rafael nadal (king of clay history)

Nickname(s) Rafa, Gladiator, The King of Clay, 纳豆
Country Spain
Residence Manacor, Majorca
Date of birth June 3, 1986 (1986-06-03) (age 22)
Place of birth Manacor, Majorca
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 85.0 kg (187 lb/13.39 st)
Turned pro 2001
Plays Left-handed; two-handed backhand
Career prize money US$19,996,948
Singles
Career record: 323–74
Career titles: 31
Highest ranking: No. 1 (August 18, 2008)
Grand Slam results
Australian Open SF (2008)
French Open W (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
Wimbledon W (2008)
US Open QF (2006)
Major tournaments
Masters Cup SF (2006, 2007)
Olympic Games Gold medal (2008)
Doubles
Career record: 65–45
Career titles: 4
Highest ranking: No. 26 (August 8, 2005)
Olympic medal record
Competitor for Spain
Tennis
Gold 2008 Beijing Men's singles
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 football player, having played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team.[8] He is an avid supporter of Real Madrid.[9] 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.[10] Toni has also stated that Rafael had a natural talent playing tennis while preferring to play football.[11] 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.[11]

Nadal has been dating María Francesca "Xisca" Perelló,[12] also from Majorca, for three years as of 2008.[13]


[edit] Career

[edit] 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. [14]

Nadal was 12 when he decided to pursue a career in tennis instead of football.[8] 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.[8]


[edit] 2002–2004
In 2002, Nadal won his first ATP match, defeating Ramon Delgado in Majorca. He became the ninth player in the open era to win an ATP match before the age of 16.[15]

In 2003, 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.[16]

In 2004, Nadal played his first match against world #1 Roger Federer at the Miami Masters. Nadal won the match in straight sets. He then missed most of the clay-court season, including the French Open, due to a stress fracture in his left ankle.[8]


[edit] 2005

Rafael Nadal in New Haven.The 2005 season was a highly successful one for Nadal, as he ascended to #2 in the rankings on 25 July, a position he subsequently held for a record 160 consecutive weeks. He won 11 titles (8 on clay, 3 on hard), tying Roger Federer for the season.

He began the year with hard-fought losses to Lleyton Hewitt at the Australian Open and Federer in the Miami Masters final. Both were considered to be breakthrough performances for Nadal.[17] [18]

He then dominated the spring clay court season by winning 24 consecutive matches (a record for teenage men in the open era).[19] He beat 2004 French Open finalist Guillermo Coria in the finals of both the Monte Carlo Masters and the Rome Masters, after which Coria conceded that Nadal was the best clay court player.[20] Nadal then made his debut at the French Open and lived up to many analysts' predictions by winning his first Grand Slam singles title (Nadal was the first man to win on a debut appearance at the French since Mats Wilander in 1982).[10] En route to the title, he defeated Federer in the semi-finals, beginning a streak of four consecutive wins over his budding rival at Roland Garros. Each of these victories has prevented Federer from achieving a Career Grand Slam.

Nadal proceeded to win Masters Series events on the hard courts of Canada and Madrid, thus capturing 4 Masters titles during the year. This a single-season record he shares with Federer. However, Nadal's performances at the other Grand Slam tournaments were more indifferent, as he suffered by that time shock losses in rounds two and three of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open respectively.[21] [22] A foot injury near the end of the year caused him to miss the Tennis Masters Cup and the start of the 2006 season.[23]

Nadal won the Golden Bagel Award that year with twelve 6-0 sets in the year.


[edit] 2006

Nadal at the 2006 French OpenNadal 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 Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, 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.[24] 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.[25]

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.[citation needed] 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.......................to be continued

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 Gonzalez. 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 Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida.

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.


Nadal during his final versus Federer at the 2007 French OpenBetween 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.[26]

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.[27]

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".[28]


[edit] 2008
As of August 17, Nadal has a 67–8 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.

He began the year by reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time. He also reached the final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida 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.[29] 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.[30] 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.[29] This was Nadal's fourth consecutive French title, tying Björn Borg's all-time record.

He then played Federer in the final of Wimbledon for the third consecutive year, in the most anticipated match of their rivalry.[31] [32] 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 was also on a roll, having won his record fifth grass court title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle without facing a break point and then reaching 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.[32] [33] 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 ever.[34] [35] [36] [37] 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 and only the second Spaniard to win Wimbledon. He also ended Federer's record streaks of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and 65 straight wins on grass.

After Wimbledon, Nadal extended his winning streak to a career-best 32 matches. He won his second Rogers Cup title in Toronto and then lost in 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 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 was the first male player ranked in the top five to win the gold medal.[38]

At the upcoming US Open, Nadal is the top-seeded player for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament.
Rivalry with Federer
Nadal and Federer have been rivals since 2005, and this rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers:

They are the only men in the open era who have played in six Grand Slam finals.[2]
Their 2008 Wimbledon final has been lauded as the greatest match ever by many long-time tennis critics.[34] [35] [36]
Many critics consider their rivalry to be the greatest in tennis history.[36] [39] [40]

Playing style
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. 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.[41] 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.[41]

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. 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[42] which have been customized for him with the famous "Vamos Rafa" slogan written on the back of them.[43] 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.


[edit] Career statistics

[edit] Grand Slam singles finals (7)

[edit] 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


[edit] 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


[edit] ATP Masters Series singles finals (16)

[edit] Wins (12)
Year Tournament Name Tournament Location Surface Opponent in Final Score in Final
2005 Masters Series Monte Carlo Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Guillermo Coria 6–3, 6–1, 0–6, 7–5
2005 Internazionali BNL d'Italia Rome Clay Guillermo Coria 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(6)
2005 Rogers Cup Montréal, Canada Hard Andre Agassi 6–3, 4–6, 6–2
2005 Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid Madrid, Spain Hard (i) Ivan Ljubičić 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(3)
2006 Masters Series Monte Carlo (2) Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Roger Federer 6–2, 6–7(2), 6–3, 7–6(5)
2006 Internazionali BNL d'Italia (2) Rome Clay Roger Federer 6–7(0), 7–6(5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(5)
2007 Pacific Life Open Indian Wells, California Hard Novak Djokovic 6–2, 7–5
2007 Masters Series Monte Carlo (3) Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Roger Federer 6–4, 6–4
2007 Internazionali BNL d'Italia (3) Rome Clay Fernando González 6–2, 6–2
2008 Masters Series Monte Carlo (4) Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Roger Federer 7–5, 7–5
2008 Masters Series Hamburg Hamburg, Germany Clay Roger Federer 7–5, 6–7(3), 6–3
2008 Rogers Cup (2) Toronto, Canada Hard Nicolas Kiefer 6–3, 6–2


[edit] Runner-ups (4)
Year Tournament Name Tournament Location Surface Opponent in Final Score in Final
2005 Sony Ericsson Open Key Biscayne, Florida, U.S. Hard Roger Federer 2–6, 6–7(4), 7–6(5), 6–3, 6–1
2007 Masters Series Hamburg Hamburg, Germany Clay Roger Federer 2–6, 6–2, 6–0
2007 BNP Paribas Masters Paris Hard (i) David Nalbandian 6–4, 6–0
2008 Sony Ericsson Open (2) Key Biscayne, Florida Hard Nikolay Davydenko 6–4, 6–2


[edit] All finals (46)

[edit] Singles (39)

[edit] Wins (31)
Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (5)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
Olympic Gold (1)
ATP Masters Series (12)
ATP Tour (13)
Titles by Surface
Hard (7)
Clay (22)
Grass (2)
Carpet (0)

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


[edit] Runner-ups (8)
Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (2)
Tennis Masters Cup (0)
ATP Masters Series (4)
ATP Tour (2)
Runner-ups by Surface
Hard (5)
Clay (1)
Grass (2)
Carpet (0)

No. Date Tournament Name Tournament Location Surface Opponent in Final Score in Final
1. January 18, 2004 Heineken Open Auckland, New Zealand Hard Dominik Hrbatý 4–6, 6–2, 7–5
2. April 3, 2005 Sony Ericsson Open Key Biscayne, Florida, U.S. Hard Roger Federer 2–6, 6–7(4), 7–6(5), 6–3, 6–1
3. July 9, 2006 Wimbledon London Grass Roger Federer 6–0, 7–6(5), 6–7(2), 6–3
4. May 20, 2007 Masters Series Hamburg Hamburg, Germany Clay Roger Federer 2–6, 6–2, 6–0
5. July 8, 2007 Wimbledon London Grass Roger Federer 7–6(7), 4–6, 7–6(3), 2–6, 6–2
6. November 4, 2007 BNP Paribas Masters Paris Hard (i) David Nalbandian 6–4, 6–0
7. January 6, 2008 Chennai Open Chennai, India Hard Mikhail Youzhny 6–0, 6–1
8. April 6, 2008 Sony Ericsson Open Key Biscayne, Florida, U.S. Hard Nikolay Davydenko 6–4, 6–2


[edit] Doubles (7)

[edit] Wins (4)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponents in the final Score
1. 27 Jul 2003 Umag, Croatia Clay Álex López Morón Todd Perry
Thomas Shimada 6–1, 6–3
2. 11 Jan 2004 Chennai, India Hard Tommy Robredo Jonathan Erlich
Andy Ram 7–6(3), 4–6, 6–3
3. 09 Jan 2005 Doha, Qatar Hard Albert Costa Andrei Pavel
Mikhail Youzhny 6–3, 4–6, 6–3
4. 27 Apr 2008 Monte Carlo, Monaco Clay Tommy Robredo Mahesh Bhupathi
Mark Knowles 6–3, 6–3


[edit] Runner-ups (3)
No. Date Tournament Surface Partnering Opponents in the final Score
1. 24 Apr 2005 Barcelona, Spain Clay Feliciano López Leander Paes
Nenad Zimonjić 6–3, 6–3
2. 08 Jan 2007 Chennai, India Hard Tomeu Salvà Xavier Malisse
Dick Norman 7–6(4), 7–6(4)
3. 30 Apr 2007 Barcelona, Spain Clay Tomeu Salvà Andrei Pavel
Alexander Waske 6–3, 7–6(1)

(i) = Indoor

Terms to know
SR the ratio of the number of singles tournaments
won to the number of those tournaments played W-L player's Win-Loss record
Performance Table Legend
NH tournament not held in that calendar year (usually Olympics) A did not participate in the tournament
LQ lost in qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(RR = Round Robin)
QF advanced to but not past the quarterfinals SF advanced to but not past the semifinals
F advanced to the finals, tournament runner-up W won the tournament
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 Olympic Games in Beijing, which ended on August 17, 2008.

Tournament 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Career SR Career W-L
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 3R 4R A QF SF 0 / 4 14–4
French Open A A A W W W W 4 / 4 28–0
Wimbledon A 3R A 2R F F W 1 / 5 22–4
US Open A 2R 2R 3R QF 4R 0 / 5 11–5
SR 0 / 0 0 / 2 0 / 2 1 / 4 1 / 3 1 / 4 2 / 3 5 / 18 N/A
Win-Loss 0–0 3–2 3–2 13–3 17–2 20–3 19–1 N/A 75–13
Year-End Championship
Tennis Masters Cup A A A A SF SF 0 / 2 4–4
Olympic Games
Singles Not Held A Not Held W 1 / 1 6–0
ATP Masters Series
Indian Wells A A 3R A SF W SF 1 / 4 16–3
Miami A A 4R F 2R QF F 0 / 5 14–5
Monte Carlo A 3R A W W W W 4 / 5 24–1
Rome A A A W W W 2R 3 / 4 17–1
Hamburg A 3R A A A F W 1 / 3 11–2
Toronto / Montreal A A 1R W 3R SF W 2 / 5 16–3
Cincinnati A A 1R 1R QF 2R SF 0 / 5 6–5
Madrid A 1R 2R W QF QF 1 / 5 10–4
Paris A LQ A A A F 0 / 1 4–1
ATP Tournaments Played 1 11 18 21 16 18 16 N/A 101
ATP Finals Reached 0 0 2 12 6 9 10 N/A 39
ATP Tournaments Won 0 0 1 11 5 6 8 N/A 31
Hard Win-Loss 0–0 1–2 14–10 28–6 25–10 31–12 36–7 N/A 135–47
Clay Win-Loss 1–1 11–6 14–3 50–2 26–0 31–1 22–1 N/A 155–14
Grass Win-Loss 0–0 2–1 0–0 1–2 8–2 8–2 12–0 N/A 31–7
Carpet Win-Loss 0–0 0–2 2–4 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 N/A 2–6
Overall Win-Loss 1–1 14–11 30–17 79–10 59–12 70–15 70–8 N/A 323–74
Win (%) 50% 56% 64% 89% 83% 82% 90% N/A 81%
Year End Ranking 200 49 51 2 2 2 N/A N/A

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

[edit] ATP Tour career earnings
Year Majors ATP wins Total wins Earnings ($) Money list rank
2002 0 0 0 23,975 345
2003 0 0 0 243,238 87
2004 0 1 1 447,758 50
2005 1 10 11 3,874,751 2
2006 1 4 5 3,746,360 2
2007 1 5 6 5,646,935 2
2008* 2 5 7 6,013,074 1
Career* 5 25 30 19,996,948 8

* As of July 28, 2008.

[edit] 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 Jiří Novák and Radek Štěpánek 6–4, 7–6(6), 6–3.
Singles: Nadal defeated Radek 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 Arnaud 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.

[edit] Challengers and futures finals

[edit] Singles wins (8)
Legend
Challengers (2)
Futures (6)
No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent in the final Score
1. 15 Jul 2002 Alicante, Spain Clay Marc Fornell 7–5, 3–6, 6–3
2. 19 Aug 2002 Vigo, Spain Clay Antonio Pastorino 4–6, 7–6(4), 6–4
3. 23 Sep 2002 Barcelona, Spain Clay Marc Fornell 6–4, 6–3
4. 30 Sep 2002 Barcelona, Spain Clay Guillermo García-López 6–3, 7–6(1)
5. 25 Nov 2002 Gran Canaria, Spain Clay Marc Fornell 6–2, 6–3
6. 02 Dec 2002 Gran Canaria, Spain Hard (i) Florian Mayer 7–6(3), 6–4
7. 31 Mar 2003 Barletta, Italy Clay Albert Portas 6–2, 7–6(2)
8. 04 Aug 2003 Segovia, Spain Hard Tomáš Zíb 6–2, 7–6(1)


[edit] 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)

[edit] Sponsorships
Rafael 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 Rafael Nadal in a tennis match against an alien.[44]