Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 23:44, 5 November 2008

Rafael Nadal

Country (sports)	Spain
Residence	Manacor, Majorca
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Turned pro	2001
Plays	Left-handed; two-handed backhand
Prize money	US$20,757,647
Singles
Career record	335–77
Career titles	31
Highest ranking	No. 1 (18 August 2008)
Current ranking	No.1 (18 August 2008)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	SF (2008)
French Open	W (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
Wimbledon	W (2008)
US Open	SF (2008)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	SF (2006, 2007)
Olympic Games	Gold medal (2008)
Doubles
Career record	69–45
Career titles	4
Highest ranking	No. 26 (8 August 2005)
Last updated on: 3 November 2008.

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

Template:Spanish name 2

Rafael Nadal Parera (IPA: [rafa'el na'ðal]) (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player who has been ranked World No. 1 since 18 August 2008. He has won five Grand Slam singles titles and the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles. He has captured the last four French Open singles titles, joining Björn Borg in 2008 as the only men to have won four consecutive singles titles there. In 2008, Nadal became the second Spaniard to win Wimbledon. Nadal is the only player in the open era to have won the French Open, the AEGON Championships (held at Queen's Club on grass beginning the day after the French Open), and Wimbledon in the same year.

For much of his career, Nadal has had a rivalry with Roger Federer, which many critics consider to be the greatest rivalry in tennis history. They are the only men in the open era who have played each other in six Grand Slam finals, with Nadal winning four of those matches. Nadal was ranked World No. 2 behind Federer for a record 160 weeks before earning the top spot. Nadal has won 12 of their 18 singles matches.

He has been especially successful on clay courts. He has a 22–1 record in clay court tournament finals and is undefeated in 43 best-of-five-set matches on clay. In each of the last four years, he has won both the French Open and two clay court Masters Series tournaments. He also owns the longest single-surface winning streak in the open era, having won 81 consecutive matches on clay from April 2005 to May 2007. As a result, some tennis critics and top players already regard him as the greatest clay-court player of all time.

On 18 October 2008, Nadal clinched the year-end World No. 1 ranking for 2008. The same year, he was given the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for his achievements in sports.

Family and early life

Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, Majorca to Sebastián Nadal and Ana María Parera. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel, is a retired professional soccer player, having played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team. He is an avid supporter of Real Madrid. His other uncle, Toni, himself a professional tennis player, introduced Rafael to tennis as a 3 year-old boy and has been coaching him ever since. Toni has also stated that Rafael had a natural talent playing tennis while preferring to play football. By the time Rafael was five, he was going to the tennis club twice a week to play and at eight years of age, also a promising striker in the local football team, he won the regional tennis championships for under-12s. By the time Rafael was 12 he had won the Spanish and European tennis titles in his age group and was playing either tennis or football all the time. Then in stepped the third of the three brothers, Rafael's father, Sebastian. He forced Rafael to choose between football and tennis so that his school work would not suffer. When Rafael was 14 years old, the Spanish tennis federation requested that he leave Majorca and move to Barcelona to continue his tennis progression and training. Rafael's parents and uncles turned down these requests, which resulted in Rafael receiving less financial support to aid his development. Sebastian covered these costs himself. By the age of 16, Rafael was ranked in the world's top 50 players.

While Rafael's upbringing and early years are largely kept private, he has stated growing up his passions were football, tennis, and fishing.

Nadal has been dating María Francesca Perelló, also from Majorca, for three years as of 2008.

Career

Early years

When Nadal was very young, his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, taught him to play left-handed even though he is naturally right-handed. Toni reasoned that Rafael's two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm.

Nadal was 12 when he decided to pursue a career in tennis instead of football. Toni was his primary coach, but he also trained at Nick Bollettieri's tennis camp in Florida for portions of two summers in his early teens. In May 2001, he defeated Grand Slam champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match.

2002–2004

In 2002, Nadal won his first ATP match, defeating Ramón Delgado in Majorca. He became the ninth player in the open era to win an ATP match before the age of 16.

The following year, Nadal won two Challenger titles and finished the year in the top 50. He is the second-youngest man to be ranked this high. At his Wimbledon debut, Nadal became the youngest man to reach the third round since Boris Becker in 1984.

In 2004, Nadal played his first match against World No. 1 Roger Federer at the 2004 Master Series Miami. Nadal won the match in straight sets. He then missed most of the clay court season, including the French Open, because of a stress fracture in his left ankle.

2005

At the Australian Open, Nadal lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt in five sets. Two months later, Nadal reached the final of the ATP Masters Series 2005 Master Series Miami, and despite being two points from victory in straight sets, he was defeated in five sets by World No. 1 Roger Federer. Both of these 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 23 consecutive match wins for a male teenager. Nadal won the tournament in Barcelona, Spain and beat 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria in the finals of the ATP Masters Series tournaments in Monte Carlo and Rome. These tournament victories increased 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 French Open semifinals, preventing the Swiss from potentially achieving a career Grand Slam. Two days later, he defeated Argentina's Mariano Puerta in the final, becoming the seventh male player to win a Grand Slam tournament in his first appearance at the event and the first since Agassi at the 1995 Australian Open. He also became the first male player to win the French Open on his first attempt since Mats Wilander in 1982 and 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 increased 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 tournament in Halle, Germany. He then lost in the second round of Wimbledon to Gilles Müller of Luxembourg.

Immediately after Wimbledon, Nadal won 16 consecutive matches and three consecutive tournaments. Winning the clay court events in Båstad and Stuttgart caused Nadal's ranking to rise to World No. 2 on 25 July 2005. At age 19 years, 1 month, and 22 days, he became the third teenager to reach World No. 2 in the history of the ATP computer rankings, which began in 1973, 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 second.

Nadal started his North American summer hard court season by defeating Agassi in the final of the ATP Masters Series tournament in Montreal, Canada but losing in the first round of the ATP Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio. Nadal was seeded second at the US Open, where he was upset in the third round by World No. 49 James Blake in four sets.

Nadal played only three events the remainder of the year. 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 tournament in Madrid. He then suffered a foot injury that prevented him from competing in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup.

Overall, both Nadal and Federer won eleven singles titles and four ATP Masters Series titles in 2005. Eight of Nadal's titles were on clay and the remainder on hard courts. Nadal won 79 matches, second only to Federer's 81. Nadal won the Golden Bagel Award for 2005 with twelve 6-0 sets during the year.

2006

Nadal missed the Australian Open because of a foot injury. In February, he lost in the semifinals of the first tournament he played, the Open 13 tournament in Marseille, France. Two weeks later, he handed Roger Federer his first loss of the year in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Men's Open. To complete the spring hard court season, Nadal was upset in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California and in the second round of the 2006 Master Series Miami, both of which were important Masters Series events.

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 from tournament play, Nadal won the Masters Series Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating Federer in a fifth set tiebreaker in the final after Nadal saved two match points. Nadal broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas's 29-year record of 53 consecutive clay court match victories when he won his first round match at the French Open. Vilas, however, refused to acknowledge Nadal's feat as more impressive than his own because Vilas's winning streak was in a single year. Nadal went on to play Federer in the final of the French Open. The first two sets of the match were hardly competitive as the rivals traded 6–1 sets. Nadal won the third set easily and served for the match in the fourth set before Federer broke him and forced a tiebreaker. Nadal won the tiebreaker and became the first player to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam final.

On grass, Nadal injured his shoulder while playing a quarterfinal match against Lleyton Hewitt at the Artois Championships, played at Queen's Club in London. Nadal was unable to complete the match, which ended his 26-match winning streak. Nadal was seeded second at Wimbledon but was two points from defeat against American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the second round before coming back to win in five sets. In the third round, Nadal defeated World No. 20 Andre Agassi in his last career match at Wimbledon 7–6(5), 6–2, 6–4. Nadal won his next three matches in straight sets, which set up another final with Federer, who had won this tournament the three previous years. Federer won the match in four sets. Nadal and Federer were the only pair of men during the open era who had reached the Wimbledon final after having just played each other in the French Open final.

During the lead up to the US Open, Nadal played only 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 if... Stockholm Open 6–4, 7–6. The following week, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals of the last Masters Series tournament of the year, the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid. After the tournament, Nadal blamed mental and physical exhaustion for his recent losses. 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.

2007

Nadal started the year by playing in six hard court tournaments. He lost in the semifinals and first round of his first two tournaments and then lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to eventual runner-up Fernando González. After another quarterfinal loss at the Dubai Tennis Championships, he won the Masters Series Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California before Novak Djokovic defeated him in the quarterfinals of the Masters Series 2007 Master Series Miami.

He had comparatively more success after returning to Europe to play five clay court tournaments. He won the titles at the Masters Series Monte Carlo, the Open Sabadell Atlántico in Barcelona, and the Masters Series Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome before losing to Roger Federer in the final of the Masters Series Hamburg. This defeat ended his 81-match winning streak on clay, which is the male open era record for consecutive wins on a single surface. He then rebounded to win the French Open for the third straight year, defeating Federer once again in the final.

Between the tournaments in Barcelona and Rome, Nadal defeated Federer in the "Battle of Surfaces" exhibition match in Majorca, Spain, with the tennis court being half grass and half clay.

Nadal played the Artois Championships at Queen's Club in London for the second consecutive year. As in 2006, Nadal was upset in the quarterfinals. Nadal then won consecutive five-set matches during the third and fourth rounds of Wimbledon before losing to 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 World No. 15 David Ferrer.

After a month-long break from tournament tennis, Nadal played the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid and the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. David Nalbandian upset him in the quarterfinals and final of those tournaments. To end the year, Nadal won two of his three round robin matches to advance to the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, where Federer defeated him 6–4, 6–1.

During the second half of the year, Nadal battled a knee injury suffered during the Wimbledon final. In addition, there were rumors at the end of the year that the foot injury he suffered during 2005 caused long term damage, which were given credence by coach Toni Nadal's claim that the problem was "serious". Nadal and his spokesman strongly denied this, however, with Nadal himself calling the story "totally false".

2008

As of September 24, Nadal has a 77–9 win-loss record and has won eight singles titles, including the French Open, Wimbledon, and the Olympic Games. He also had a career-best 32 match winning streak during which he captured five titles and secured the World No. 1 ranking for the first time.

Nadal began the year in India, where he was the runner-up to Mikhail Youzhny at the Chennai Open. Nadal then reached the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time. He also reached the final of the 2008 Master Series Miami for the second time.

During the spring clay court season, Nadal won four singles titles and defeated Roger Federer in three finals. He beat Federer at the Masters Series Monte Carlo for the third straight year, capturing his open era record fourth consecutive title there. He won in straight sets, despite Federer holding a 4–0 lead in the second set. He then won his fourth consecutive title at the Open Sabadell Atlantico 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 only 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 only the fourth male player during the open era to win the same Grand Slam singles tournament four consecutive years (the others being Borg, Pete Sampras, and Federer).

Nadal then played Federer in the final of Wimbledon for the third consecutive year, in the most anticipated match of their rivalry. Nadal entered the final on a 23-match winning streak, including his first career grass court title at the Artois Championships, staged at Queen's Club in London prior to Wimbledon. Federer had won his record fifth grass court title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle without facing a break point 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 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 long-time tennis critics even calling it the greatest match in tennis history. By winning his first Wimbledon title, Nadal became only 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) 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.

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 Nadal the World No. 1 ranking on August 18, officially ending Federer's record four-and-a-half year reign at the top.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic 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 Andy Murray 6–2, 7–6(5), 4–6, 6–4. Later in the year in Madrid, Nadal helped Spain defeat the United States in the Davis Cup semifinals.

At the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid, Nadal lost in the semifinals to Gilles Simon 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(6). His performance at this event however, guarantees that he will become the first Spaniard during the open era to finish the year as the World No. 1. Two weeks later at the BNP Paribas Masters in France, Nadal, received a first round bye and defeated two French favorites Florent Serra and Gaël Monfils before making it to the quarterfinals where he faced Nikolay Davydenko. Nadal would lose the first set 6-1, before retiring in the second with a knee injury. The following week, Nadal then announced his withrawal from the year-end Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai citing fatigue.

Playing style

This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (July 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Nadal plays with well-angled topspin heavy strokes, a strong two-handed backhand, fast mobility on the court, and a preference to play from the deep court. Though naturally right-handed, Nadal plays left-handed, and uses his dominant right hand as an anchor for his two-handed backhand. In addition, being naturally right-handed allows him to stay balanced regardless of which foot he puts his weight on, an exceptional talent when one tries to hit the ball after starting a move in the wrong direction. Although, a natural right-hander, Nadal claims he is left footed and that it is difficult for him to play with his right hand. Known for his excellent defense, Nadal hits well on the run and creates many winners from seemingly defensive positions. Because of his extreme athleticism, Nadal tends to go after every shot, even apparent winners from his opponents. Historically, Nadal's playing style has worked best on clay courts, and he was once considered a clay-court specialist. Recent success on other surfaces has helped Nadal shed that label, though he is still considered most dominant on clay.

Nadal uses a full western grip forehand, which allows him to hit heavy, powerful topspin forehands, giving him a bigger margin of error because of the height at which his shot clears the net and the speed at which the ball drops due to the topspin that is applied to the ball. Nadal's heavy topspin makes the ball bounce up high in the air for his opponent, making it difficult to return. These types of shots tend to be returned short in length, but the spin kicks it up so high that this kind of play is sufficient on clay.

For many years, Nadal's serve was not considered one of his strengths. However, it has become more of a weapon lately; Nadal currently possesses a highly effective first serve and a moderate second serve. Usually employing a hard lefty slice towards most of his opponents' backhands (right-handed opponents), his serve can be relied upon for consistency and also for some short-point wins such as aces and bad service-returns.

Another one of Nadal's strengths is the mental aspect of his tennis game. His ability to come back from behind in a match greatly assists him. He also has good footwork, which helps him to prepare for tennis strokes and get around the court efficiently. In addition, he can put away short balls and comes to the net quite often. Rafael Nadal has an under-emphasized net game. He is able to volley deep, but his main strength at the net is his touch and feel. Nadal is good at angling volleys away from his opponents and can hit drop volleys well after running extremely quickly up to the net to return any drop shot made by his opponent.

Equipment

Nadal uses a Babolat AeroPro Drive racquet without the cortex system. However, his racquet has the paintjob of the Aero Pro Drive with Cortex, in order to commercialize and promote the current model that Babolat sells. This model's handle is (L2 grip= 4 1/4)) with no replacement grip, instead Nadal wraps 2 over grips, and the racquet strung between 53 and 55 pounds with Duralast 15L strings, although he promotes Babolat's Pro Hurricane Tour strings. His clothing sponsor is Nike and he is known for his unconventional wear, turning up in sleeveless tops and Capri pants in a variety of colours. He also wears the Nike Air Max Breathe Cage II shoes which have been customized for him with the famous "Vamos Rafa" slogan written on the back of them. Currently, his shoes display his nickname "Rafa" on one shoe and a logo specifically designed by Nike featuring a stylistic bull head on the other. His Babolat tennis bag displays his nickname as well as 4 brown stars symbolizing his 4 victories at the French Open and 1 green star symbolizing his victory at Wimbledon.

Career statistics

Grand Slam singles finals (7)

Wins (5)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2005	French Open	Mariano Puerta	6–7(6), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5
2006	French Open (2)	Roger Federer	1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(4)
2007	French Open (3)	Roger Federer	6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
2008	French Open (4)	Roger Federer	6–1, 6–3, 6–0
2008	Wimbledon	Roger Federer	6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–7(8), 9–7

Runner-ups (2)

Year	Championship	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2006	Wimbledon	Roger Federer	6–0, 7–6(5), 6–7(2), 6–3
2007	Wimbledon (2)	Roger Federer	7–6(7), 4–6, 7–6(3), 2–6, 6–2

ATP Masters Series singles finals (16)

Wins (12)

Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2005	Monte Carlo	Clay	Guillermo Coria	6–3, 6–1, 0–6, 7–5
2005	Rome	Clay	Guillermo Coria	6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(6)
2005	Montréal (Canada)	Hard	Andre Agassi	6–3, 4–6, 6–2
2005	Madrid	Hard (i)	Ivan Ljubičić	3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(3)
2006	Monte Carlo (2)	Clay	Roger Federer	6–2, 6–7(2), 6–3, 7–6(5)
2006	Rome (2)	Clay	Roger Federer	6–7(0), 7–6(5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(5)
2007	Indian Wells	Hard	Novak Djokovic	6–2, 7–5
2007	Monte Carlo (3)	Clay	Roger Federer	6–4, 6–4
2007	Rome (3)	Clay	Fernando González	6–2, 6–2
2008	Monte Carlo (4)	Clay	Roger Federer	7–5, 7–5
2008	Hamburg	Clay	Roger Federer	7–5, 6–7(3), 6–3
2008	Toronto (Canada) (2)	Hard	Nicolas Kiefer	6–3, 6–2

Runner-ups (4)

Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
2005	Miami	Hard	Roger Federer	2–6, 6–7(4), 7–6(5), 6–3, 6–1
2007	Hamburg	Clay	Roger Federer	2–6, 6–2, 6–0
2007	Paris	Hard (i)	David Nalbandian	6–4, 6–0
2008	Miami (2)	Hard	Nikolay Davydenko	6–4, 6–2

All Finals (46)

Singles (39)

Wins (31)

No.	Date	Tournament, Location	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	August 15, 2004	Sopot, Poland	Clay	José Acasuso	6–3, 6–4
2.	February 20, 2005	Costa do Sauípe, Brasil	Clay	Alberto Martín	6–0, 6–7(2), 6–1
3.	February 27, 2005	Acapulco, Mexico	Clay	Albert Montañés	6–1, 6–0
4.	April 17, 2005	Masters Series Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Guillermo Coria	6–3, 6–1, 0–6, 7–5
5.	April 24, 2005	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Juan Carlos Ferrero	6–1, 7–6(4), 6–3
6.	May 8, 2005	Masters Series Rome, Italy	Clay	Guillermo Coria	6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(6)
7.	June 5, 2005	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Mariano Puerta	6–7(6), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5
8.	July 10, 2005	Båstad, Sweden	Clay	Tomáš Berdych	2–6, 6–2, 6–4
9.	July 24, 2005	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Gastón Gaudio	6–3, 6–3, 6–4
10.	August 14, 2005	Masters Series Montréal (Canada)	Hard	Andre Agassi	6–3, 4–6, 6–2
11.	September 18, 2005	Beijing, China	Hard	Guillermo Coria	5–7, 6–1, 6–2
12.	October 23, 2005	Master Series Madrid, Spain	Hard (i)	Ivan Ljubičić	3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(3)
13.	March 4, 2006	Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Hard	Roger Federer	2–6, 6–4, 6–4
14.	April 23, 2006	Masters Series Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Roger Federer	6–2, 6–7(2), 6–3, 7–6(5)
15.	April 30, 2006	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Tommy Robredo	6–4, 6–4, 6–0
16.	May 14, 2006	Masters Series Rome, Italy	Clay	Roger Federer	6–7(0), 7–6(5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(5)
17.	June 11, 2006	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Roger Federer	1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(4)
18.	March 18, 2007	Masters Series Indian Wells, USA	Hard	Novak Djokovic	6–2, 7–5
19.	April 22, 2007	Masters Series Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Roger Federer	6–4, 6–4
20.	April 29, 2007	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Guillermo Cañas	6–3, 6–4
21.	May 13, 2007	Masters Series Rome, Italy	Clay	Fernando González	6–2, 6–2
22.	June 10, 2007	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Roger Federer	6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
23.	July 22, 2007	Stuttgart, Germany	Clay	Stanislas Wawrinka	6–4, 7–5
24.	April 27, 2008	Masters Series Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Roger Federer	7–5, 7–5
25.	May 4, 2008	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	David Ferrer	6–1, 4–6, 6–1
26.	May 18, 2008	Masters Series Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Roger Federer	7–5, 6–7(3), 6–3
27.	June 8, 2008	French Open, Paris, France	Clay	Roger Federer	6–1, 6–3, 6–0
28.	June 15, 2008	London Queen's Club, United Kingdom	Grass	Novak Djokovic	7–6(6), 7–5
29.	July 6, 2008	Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom	Grass	Roger Federer	6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–7(8), 9–7
30.	July 27, 2008	Masters Series Toronto (Canada)	Hard	Nicolas Kiefer	6–3, 6–2
31.	August 17, 2008	Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, China	Hard	Fernando González	6–3, 7–6(2), 6–3

Runner-ups (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	January 18, 2004	Auckland, Australia	Hard	Dominik Hrbatý	4–6, 6–2, 7–5
2.	April 3, 2005	Masters Series Miami, USA	Hard	Roger Federer	2–6, 6–7(4), 7–6(5), 6–3, 6–1
3.	July 9, 2006	Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom	Grass	Roger Federer	6–0, 7–6(5), 6–7(2), 6–3
4.	May 20, 2007	Masters Series Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Roger Federer	2–6, 6–2, 6–0
5.	July 8, 2007	Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom	Grass	Roger Federer	7–6(7), 4–6, 7–6(3), 2–6, 6–2
6.	November 4, 2007	Masters Series Paris, France	Hard (i)	David Nalbandian	6–4, 6–0
7.	January 6, 2008	Chennai, India	Hard	Mikhail Youzhny	6–0, 6–1
8.	April 6, 2008	Masters Series Miami, USA	Hard	Nikolay Davydenko	6–4, 6–2

Doubles (7)

Wins (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	Jul 27, 2003	Umag, Croatia	Clay	Álex López Morón	Todd Perry Thomas Shimada	6–1, 6–3
2.	Jan 11, 2004	Chennai, India	Hard	Tommy Robredo	Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram	7–6(3), 4–6, 6–3
3.	Jan 9, 2005	Doha, Qatar	Hard	Albert Costa	Andrei Pavel Mikhail Youzhny	6–3, 4–6, 6–3
4.	Apr 27, 2008	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Tommy Robredo	Mahesh Bhupathi Mark Knowles	6–3, 6–3

Runner-ups (3)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partnering	Opponents in the final	Score
1.	Apr 24, 2005	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Feliciano López	Leander Paes Nenad Zimonjić	6–3, 6–3
2.	Jan 8, 2007	Chennai, India	Hard	Tomeu Salvà	Xavier Malisse Dick Norman	7–6(4), 7–6(4)
3.	Apr 30, 2007	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Tomeu Salvà	Andrei Pavel Alexander Waske	6–3, 7–6(1)

(i) = Indoor

Singles performance timeline

Template:Performance timeline legend 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 Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid, which ended on 19 October 2008.

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

ATP Tour career earnings

Statistics correct as of 20 October 2008.

Davis Cup

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

First round versus the Czech Republic

• Singles: Nadal lost to Jiří Novák 7–6, 6–3, 7–6.
• Doubles: Nadal and Tommy Robredo lost to Novák and Radek Štěpánek 6–4, 7–6(6), 6–3.
• Singles: Nadal defeated Štěpánek 7–6, 7–6, 6–3.

Quarterfinal versus the Netherlands

• Doubles: Nadal and Robredo lost to John van Lottum and Martin Verkerk 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–2.

Semifinal versus France

• Singles: Nadal defeated Arnaud Clément 6–4, 6–1, 6–2.
• Doubles: Nadal and Robredo defeated Clément and Michaël Llodra 7–6(4), 4–6, 6–2, 2–6, 6–3.

Final versus the United States

• Singles: Nadal defeated Andy Roddick 6–7, 6–2, 7–6, 6–2.

Nadal also played on the Spanish Davis Cup team in 2005, 2006, and 2008.

Challengers and futures finals

Singles wins (8)

No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in Final	Score in Final
1.	15 July 2002	Alicante, Spain	Clay	Marc Fornell	7–5, 3–6, 6–3
2.	19 August 2002	Vigo, Spain	Clay	Antonio Pastorino	4–6, 7–6(4), 6–4
3.	23 September 2002	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Marc Fornell	6–4, 6–3
4.	30 September 2002	Barcelona, Spain	Clay	Guillermo García-López	6–3, 7–6(1)
5.	25 November 2002	Gran Canaria, Spain	Clay	Marc Fornell	6–2, 6–3
6.	2 December 2002	Gran Canaria, Spain	Hard (i)	Florian Mayer	7–6(3), 6–4
7.	31 March 2003	Barletta, Italy	Clay	Albert Portas	6–2, 7–6(2)
8.	4 August 2003	Segovia, Spain	Hard	Tomáš Zíb	6–2, 7–6(1)

Singles runner-ups (4)

• 2003: Hamburg Challenger (lost to Mario Ančić)
• 2003: Cherbourg Challenger (lost to Sergio Roitman)
• 2003: Cagliari Challenger (lost to Filippo Volandri)
• 2003: Aix-en-Provence Challenger (lost to Mariano Puerta)

Sponsorships

Nadal is the global ambassador for Kia Motors, and has appeared in Kia's global advertising campaigns in TV and print media. In May 2008, Kia released a video called Nadal vs Alien featuring Nadal in a tennis match against an alien.

See also

• Federer-Nadal rivalry
• List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions
• 128036 Rafaelnadal (asteroid)

Notes

1. "Nadal wins the Triple Crown". www.mirror.co.uk.
2. ^ International Herald Tribune, Associated Press (2008-07-07). "Federer-Nadal rivalry as good as it gets". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
3. Paul Weaver (2008-07-07). "Move over McEnroe and Borg, this one will run and run in the memory". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
4. Martin Flanagan (2008-07-12). "Federer v Nadal as good as sport gets". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
5. Roger, Rafa to Meet in Record Sixth Grand Slam Final
6. It's official: Nadal will pass Federer for No. 1
7. Nadal-Federer head-to-head singles matches
8. Tennis.com - Nadal's Numbers: 10 amazing clay stats
9. Greg Garber (2007-05-20). "ESPN - List of Nadal's 81 straight wins on clay". ESPN. {{cite web}}: Text "2008-08-01" ignored (help)
10. "ESPN – Is Rafael Nadal the best clay-court player ever?".
11. Tom Perotta - Nadal Appearing Unbeatable on Clay
12. Peter Bodo - Endgame on Clay
13. Nadal Clinches Year End No. 1 For First Time, ATPtennis.com, Created 18 August 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
14. Nadal receives 2008 Prince of Asturias Award
15. ^ Clarey, Christopher (2005-06-06). "Rafael Nadal, Barely 19, He's Got Game, Looks and Remarkably Good Manners". New York city Times. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
16. "BBC – Sportsround meets Rafael Nadal".
17. "Rafael Nadal official website". Retrieved 2007-02-16.
18. ^ The Big Interview: Rafael Nadal - Times Online
19. Rafael Nadal girlfriend Xisca Perello
20. "Tennis Hotshot Rafael Nadal Has a Secret Girlfriend". People Magazine. 2008-06-23. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
21. 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) Also from Nadal's official page, through its "Ask Rafa" service.
22. Tignor, Stephen (2006-06-20). "Wimbledon 2006: The Duel". Retrieved 2007-02-16.
23. 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)
24. "Brave Hewitt battles past Nadal". BBC Sport. 2005-01-24. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
25. "Nadal proves to be the real deal". BBC Sport. 2005-04-05. Retrieved 2008-08-03.
26. "Teen Nadal gives Spain reign over French Open". USA Today.com. 2006-06-05. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
27. ATP Rankings History
28. French Open: Nadal triumphs at first attempt
29. Barely 19, He's Got Game, Looks and Remarkably Good Manners
30. ATP Rankings History
31. "Waske snaps Nadal's winning streak". Associated Press. 2005-06-10. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
32. Julian Linden (2006-01-06). "Foot injury delays Rafael Nadal's comeback". Rediff.com. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
33. Garber, Greg (2006-05-31). "With Vilas in stands, Nadal makes history". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2007-04-30. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
34. Garber, Greg (2006-06-12). "Roger's reign on hold with Nadal's dominance". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2007-03-09. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
35. "The Battle of Surfaces". Retrieved 2007-04-22.
36. Caroline Cheese (2007-07-07). "Federer wins historic fifth title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
37. Piers Newbury (2007-11-28). "Federer Nadal plays down foot injury fear". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
38. ^ ATPtennis.com - Roger & Rafa: The Rivalry
39. International Herald Tribune (2008-06-09). "Men's Grand Slam Titles Without Losing A Set". Retrieved 2008-08-09.
40. Federer, Nadal set for Wimbledon showdown
41. ^ Nadal enters Wimbledon final with clear mental edge
42. Peter Bodo - 5 reasons Nadal will win
43. Bruce Jenkins (2008-07-07). "The Greatest Match Ever". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
44. Richard Alleyne (2008-07-07). "Wimbledon 2008: John McEnroe hails Rafael Nadal victory as greatest final ever". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
45. Jon Wertheim - Without a doubt, it's the greatest
46. Alistair Magowan (2008-07-07). "Roger v Rafa - the best final ever?". Retrieved 2008-08-07.
47. Nadal wins Olympic gold over Gonzalez
48. Nadal Clinches Year End No. 1 For First Time, ATPtennis.com, Created 18 August 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2008.
49. Nadal retires hurt from Paris
50. "Nadal withdraws from Masters Cup". TENNIS.com. 3 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
51. "Rafael Nadal Blog". Retrieved 2008-09-09.
52. ^ Cooper, Jeff. "Rafael Nadal – Game Profile". Retrieved 2007-07-30. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
53. "Nike Air Max Breathe Cage". Retrieved 2007-09-05.
54. "Nadal's trainers photo". Retrieved 2007-03-28.
55. Kia Nadal versus Alien Video.

External links

• Rafael Nadal's Official Site
• Rafael Nadal at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• {{ITF profile}} template using deprecated numeric ID.
• Nadal Recent Match Results
• Nadal World Ranking History
• Rafael Nadal at the Davis Cup

Template:Persondata

• French Open champions
• Laureus World Sports Awards winners
• Olympic gold medalists for Spain
• Olympic tennis players of Spain
• People from Manacor
• Spanish tennis players
• Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics
• Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics
• Wimbledon champions
• 1986 births
• Living people