He turned professional at age This tennis player enjoys football, golf and poker, and has also played against famous poker player Vanessa Selbst in a game held in Monaco. At 17, he became the youngest male to reach the third round at Wimbledon since Boris Becker. On the clay court, he was victorious in 24 consecutive games, breaking the record of maximum consecutive wins, held by Andre Agassi. At the age of 19, in , Nadal won the French Open the first time he competed in the tournament, and his world ranking shot to No.
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. 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 Miami Masters. In , he was triumphant at the French Open and Wimbledon, and his subsequent win at the U.
Though he won tournaments like the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, he lost several championships, dropping to the rank of world no. Afterward, Nadal announced he was withdrawing from the Summer Olympics due to knee tendinitis, an injury that knocked him out of action for several months.
He has won more than matches on the Parisian clay courts, only losing a grand total of three matches — against Robin Soderling in and Novak Djokovic in and in the semi-finals in Between and , the Spaniard won 81 matches in a row on clay, another all-time record.
The Spaniard elected to skip Wimbledon and the Olympics in in order to rest and recuperate his left foot after a difficult clay court season. Nadal announced the news on June 17, 10 days before the commencement of main draw play at Wimbledon.
On August 20, Nadal announced that his left foot injury needed more rest. He pulled out of the US Open and will not play any more events in On October 13, Nadal gave an update, saying he would take his time to come back in shape. Nadal turned 35 at Roland-Garros on June 3 but has shown no desire to end his illustrious career. His recent decision to skip Wimbledon and the Olympics in is more about his desire to rest and recuperate in order to find his top form, than a signal that his career is nearing the end.
Nadal also withdrew from Wimbledon due to the same injury and eventually dropped back to the No. This was the first time since that he was ranked outside the top 2.
He completed the Career Grand Slam and became the second male in tennis to have completed the Career Grand Slam title. He also finished as No. However, he did not win the Australian Open or any other major grand slam title that year.
Rafa Nadal collapsed in the post-match press conference due to severe cramps at the US Open and made headlines for the very same. He eventually lost the title to Novak Djokovic. He also lost his No.
In the Australian Open, Nadal and Djokovic played the longest finals in the Grand Slam history, which lasted about 5 hours and 53 minutes. Nadal claimed the seventh Barcelona Open title of the eight times he participated in the championship. He completed the season with the No. He did not participate in the Australian Open due to a stomach virus, which caused him to drop out of the top 4 of the ATP ranking for the first time since , which means nearly 8 years.
He won the French Open again in and broke his own record for most match wins with a whopping 59 matches. Nadal lost a match in the Wimbledon Open against Steve Darcis, which was the first time he lost in any competition in the first round itself. Rafa faced a lot of injuries in the following year. He lost several matches due to the injuries like a back injury, wrist injury, and even had to go through appendix surgery.
Despite all of these, he won his fifth consecutive French Open. In , he did not win any major Grand Slam event, which ended his year streak of winning one major competition each year. He had back-to-back injuries, and his ranking dropped continuously.
He secured his second Olympics Gold Medal in the Olympics but did not do very well as his wrist injury made him withdraw from the Wimbledon as well as the French Open. Rafael Nadal with kids. Rafa Nadal bounced back in typical fashion in as he won two major titles. His 10th French Open made him the only tennis player, male or female, to win a single Grand Slam tournament that many times.
He also had to withdraw from multiple tournaments due to his injuries throughout the year. Nadal also won the Davis Cup. He set the following records in itself:. Rafa bagged his 20th Grand Slam title and 13th French Open title in at the age of Nadal holding his French Open trophy after defeating Novak Djokovic in At the age of 16, Nadal made it to the semifinals of the Boys' Singles tournament at Wimbledon. At 17, he became the youngest male to reach the third round at Wimbledon since Boris Becker.
In , when he was just 19 years old, Nadal won the French Open the first time he competed in the tournament, and his world ranking shot to No. Nadal won 11 singles titles that year, eight of which were on clay, and he was soon dubbed the "King of Clay. Despite enduring shoulder and foot injuries, Nadal won his second straight French Open and added four more titles in The following year, he won again at Roland Garros and took home five other titles.
Nadal poured it on in , winning the French Open again, in addition to winning Wimbledon — where he beat rival Roger Federer in the longest final in Wimbledon history — as well as taking home the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
After Wimbledon, Nadal's winning streak stood at a career-best 32 matches. With his powerful topspin-heavy shots, speed and mental toughness, Nadal reigned as one of the "Big Four" of men's tennis along with Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray for the next several years.
He took over as the world's No. In , he was triumphant at the French Open and Wimbledon, and his subsequent win at the U. Open made him just the second men's player to achieve the career Golden Slam — victories at all four majors, as well as Olympic gold.
The following year, Nadal led the Spanish Davis Cup team to victory for the fourth time, but he surrendered his No.
He gained some revenge by defeating the Serbian star at Roland Garros the following spring to claim a record seventh French Open singles crown. However, Nadal followed with a surprising second-round loss to Czech player Lukas Rosol at Wimbledon, a match some commentators labeled as one of the biggest upsets in tennis history. Afterward, Nadal announced he was withdrawing from the Summer Olympics due to knee tendinitis, an injury that knocked him out of action for several months.
But here we are today, and that's really fantastic and incredible. Later that month at Wimbledon, Nadal lost in straight sets in the first round to Belgium's Steve Darcis.
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