Name: Rafael Nadal Parera
DOB: 3 June 1986
Country: Spain
Place of Birth: Manacor, Majorca
Height: 6' 1
Turn pro: 2001
Plays: left-handed, two-handed backhand
Racquet: Babolat AeroPro Drive Cortex Racquets
“Rafa” Rafael Nadal has shaken the world of tennis since his initial debut – in just 5 years, he has managed to pave his way through the professional tennis scene and move up to be ranked second in the world, all the while maintaining an impressive record of 60 clay court match wins in a row.
Nadal was born in the city of Manacor, Mallorca on June 3, 1986 to father Sebastián and mother Ana María. Coming from a sports savvy family, Rafael Nadal was raised to be an athlete, his uncle being the famous F.C. Barcelona footballer Miguel Angel Nadal. During the years of 1986 to 2001, Nadal was able to expand his all around playing ability by training himself to play left-handed, even if he was born right-handed. Also, the year 2001 marked his transition to becoming a pro player at the young age of 15.
Since then, Nadal has risen to the top at an impressively fast rate. At only age 15, Nadal beat Ramon Delgado in his first ATP match that took place in Majorca. Thus, he became a part of an elite group of players in the Open Era that were able to win an ATP match before the age of 16. A year later, he was labeled as the second youngest tennis player to be among the list of the top 100 singles players in the world. In addition, he was celebrated as the ATP Newcomer of the Year, a prestigious award. At age 16, Nadal debuted at the Wimbledon and managed to reach the third round, thus becoming the youngest player to do so since Boris Becker in the year 1984. In July of 2003, Nadal made it to the Spanish Championships, although it resulted in a loss against Lopez.
In the years 2004 and 2005, Nadal continued to strengthen his skills and rose to be the fifth best tennis player in the world. As a result, he became the youngest player to be a part of the top ten world rankings since Andrei Medvedev in 1993. In the same season, he stole two victories in Monte Carlo and Rome, winning two ATP Masters Series. His success continued as his winning streak increased to a noteworthy 25 matches in a row.
Another one of his notable achievements is his title as the fourth youngest player of the Open Era to be a Roland Garros Champion, winning against Mariano Puerta of Argentina in the final match. Also, Nadal was the seventh player in history to win the championship at his first Grand Slam and the first teen since Pete Sampras to win a Grand Slam. Sampras’s achievement took place at the 1990 US Open when he was 19.
In 2006, the well known rivalry between top players Nadal and Federer continued to simmer and ultimately boiled to a climax when Nadal defeated Federer four times. The first victory took place in the Dubai final on March 4, 2006 in which the score turned out be 2-6, 6-4, and 6-4. At the Monte Carlo Masters, Nadal had another victory against Federer when he won 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, and 7-6. For the third time, Federer was once again defeated by Nadal at the Rome finals, where the match turned out to a very close one: 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 2-6, and 7-6.
For the fourth time, Nadal and Federer met at the finals in the French Open. Federer vowed to shed his past record with Nadal, while Nadal desired to keep his French Open title. Nadal ultimately won all four matches and therefore entered the French Open with a flawless 14-0 match record.