 Custom Search Rafael Nadal in the world. He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won three consecutive French Open singles titles (2005-07), and has twice been a runner-up at Wimbledon (2006-07). Nadal is undefeated in his career at the French Open, having won all 21 matches he has played en route to his three championships. He also holds the longest winning streak among male players on a single surface in the open era. From April 2005 to May 2007, he won a record 81 consecutive clay court matches, before being defeated by World Number One Roger Roger Federer in the 2007 Hamburg Masters final.
Early years Although Rafael 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. It was not until Nadal was 12 that he decided to pursue a career in tennis instead of football. In May 2001, when Nadal was 14 years old, tennis great Pat Cash played a clay-court exhibition match against him. Cash, who was originally scheduled to play Boris Becker, was reluctant to play against Nadal, taking this rearranged match as an offense. Cash lost the game by a close margin. In 2002, the 15-year-old Nadal won his first ATP match, defeating Ramon Delgado in Mallorca to become the ninth player in the open era to win an ATP match before his 16th birthday. In 2003, Rafael 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. In 2004, Rafael Nadal was forced to miss most of the clay-court season, including the French Open, due to a stress fracture in his left ankle. 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, and despite being two points away from victory in straight sets, he was defeated in five sets by the world's number one player, Roger Federer. Shifting to the clay court season, Rafael 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. Rafael Nadal entered his first French Open among the favorites. He beat two of France's local hopes, Sébastien Grosjean and Richard Gasquet, to reach the semifinals. On his 19th birthday, he defeated Federer in the semifinals, preventing the Swiss from potentially 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.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, and he is one of only two people to win at Roland Garros on their first attempt, the first being Mats Wilander in 1982. 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. Rafael 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. He suffered another disappointment at Wimbledon, where he was eliminated in the second round by Gilles Müller of Luxembourg. In July, at age 19 years, 1 month, and 22 days, Rafael Nadal 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 Bjorn Borg (age 18 years, 10 months, and 2 days) as the only teenagers to be ranked No. 2. Rafael 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, Rafael 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 Ljubicic 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 The fierce rivalry between Rafael 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 Roger Federer might finally defeat his nemesis, thereby ending Rafael 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. Rafael 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. Guillermo Vilas was on hand for the ceremony, although Vilas has refused to acknowledge Rafael Nadal's feat as more impressive than his own (which was accomplished in a single season). At the French Open, Nadal reached the final for the second consecutive year, and squared off against the world's No. 1 player, Roger Federer, in a hotly anticipated match. 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 Rafael Nadal was the favorite based on his clay court ability, Roger 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. Rafael Nadal steamrolled over Federer through the third set and most of the fourth. 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. With the win, he became the first player to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam final. With an undefeated 2006 clay court season, Rafael 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. This loss ended a streak of 26 matches dating from his loss to Carlos Moya in March.
 Seeded No. 2 going into Wimbledon, Rafael 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, Federer's preferred surface. He had won the title three consecutive years. Though Rafael 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 Wimbledon (six) than he had ever won on grass in his entire career. Prior to the 2006 tennis season, Rafael Nadal's record on grass courts stood at three wins and three losses, and even the most optimistic predictions suggested that he would be several years away from being a contender on grass. With their finals appearance, Nadal and Federer became the only pair of men 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. They repeated this feat in 2007. At the 2006 U.S. Open Nadal reached the quarterfinals, his best result at the tournament to date. He lost to Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 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, Rafael 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.
Rafael Nadal started 2007 by reaching the semifinals of the Chennai Open in India, where he lost to Xavier Malisse 6-4, 7-6. At his next tournament in Sydney, Australia, Nadal retired from his first match against Chris Guccione with a groin injury. At the 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. In the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, Rafael Nadal lost to Mikhail Youzhny 7-6, 6-2. After that loss, he played at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, defeating Novak Djokovic 6-2, 7-5 in the final. However, at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Nadal was defeated in the quarterfinals by tenth seeded and eventual winner Đjoković 6-3, 6-4. Rafa defeated Federer in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters 6-4, 6-4. This was Nadal's third consecutive title in the principality, the first player since Ilie Nastase in 1971-73 to accomplish that feat. He followed that hat-trick with another one at the Open Seat in Barcelona, Spain, defeating Guillermo Canas in the final. At the Rome Masters, Nadal continued his hat-trick streak, beating Fernando González in the final 6-2, 6-2 to become the first man to win in Rome three consecutive years. At the Hamburg Masters, Nadal lost the final to Federer 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. The loss ended Nadal's clay court winning streak at 81, which is the male open-era record for most consecutive victories on a single surface. He thus surpassed John McEnroe's 65-match streak record on indoor carpet. Nadal and Federer would meet in the final of the French Open for the second consecutive year, and in the latter stages of the tournament for the third time in a row. Nadal prevailed in four sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, winning his third straight championship at Roland Garros. With this victory, he became the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1978-81 to win the French Open in three consecutive years, and once again prevented Federer from achieving the career Grand Slam and owning all four major titles simultaneously. In preparation for Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal played the grass court Queen's Club Championships, losing in the quarterfinals to Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 7-6(0). In Wimbledon, Nadal reached his second final in a row, having been beaten by Federer in the previous year's final. Nadal's road to the final proved difficult, after having nearly been eliminated both in the third and fourth round in tough five-set matches. Numerous rain delays also kept him on the court for seven straight days. In the quarterfinals, Nadal defeated Tomas Berdych in straight sets, and was awarded victory in his semifinal when fourth seed Novak Đoković retired injured.[18] However, he was defeated 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-2 in the final by Federer, marking the Swiss' fifth straight triumph at the event. While leading 4-1 in the fourth set, Rafael Nadal had to take some time out to have an ailing knee taped, and although he exhibited no apparent ill effects, the direction of the match then turned in Federer's favor. Nadal failed to convert four break point chances in the fifth set. Despite the loss, Nadal remains the only active player with a winning record (8-5) against Roger Federer after five matches or more. Nadal is 6-1 on clay, 2-2 on hard courts, and 0-2 on grass against Federer. With his achievement in the 2007 Wimbledon final, Nadal is also both the first player that has forced Federer to a fifth set in a Grand Slam final, and the first to take Federer to a fifth set at Wimbledon since his 2001 fourth round encounter with Pete Sampras.
 At the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, his first tournament since Wimbledon, Nadal defeated comeback player Stanislas Wawrinka in the final to win his second title there in three years (he did not participate in 2006). It was his 23rd title. Rafael Nadal then played the Canada Masters tournament, an event he won in 2005. He reached the semi final, where he lost to the eventual winner Novak Đoković 7-5, 6-3. The following week, at the Cincinnati Masters, Nadal retired from his first match (a second-round encounter with Juan Monaco who was leading 7-6, 4-1). Although Nadal had been struggling with a knee injury, it was a problem with his forearm that caused him to retire. At the 2007 U.S. Open, Rafael Nadal was defeated in the fourth round by countryman David Ferrer in four sets, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2. In the 2008 French Open, he equaled Bjorn Borg's 4 consecutive French Open singles titles, handing Roger Federer one of the worst beating in his career, in straight sets, including a 6-0 third set. The win in this French Open, made him only the fifth man in the open era to win a Grand Slam singles title without losing a set. This was the most lopsided of all their matches, as Nadal only lost four games and gave Federer his first bagel since 1999. 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). In the 2008 Wimbledon, Rafael Nadal captured the men's singles title away from from Roger Federer with a 5-set classic,6-4 6-4 6-7(5) 6-7(8) 9-7 . It was a nail-biter match that was on several occasions stopped by rains and the last point won by Nadal under cover of darkness. It was 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, 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, Rafael 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 Bjorn 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. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovicof Serbia in the semifinals 6–4, 1–6, 6–4 and Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the final to win his first Olympic gold medal. Rafael Nadal became the first male player ranked in the top five to win the gold medal. At the US Open, Rafael 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, Rafael Nadal helped Spain defeat the United States in the Davis Cup semifinals. At the Mutua Madrileńa Masters in Madrid, Nadal lost in the semifinals to Gilles Simon 3–6, 7–5, 7–6(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. Two weeks later at the BNP Paribas Masters in France, Rafael 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, Rafael Nadal withdrew from Spain's Davis Cup final against Argentina, as his knee injury had not healed sufficiently. 2009 Nadal's first official ATP tour event for the year was the 250 series Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. Rafael Nadal faced Fabrice Santoro in the first round for the first time in their careers, with Nadal prevailing 6–0, 6–1 in 47 minutes. After the match, Nadal was awarded the 2008 ATP World Tour Champion trophy. Rafael Nadal eventually lost in the quarter-finals to Gael Monfils 6–4, 6–4, which was his first loss to the World No. 13 in four matches. 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 Australian Open, Rafael Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set before defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the semi-finals 6–7(4), 6–4, 7–6(2), 6–7(1), 6–4—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 nineteenth meeting overall. Nadal defeated Federer in five sets to earn his first hard court Grand Slam singles title, making him the first Spaniard in history 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 (he would be followed by a fifth, Roger Federer, after Federer's win in the 2009 French Open). 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, Rafael Nadal helped Spain defeat Serbia in a Davis Cup World Group first round tie on clay in Benidorm, Spain. Nadal defeated Janko Tipsarević 6–1, 6–0, 6–2 and Novak Djokovic 6–4, 6–4, 6–1. 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 Martin 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. Rafael Nadal was made to work hard for a 7-6(2), 7-6(4) victory over Swiss No. 16 seed Stanislas Wawrinka on Tuesday evening to reach the quarter-finals. Nadal saved three match points before losing in the quarter-finals to del Potro 6–4, 3–6, 7–6(3) after Nadal held a 3-0 lead in the final set. This was the first time del Potro had defeated Nadal in five career matches. Rafael 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 Andy Murray in the semi-finals 6–2, 7–6 and he defeated Novak Djokovic 6–3, 2–6, 6–1 in the final to be the only man to win this tournament 5 times consecutively, a record in the open era. He drew equal with Roger Federer on the number of ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles with this being his 14th title & is only behind Andre Agassi's record 17 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles. Rafael Nadal is the first male player to win the same ATP Master series event for 5 consecutive years. Only days after capturing a fifth-straight Monte Carlo title, Nadal competed in the ATP 500 event in Barcelona, looking for a fifth consecutive title there. After receiving a first-round bye, Nadal opened up against Frederico Gil in the second round, who he defeated 6–2, 6–2. In the third round, Nadal defeated Christophe Rochus 6–2, 6–0. In the quarter-finals, Nadal was scheduled to face David Nalbandian, but due to a hip injury, Nalbandian withdrew, thereby sending Nadal to the semi-finals via a walk over. In the semi-finals Nadal defeated Nikolay Davydenko 6–3, 6–2 and advanced to his 5th consecutive final where he faced David Ferrer in a repeat of the all-Spanish 2008 final. Nadal went on to beat Ferrer 6–2, 7–5 to record a stunning 5 consecutive Barcelona victories dating back to 2005 to go with his 5 at Monte Carlo. After winning at Barcelona, Rafael Nadal was back to Rome where he was defeated by Juan Carlos Ferrero in 2008. After receiving a first-round bye, Nadal opened up against Andreas Seppi in the second round, who he defeated 6–2, 6–3. In the third round, he crushed Robin Soderling of Sweden 6–1, 6–0. Though Söderling earned five break point chances in the opening set, Rafael Nadal refused to drop serve and in turn broke the Swede six times in eight opportunities during the one hour, 24-minute match. Söderling managed to win just 11 points total in the second set – seven of which came on serve in the final game. He defeated his compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the quarter-final 6–3, 6–3 improving his record against Verdasco to 8-0. He faced Fernando González in the semi-finals and won 6–3, 6–3. In the final he faced Novak Djokovic and after some great tennis from both men, Nadal won in straight sets 7–6(2), 6–2 to improve his overall record to 13-4 and clay record to 8-0 against the Serb. He became the first player in history to win four Rome titles. With this win, Nadal was only 2 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles away from Andre Agassi's all-time record and one behind Roger Federer's 16. After winning two clay court Masters, he participated in the Madrid Open. After receiving a first-round bye, Nadal easily prevailed against Jürgen Melzer 6–3, 6–1 in front of home crowd with only 3 unforced errors during the match. In the third-round, Nadal was scheduled to face Philipp Kohlschreiber, but due to a leg injury, Kohlschreiber withdrew, thereby sending Nadal to the quarter-finals via a walk over. Nadal defeated Fernando Verdasco 6–4, 7–5 in the quarter-finals. In the second set against Verdasco, Nadal was trailing 4–0 but recovered well to win the set 7–5. In semi-finals Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic 3–6, 7–6(5), 7–6(9) coming back from a break down in the third set and winning the tiebreak 11–9, saving three match points. It was the first third-set tiebreak Nadal had played on clay since losing to Nicolás Lapentti at Bĺstad on 11 July 2003. The victory, in 4 hours 2 minutes, was not only the longest best-of-three match ever played at a Masters event but also the longest best-of-three match in the Open Era. In the final, Nadal lost to Roger Federer 4–6, 4–6. This was the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer since the semi-finals of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup. On Tuesday, 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 Robin Söderling in the 4th Round. The Swede triumphed 6–2, 6–7 (2), 6–4, 7–6 (2). This was Nadal's first loss at the French Open.
After his surprise defeat at Roland Garros, Nadal withdrew from the pre-Wimbledon AEGON Championships, which takes place at Queen's Club. It was confirmed that Nadal was suffering from tendinitis in both of his knees. After traveling to London to practice on grass courts, Nadal competed in two exhibition matches at the Hurlingham Club, losing to Lleyton Hewitt 6–4 6–3, and to Stanislas Wawrinka 4–6, 7–6, 10–8. 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 defeated David Ferrer and Philipp Petzschner to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinal round, he lost to Juan Martín del Potro 7-6(5), 6-1. 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 Cincinnati, he defeated Andreas Seppi in a tight, rain–interrupted match 7-6, 7-6, before coming back from 4-1 down against Paul Henri Mathieu to win 7-5, 6-2. Rafael Nadal looked good in his match against Mathieu after the first five games, but was not so good against Seppi, where he didn't feel he played his best. However, Nadal was in decent form with no knee pain yet. He advanced to the semis by defeating Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5 and met Novak Djokovic, where he lost again (he lost in Cincinnati last year in the semis to Djokovic), this time 6-1, 6-4. Nadal started his 2009 US Open campaign strongly by brushing aside the challenge of Richard Gasquet of France in the first round, winning 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. In the second round, he defeated Nicolas Kiefer 6-0, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Next, he defeated Nicolas Almagro of Spain 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 with a sore abdominal muscle to move into the last sixteen. Nadal then won his fourth round match against 13th seeded Gaël Monfils 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-1, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Fernando González 7-6(4), 7-6(2), 6-0 in a rain delayed encounter. However, like his previous US Open campaign, he fell in the semi-finals, this time losing to eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro 2-6, 2-6, 2-6. Despite the loss, he regained his #2 ranking after Andy Murray's early exit. In his first tournament since the 2009 US Open in the 2009 China Open he reached the Semifinals being upset by Marin Čilić 6-1 6-3. He then competed in the 2009 Shanghai ATP Masters 1000 as the top seed, He defeated James Blake for the 2nd straight week, in the same round (second round) and in three sets as well, he then won his quarterfinals against Ivan Ljubicic and semifinals against Feliciano López matches due to retirement. However in the finals, he lost to 6th seed Nikolay Davydenko 7-6(3) 6-3. Nadal's next tournament was the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. In the second round he came from behind to defeat Nicolás Almagro 3-6, 7-6, 7-5. In the R16 he edged past Tommy Robredo 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. In the quarter-final he defeated Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 7-5. In semi-final he played his 20th career match against Novak Djokovic but lost 6-2, 6-3. In the World Tour Finals, Rafael Nadal had a slight chance to regain the #1 ranking, however he failed to defeat Robin Söderling in the opening round-robin match, losing 6-4 6-4. This, along with Federer's defeat of Andy Murray, allowed Roger Federer to clinch the Year End Number One Ranking, the first to regain the year-end #1 since http://www.all-about-tennis.com/ivan-lendl.html. Nadal then lost his second round-robin match to Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 7-6(4). With this defeat, Nadal was eliminated from reaching the semifinals of the World Tour Finals; he lost his third round-robin match to Djokovic in straight-sets; this was his third straight loss to Djokovic and left him 0-3 in the event without winning a set. In December, Nadal participated in the second Davis Cup final of his career. He defeated Czech number 2 Tomáš Berdych 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 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 6-3, 6-4. This win gives Nadal his 14th consecutive singles victory at Davis Cup (his 13th on clay) and his 401st career win on the tour. Rafael Nadal finished the year as No.2 for the 4th time in 5 years. Nadal won the Golden Bagel Award for 2009 with nine 6–0 sets during the year. Nadal has won the award 3 times (a tour record). 2010 Nadal began the year by participating in the Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He defeated compatriot David Ferrer 7-6(3), 6-3 to reach his second final in the exhibition tournament. In the final, Nadal defeated Robin Söderling 7-6(3), 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. He defeated Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-3, 6-3 in the first round and in the second round, Nadal defeated Potito Starace 6-2, 6-2. Nadal's progress continued in the quarterfinals when he was up 6-1, 2-0 against Steve Darcis of Belgium and who eventually retired from the match. He defeated 5th seed Viktor Troicki 6-1, 6-3, winning 11 straight games in the semi-finals. Nadal lost to Nikolay Davydenko 6-0, 6-7(8), 4-6 in the finals despite dominating in the opening set and holding two match points in the second set. Davydenko also defeated Roger Federer in the semifinals before advancing to the finals. In the first round of the Australian Open, Nadal defeated Peter Luczak of Australia 7-6(0), 6-1, 6-4. In the second round, he beat Lukas 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 Karlovic of Croatia, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. In the quarter-finals, Nadal pulled out at 3-0 down in the third set against Andy Murray, having lost the first two sets 6-3, 7-6(2). After examining Nadal's knees, doctors told him that he should take two weeks of rest and then two weeks of rehabilitation. Check the Rafael Nadal memorabilia below: 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 semi-finals of 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 semi-finals. This was Nadal's first tour final since Doha earlier in the year. He won the final with a 6-0, 6-1 score over his compatriot Fernando Verdasco. He lost only 14 games throughout all five matches, the fewest he ever lost en route to a championship, and the final was the shortest Masters 1000 final in terms of games in history (since 1990). With this win, Rafael Nadal became the first player in Open Era to win a tournament title for 6 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 two hours and forty minutes. 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 Madrilena 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 tall 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 this year up to this point. Nadal then defeated longtime rival Roger Federer 6-4, 7-6(5), 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 3 clay court Masters titles in a single year and the first player to win 3 consecutive Masters events. Nadal moved back to #2 the following day, ensuring a possibility of return to the Number One position with victory at the Grench Open, following Federer's defeat by 2009 French Open Finalist 5th seed Robin Soderling. Rivalry with Roger Federer Rafael Nadal and Federer have been playing against each other since 2004, and this rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers: * They are the only men in the open era who have played each other in 7 Grand Slam finals, with Nadal winning 5 of the 7 finals. Three of these 5 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 final 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. * Ten of Nadal's 14 wins over Federer have come on clay courts, Nadal's best surface. Nadal leads their overall head-to-head series 14-7 (Nadal leads 10-2 on clay, Federer leads 2-1 on grass, they are tied (3-3) on hard courts). * Federer's loss in the opening round of the 2010 Campionati Internazionali d'Italia assures that the two players will go at least a year since their last match, where Nadal lost to Roger Federer 4–6, 4–6 in the 2009 Madrid Open finals. Nadal's playing style is best tailored for clay courts, with a strong two-handed backhand, well-angled topspin strokes, fast mobility on the court, and a preference to play from the deep court. He is naturally right-handed, but he plays left-handed, and uses his dominant hand as an anchor for his two-handed backhand. His two-handed backhand is extremely reliable, tending to hit winners on the run as well as standing still. Nadal is extremely athletic, and tends to go after every shot, even apparent winners from his opponents. Nadal's serve is not considered one of his strengths, but can be relied upon for consistency and also for some short-point wins (aces, serve-return errors, and serve-return sitters). With excellent accuracy, power, and consistency, his topspin groundstroke is one of his assets. He incorporates a defensive-playing style most of the time, but often becomes offensive as well. Overall, Nadal is an aggressive counterpuncher, forcing his opponents to make errors with his powerful topspin, his speed, and his athleticism. Equipment Rafael Nadal uses a Babolat AeroPro Drive racquet and his string of choice is Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour. This model's handle is slightly thicker and the racket more tightly strung than most other top players. His clothing sponsor is Nike . Rafael Nadal is known for wearing Capri (3/4) pants. He wears the Nike Air Max Breathe Cage shoes and has "Vamos Rafa" ("Let's Go Rafa" in Spanish) written on the back of them, a common exhortation by his fans. Custom Search
|
