world. Nadal's clay-court winning streak stands at 62 matches, the longest among male players in the open era.[2] He has won two consecutive French Open singles titles, having never lost a match at the event.

Early years

Nadal was born in Manacor, Mallorca to his parents, Sebastian and Ana-Marie; he also has a younger sister named Maria Isabel. His father owns a restaurant and a glass-making business. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a star football player who played for the RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team.[3] His other uncle, Toni, is his current coach and introduced him to the sport when Nadal was three-years-old.[4]

Although Nadal plays left-handed, he is naturally right-handed. When he was younger, his 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.[5]

It was not until Nadal was 12 that he decided to pursue a career in tennis, instead of football.[3] In May 2001, when Nadal was 14-years-old, tennis great Pat Cash played a clay-court exhibition match against him. Cash was reluctant to play against Nadal, because Boris Becker was originally scheduled to be his opponent, and took this rearranged match as an offense. In the end, he was surprised to find himself losing by a close margin.[3]

Career

2002 - 2004

In 2002, the 15-year-old Nadal won his first ATP match, defeating Ramon Delgado in Majorca to become the ninth player in the open era to win an ATP match before his 16th birthday.[6]

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, Nadal, then 17, became the youngest male player to reach the third round since 16-year-old Boris Becker in 1984.[7]

2005

2005 was Nadal's breakthrough year. At the Australian Open, he reached the fourth round and pushed the eventual runner-up, Lleyton Hewitt, to five sets. Two months later, he reached the final of the Miami Masters tournament — indeed, was three points away from victory in straight sets — but was defeated in five sets by the world's number one player, Roger Federer.

Shifting to the clay court season, Nadal won two ATP Masters Series events in Monte Carlo and Rome. At one point in the year, Nadal won 24 consecutive matches, the longest winning streak of any teenager in the open era, topping Andre Agassi's run of 23 matches in 1988. By May 2005, Nadal had reached the top 5 in the world rankings, becoming the youngest player to break into the top 10 since Andrei Medvedev in 1993.

Nadal entered his first French Open among the favorites. He beat two of France's local hopes, Sebastien Grosjean and Richard Gasquet, to reach the semifinals. On his 19th birthday, he defeated Federer in the semifinals, preventing the Swiss from achieving a career Grand Slam. Two days later, he became the fourth-youngest French Open champion in the open era, defeating Argentina's Mariano Puerta in the final.[8] He became the seventh player to win a Grand Slam in his first appearance at the event and the first since Agassi at the 1995 Australian Open. He also became the first teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 U.S. Open at age 19. Nadal is the first teenager to win at least six titles in a year since Agassi in 1988 at the age of 18.

Three days after his victory in Paris, his winning streak was snapped on the grass courts of Halle, Germany, where he was beaten by German Alexander Waske in the first round.[9] He suffered another disappointment at Wimbledon, where he was eliminated in the second round by Gilles Müller of Luxembourg.[10]

Nadal started his 2005 hardcourt season by defeating Agassi in the final of the Canada Masters. Nadal was seeded second at the U.S. Open but was eliminated in the third round by American James Blake in four sets. Despite the loss, his second seeding and third round performance were both career highs. After the U.S. Open, Nadal won two more hard court tournaments. In September, he defeated Guillermo Coria in the final of the China Open in Beijing, and in October, he won his fourth Masters Series event, defeating Ivan Ljubičić in five sets in the final of the Madrid Masters. He then suffered a foot injury that kept him out of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005 and the start of 2006, causing him to miss the Australian Open. Overall, Nadal matched world No. 1 Roger Federer's standard in ATP titles won in a single season, eleven, and Masters Series events won, four. He won 79 matches in 2005, second only to Federer's 81.

2006

Rafael Nadal serving during the 2006 US Open.

The fierce rivalry between Nadal and Roger Federer continued into 2006. In March 2006, Nadal handed Federer his first loss of the year at the final in Dubai, winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal defeated Federer again at the Monte Carlo Masters by a score of 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.

The two squared off again in the Rome Masters final. There, 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 Argentinian Guillermo Vilas's 29-year record of 53 consecutive clay court match victories after defeating Robin Soderling 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, although Vilas has refused to acknowledge Nadal's feat as more impressive than his own (which was accomplished in a single season).

The French Open final was hotly anticipated, pitting No. 1 Federer against No. 2 Nadal. For Federer, the French Open was the missing link in a career Grand Slam and in holding all four majors simultaneously. For Nadal, the task of defending his French Open title, as well as maintaining a dominant winning record against Federer, was enormous, something that no other player has accomplished thus far. Though Nadal was the favorite based on his clay court ability, Federer was the overwhelming favorite with the raucous French crowd. Everyone expected a highly competitive match, much like the ones they had played in the last three Masters Series tournaments. Yet, the first two sets were hardly competitive, as the rivals traded 6-1 sets. Nadal steamrolled over Federer through set 3 and most of 4, when Federer finally broke Nadal's serve deep in the fourth set as he was serving for the match and forced a tiebreak, which Nadal won.[11]

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 able to beat Federer consistently.

Nadal withdrew due to a shoulder injury against Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals of Queens Club, a Wimbledon tune-up tournament. Seeded No. 2 going into Wimbledon, Nadal reached the finals, securing a match against Federer by beating Marcos Baghdatis in the semifinals. During his run, Nadal was two points from defeat against American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the second round before coming back to win in five sets. Nadal also defeated Andre Agassi in the third round, in Agassi's final match at Wimbledon. All seven of the previous Nadal/Federer encounters had been played on either clay or hard courts; however, Wimbledon is played on grass, which is Federer's preferred surface, having won the title for three consecutive years. Though Nadal played well in the final after a sluggish start, he fell in four sets, 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, cementing Federer's position at the top of the world rankings. Despite the loss, Nadal well-exceeded most expectations by reaching the finals, winning more matches at the tournament than he had ever won on grass before (he had been 3-3 on grass before the tournament).

At the 2006 U.S. Open, Nadal achieved his best result at the tournament by reaching the quarterfinals, where he lost to Russian Mikhail Youzhny in four sets.

Nadal failed, however, to reach the third round of his next tournament, the Stockholm Open, where he lost to Joachim Johansson 6-4, 7-6. Nadal also lost in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters, where he was defeated by Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-6 for the third time. After the tournament, Nadal blamed mental and physical exhaustion for his recent losses.

During the round robin stage of the Tennis Masters Cup, Nadal lost to James Blake but defeated Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Robredo. Nadal reached the semifinals as the second place finisher in his group, where he lost to Federer 7-5, 6-4. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer.

2007

Nadal started 2007 by reaching the semifinals of the tournament in Chennai, India, where he lost to Xavier Malisse 6-4, 7-6. At his next tournament in Sydney, Australia, Nadal retired from his first match with a groin injury. At the 2007 Australian Open, Nadal defeated Andy Murray 6-7(3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost to Fernando Gonzalez 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.

Equipment

Nadal uses a Babolat racket known as Aero Pro Drive and his string of choice is known as Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour.[12] Nadal wears Nike sportswear, most notably Capri (3/4) pants.

Trivia

  • Although it is not known why, Rafael Nadal has met considerable hostility from fans during his matches at the French Open. 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 television, 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," referring to his sleeveless shirts. After the 2006 French Open 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. No apology was made.
  • Nadal's record-setting 62-match clay court win streak has been belittled by the man whose record he broke--Guillermo Vilas. Vilas reasons that Nadal's streak is not as impressive as his 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. Also, Vilas has decried the publicity given to Nadal's streak, saying that "they didn't give me a trophy in 1973."[13]
  • In 2006, Nadal and Roger Federer became the only two male players in the open era to reach the Wimbledon final after having both played in the French Open final just a month prior. There have been several men to reach the Wimbledon final after making the French Open final, but never had the same two men accomplished such a feat at the same time.
  • Nadal's nickname is "The King of Clay."[14]
  • Nadal has "Vamos Rafa" ("Let's go Rafa") written on his shoes, a common exhortation by his fans.
  • Nadal wears distinctive pantaloons, a trademark of his in preference of traditional shorts.
  • He can curl 30 kg with his left hand and 25 kg with his right.
  • The asteroid 128036 Rafaelnadal is named in his honour.[15]

Streaks and records

  • Nadal has been ranked No. 2 for more consecutive weeks than any player in the history of the computer rankings maintained by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). [16]
  • Nadal is one of only two people to win the French Open on the first attempt, the first being Mats Wilander in 1982. By successfully defending his title in 2006, he is a perfect 14-0 in the tournament.[4]
  • At age 19 years, 1 month, and 22 days, Nadal became the third teenager in the history of the ATP computer rankings (since 1973) to reach World No. 2, joining Boris Becker (age 18 years, 9 months, and 17 days) and Björn Borg (age 18 years, 10 months, and 2 days) as the only teenagers to be ranked No. 2.[4]
  • Nadal has held two winning streaks of at least 20 consecutive matches. The first was a 24-match winning streak in mid-2005. The second was 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 in 2006.
  • Nadal is the only player who has won a Grand Slam singles final against World No. 1 Roger Federer. That win came at the 2006 French Open by a score of 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6. Federer is 10-1 in Grand Slam singles finals (including a victory over Nadal in the 2006 Wimbledon final).
  • Nadal is the only active player who has a winning head-to-head record against Federer after five career meetings. He currently enjoys a 6-3 advantage (4-0 on clay, 2-2 on hard courts, and 0-1 on grass).

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (2)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
2005 French Open Argentina Mariano Puerta 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1, 7-5
2006 French Open (2) Switzerland Roger Federer 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(4)

Runner-up (1)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
2006 Wimbledon Switzerland Roger Federer 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3

ATP Masters Series singles finals

Wins (6)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
2005 Monte Carlo Argentina Guillermo Coria 6-3, 6-1, 0-6, 7-5
2005 Rome Argentina Guillermo Coria 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6)
2005 Montreal United States Andre Agassi 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
2005 Madrid Croatia Ivan Ljubičić 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3)
2006 Monte Carlo (2) Switzerland Roger Federer 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(5)
2006 Rome (2) Switzerland Roger Federer 6-7(0), 7-6(5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5)

Runner-up (1)

Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
2005 Miami Switzerland Roger Federer 2-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-1

All ATP finals (20)

Singles wins (17)

Legend
Grand Slam (2)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (6)
ATP Tour (9)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 9 August, 2004 Sopot, Poland Clay Argentina José Acasuso 6-3, 6-4
2. 14 February, 2005 Costa do Sauípe, Brazil Clay Spain Alberto Martín 6-0, 6-7(2), 6-1
3. 21 February, 2005 Acapulco, Mexico Clay Spain Álbert Montañés 6-1, 6-0
4. 17 April, 2005 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Argentina Guillermo Coria 6-3, 6-1, 0-6, 7-5
5. 24 April, 2005 Barcelona, Spain Clay Spain Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-3
6. 2 May, 2005 Rome, Italy Clay Argentina Guillermo Coria 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6)
7. 5 June, 2005 French Open, Paris, France Clay Argentina Mariano Puerta 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1, 7-5
8. 4 July, 2005 Båstad, Sweden Clay Czech Republic Tomáš Berdych 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
9. 18 July, 2005 Stuttgart, Germany Clay Argentina Gastón Gaudio 6-3, 6-3, 6-4
10. 14 August, 2005 Montréal, Canada Hard United States Andre Agassi 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
11. 18 September, 2005 Beijing, China Hard Argentina Guillermo Coria 5-7, 6-1, 6-2
12. 23 October, 2005 Madrid, Spain Hard (I) Croatia Ivan Ljubičić 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3)
13. 4 March, 2006 Dubai, UAE Hard Switzerland Roger Federer 2-6, 6-4, 6-4
14. 23 April, 2006 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Switzerland Roger Federer 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(5)
15. 30 April, 2006 Barcelona, Spain Clay Spain Tommy Robredo 6-4, 6-4, 6-0
16. 14 May, 2006 Rome, Italy Clay Switzerland Roger Federer 6-7(0), 7-6(5), 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(5)
17. 11 June, 2006 French Open, Paris, France Clay Switzerland Roger Federer 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(4)
  • 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.

Singles runners-up (3)

Doubles wins (3)

No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponents in the final Score
1. August 21, 2003 Croatia Open Umag, Umag, Croatia Clay Spain Álex López Morón Australia Todd Perry
Japan Thomas Shimada 		6-1, 6-3
2. January 5, 2004 Chennai Open, Chennai, India Hard Spain Tommy Robredo Israel Jonathan Erlich
Israel Andy Ram 		7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3
3. January 3, 2005 Qatar ExxonMobil Open, Doha, Qatar Hard Spain Albert Costa Romania Andrei Pavel
Russia Mikhail Youzhny 		6-3, 4-6, 6-3

Singles 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 Dubai Duty Free Men's Open, which ended on March 3, 2007.

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Career SR Career Win-Loss
Australian Open A A 3R 4R A QF 0 / 3 9-3
French Open A A A W W 2 / 2 14-0
Wimbledon A 3R A 2R F 0 / 3 9-3
U.S. Open A 2R 2R 3R QF 0 / 4 8-4
Grand Slam SR 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 2 1 / 4 1 / 3 0 / 1 2 / 12 N/A
Grand Slam Win-Loss 0-0 3-2 3-2 13-3 17-2 4-1 N/A 40-10
Indian Wells Masters A A 3R A SF 0 / 2 6-2
Miami Masters A A 4R F 2R 0 / 3 7-3
Monte Carlo Masters A 3R A W W 2 / 3 14-1
Rome Masters A A A W W 2 / 2 12-0
Hamburg Masters A 3R A A A 0 / 1 2-1
Canada Masters A A 1R W 3R 1 / 3 8-2
Cincinnati Masters A A 1R 1R QF 0 / 3 3-3
Madrid Masters A 1R 2R W QF 1 / 4 8-3
Paris Masters A A A A A 0 / 0 0-0
Tennis Masters Cup A A A A SF 0 / 1 2-2
ATP Tournaments Played 1 11 18 21 16 4 N/A 71
ATP Finals Reached 0 0 2 12 6 0 N/A 20
ATP Tournaments Won 0 0 1 11 5 0 N/A 17
Hard Win-Loss 0-0 1-2 14-10 28-6 23-8 9-4 N/A 75-30
Clay Win-Loss 1-1 11-6 14-3 50-2 26-0 0-0 N/A 102-12
Grass Win-Loss 0-0 2-1 0-0 1-2 8-2 0-0 N/A 11-5
Carpet Win-Loss 0-0 0-2 2-4 0-0 2-2 0-0 N/A 4-8
Overall Win-Loss 1-1 14-11 30-17 79-10 59-12 9-4 N/A 192-55
Year End Ranking 200 49 51 2 2 N/A N/A

A = did not participate in the tournament

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

Davis Cup and World Team Cup matches are included in the statistics.

Ranking

Highest Rankings:

ATP Tour career earnings

Year Majors ATP wins Total wins Earnings ($) Money list rank
2002 0 0 0 23,975 345
2003 0 0 0 243,238 87
2004 0 1 1 447,758 50
2005 1 10 11 3,874,751 2
2006 1 4 5 3,746,360 2
2007* 0 0 0 155,095
Career 2 15 17 8,366,464 35
* As of February 12, 2007.

Davis Cup

Nadal was on Spain's victorious 2004 Davis Cup team.

First round versus the Czech Republic

Quarterfinal versus the Netherlands

Semifinal versus France

Final versus the United States

See also

References

  1. ^ "ATP Tour". Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  2. ^ Pye, John (2007-01-28). "Roger Federer holds back nothing but the tears at Australian Open". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ a b c Clarey, Christopher (2005-06-06). "Rafael Nadal, Barely 19, He's Got Game, Looks and Remarkably Good Manners". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ a b c "Rafael Nadal Official Website". Retrieved 2007-02-16. Cite error: The named reference "official website" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  5. ^ Pages, John (2006-05-02). "PlayStation or on-court, Raging Bull wins". Sun Star. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ Tignor, Stephen (2006-06-20). "Wimbledon 2006: The Duel". Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  7. ^ Clarey, Christopher (2003-06-26). "WIMBLEDON TENNIS : An unusual comfort zone". International Herald Tribune. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ "Nadal battles to French Open win". BBC Sport. 2005-06-05. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ "Waske snaps Nadal's winning streak". Associated Press. 2005-06-10. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ Watkins, Alistair (2005-06-23). "Nadal suffers shock Muller defeat". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ Garber, Greg (2006-06-12). "Roger's reign on hold with Nadal's dominance". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2007-03-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  12. ^ "Babolat Tour Player". Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  13. ^ Garber, Greg (2006-05-31). "With Vilas in stands, Nadal makes history". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ Hodgkinson, Mark (2006-06-13). "Nadal remains the king of clay". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  15. ^ "NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory". Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  16. ^ Pye, John (2007-01-20). "Nadal, Sharapova, Hingis win". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
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Preceded by ATP Newcomer of the Year
2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by ATP Most Improved Player
2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Laureus World Newcomer of the Year
2006 		Succeeded by
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