[354] In October 2020, Nadal competed in the professional-level Balearic Golf Championship,[355] obtaining a World Amateur Golf Ranking in the process. With his victory in Rome, Nadal also regained the No. [86] On 21 November 2010, in London, Nadal won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the first time. 5. This was also the first time that Nadal won two Grand Slam tournaments back-to-back. [326], In February 2010, Rafael Nadal was featured in the music video of Shakira's "Gypsy". [192], Nadal next played at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships and, like the previous year, reached the semifinals, where he faced Federer at Wimbledon for the first time since the 2008 Wimbledon final, a match regarded by some as the greatest in the history of tennis. 1 in bold, as of week of February 8, 2021, Western & Southern Financial Group Masters, 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, List of career achievements by Rafael Nadal, List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, World number 1 ranked male tennis players, "The pronunciation by Rafael Nadal himself", "Rafael Nadal, Barely 19, He's Got Game, Looks and Remarkably Good Manners", "At Home with Humble yet Ambitious Nadal", "29 April 2002 – Rafael Nadal wins his first ATP match at home in Mallorca", "Tennis Abstract: Rafael Nadal ATP Match Results, Splits, and Analysis", "Rafael Nadal | Player Activity | ATP Tour | Tennis", "Wimbledon Tennis: An unusual comfort zone", "Rafael Nadal won the first title of his career in Sopot", "Teen Nadal gives Spain reign over French Open", "Foot injury delays Rafael Nadal's comeback", "With Vilas in stands, Nadal makes history", "Roger's reign on hold with Nadal's dominance", "Shoulder Forces Nadal To Quit London Match", "Men's Grand Slam Titles Without Losing A Set", "Federer, Nadal set for Wimbledon showdown", "Nadal enters Wimbledon final with clear mental edge", "Federer-Nadal rivalry as good as it gets", "Wimbledon 2008: John McEnroe hails Rafael Nadal victory as greatest final ever", "Nadal Clinches Year End No. [210], At the Paris Masters, Nadal defeated compatriot Feliciano López in the second round to get his 1,000 victory in the ATP Tour, becoming the fourth man in the Open Era to achieve it. The pair met in their first tournament final in 2008, in Barcelona, where Nadal won in three sets. During the lead up to the US Open, Nadal played the two Masters Series tournaments in North America. Nadal next played at the 2019 Mexico Open, where he reached the second round, losing to Nick Kyrgios in three sets despite having three match points in the third set. The two met later in 2015 in Madrid, where Nadal won in straight sets. [203], Nadal began his 2020 season by playing at the inaugural 2020 ATP Cup and helped Spain reach the final where they lost to Serbia, with Nadal losing to Djokovic in straight sets. Nadal became the first player to finish as the year-end no. [57] Although this knee problem was not associated with Nadal's right-knee tendonitis, it was serious enough to cause him to withdraw from the Dubai Championships a week later. [161] This made Nadal the second man in the open era to have won gold medals in both singles and doubles. The overall score was 6–3, 6–3 in the final match between the two before Ferrer's retirement at the 2019 Madrid Open. This marked the first time that Nadal had captured two Grand Slam tournaments in a year since 2013, and the second time since 2010. He’s a huge Real Madrid fan and has even previously been tipped to replace Florentino Perez as president of the La Liga giants by the man himself. At the 2012 French Open, Nadal dropped only 30 games against his first five opponents. [146] Nadal went on to win the 2015 Mercedes Cup against Serbian Viktor Troicki, his first grass court title since he won at Wimbledon in 2010. [177] To complete the spring hard-court season, Nadal was upset in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, by James Blake, and was upset in the second round of the 2006 Miami Masters. 54 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in four sets. Nadal has called 2010 his best year as a professional tennis player. Nadal leads 24–16 overall and 10–4 in Grand Slam tournaments. He subsequently ended his 2016 season to let his wrist recover. [131] He made his return at the 2014 China Open but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Martin Klizan in three sets. [127] On 8 June 2014, Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic in the Men's Singles French Open final to win his 9th French Open title and a 5th straight win. Fognini Hands Nadal First SF Loss On Clay In 12 Years", "Rafael Nadal: Argentina Open win equals clay-court title record", "Raonic Saves 3 M.P. Nadal also entered and won the tournament's doubles event with partner Marc López, defeating the No. [288][289][290] From 2019 onwards, several analysts praised Nadal's improvement on the serve, and noticed the speed of his serve had notably increased. His tremendous record on clay continued as he beat compatriot David Ferrer in a three-set final to clinch his seventh title in eight years at the Barcelona Open. 2 on 25 July 2005. 3, 54 weeks as World No. 51. Later that year, the 34th-ranked 17-year-old played the first of many matches against Roger Federer, then ranked No. Welcome to the official YouTube channel of Rafael Football . [9], At age 12, Nadal won the Spanish and European tennis titles in his age group, while also playing football. At the 2009 Australian Open, Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set, before defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the semifinals in the second longest match in Australian Open history at 5 hours and 14 minutes. Immediately after Wimbledon, Nadal won 16 consecutive matches and three consecutive tournaments, bringing his ranking to No. [143][144] He then lost in the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters to Stan Wawrinka in straight sets. 73 Horacio Zeballos in the final. “It’s a lot harder to plan at a sporting and club level, to plan signings, renewals, and the crisis makes it difficult to know what could happen. Nadal also advanced to the bronze medal match in the men's singles but was defeated by Kei Nishikori. [9] This made Toni Nadal intensify training, and it was at that time that his uncle encouraged Nadal to play left-handed for a natural advantage on the tennis court, after studying Nadal's then two-handed forehand stroke. Two weeks prior to the Australian Open, Nadal officially withdrew from the tournament citing a stomach virus. He beat David Ferrer, Stanislas Wawrinka and Tomáš Berdych in the round robin stage to set up a semifinal victory over Roger Federer. Rafael Nadal pronounced himself fit and ready to produce some magic to entertain “suffering” tennis fans around the world as they cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Entering the French Open, many were expecting another Nadal-Federer final. Rafael Nadal has revealed who his football idol is and it should come as no surprise, that it is one of the most iconic names to have played for Real Madrid. Watch Results Football Cycling Tennis He also relinquished his world No. [133] Later, he was upset by Borna Ćorić at the quarterfinals of the 2014 Swiss Indoors. Nadal won their first four meetings between 2007 and 2009, however Del Potro went on to win the next three, including a straight sets victory at the 2009 US Open SF (he later went on to win the tournament after defeating Roger Federer in the final. He has also led the Spain Davis Cup team to five titles while playing alongside fellow top 10 players including David Ferrer and his future coach Carlos Moyá. In explaining why she chose Nadal for the video, Shakira was quoted as saying in an interview with the Latin American Herald Tribune: "I thought that maybe I needed someone I could in some way identify with. Miguel Ángel Nadal Homar is a Spanish retired footballer. He defeated Federer in the final of the Masters Series Monte Carlo in four sets. [281][282] Nadal's forehand groundstroke form allows him to hit shots with heavy topspin – more so than many of his contemporaries.[283]. And you're willing to lay it all out on the line and you're not afraid to let the people see that. Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor (Mallorca, Spain) on June 3rd 1986. In the third round he needed five sets to defeat Philipp Petzschner. Outside the Big 4, no active player has more wins against Nadal than Del Potro. [16][17], Nadal also entered the clay-court Mallorca Open, part of the ATP International Series, at the end of April as a wildcard, where he participated in both singles and doubles. Rafael Nadal’s uncles. [12], In 2001, Nadal finished the year with a Challenger series record of 1–1 in singles with no titles or finals appearances. [52] The following week, Nadal announced his withdrawal from the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, citing tendinitis of the knee. He’s a huge Real Madrid fan and has even previously been tipped to replace Florentino Perez as president of the La Liga giants by the man himself. Nadal and Berdych first met in an ATP tournament in Båstad, where both men reached the final. [319], In 2010, luxury watchmaker Richard Mille announced that he had developed an ultra-light wristwatch in collaboration with Nadal called the Richard Mille RM027 Tourbillon watch. [286] However, before the 2010 US Open, he altered his service motion, arriving in the trophy pose earlier and pulling the racket lower during the trophy pose. After playing two more Challenger level events, the last Challenger tournaments of his career, Nadal finished his 2003 campaign with three first round losses in ATP events. Telefonica is a Madrid-based Spanish telecommunication company endorsed by Rafael Nadal. Nadal relies on the consistency of his serve to gain a strategic advantage in points, rather than going for service winners. Berdych had reached his first Grand Slam final, defeating Roger Federer in 4 sets in the quarterfinal and Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the SF. Rafael has a younger sister, María Isabel. Nadal defeated Djokovic in the 2014 French Open final. The first tournament he played after that was the inaugural Rio Open which he won after defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov in the final. However, since Wawrinka's breakthrough season in 2013 the pair has won an almost equal number of matches against each other (3–4) from 2014 onward. Rafael Nadal withdrew from his opening match at the ATP Cup because of a sore back but hopes to return for the Spanish team later in the week. Sharmistha More . Both Nadal and Federer won eleven singles titles and four ATP Masters Series titles in 2005. From there there is no debate I think,” Nadal as quoted by Tennis World USA. He beat Federer at the Masters Series Monte Carlo for the third straight year, capturing his Open Era record fourth consecutive title there. [361] The couple married in October 2019. [178][179] The win marked his 20th ATP 500 series title, which put him back atop the list of most ATP 500 titles, tied with Roger Federer. 2 Andy Roddick, he helped Spain clinch the 2004 title over the United States in a 3–2 win. Nadal won 79 matches, second only to Federer's 81. In a surprise, Nadal lost in straight sets to Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals, ending his 21-match and record 50-set winning streaks on clay. He is one of the best at breaking serve, regularly appearing among the tour leaders in percentage of return games, return points, and break points won. [168], Nadal went on to beat Stan Wawrinka in straight sets and win a record tenth French Open title. He continued the clay court season in Madrid, falling to Murray in the semifinal.