RAFAEL NADAL

Rafael Nadal Parera (born June 3, 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player who has been ranked World No. 1 since August 18, 2008. He has won five Grand Slam singles titles and the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles. He has captured the last four French Open singles titles, joining Björn Borg in 2008 as the only man to have won four consecutive singles titles there. In 2008, Nadal became the second Spaniard to win Wimbledon. Nadal is the only player in the open era to have won the French Open, the London Queen's club, and Wimbledon in the same year.

For much of his career, Nadal has had a rivalry with Roger Federer, which many critics consider to be the greatest rivalry in tennis history. They are the only men in the open era who have played each other in six Grand Slam finals, with Nadal winning four of those matches. Nadal was ranked World No. 2 behind Federer for a record 160 weeks before earning the top spot. Nadal has won 12 of their 18 singles matches.

He has been especially successful on clay courts. He has a 22–1 record in clay court tournament finals and is undefeated in 43 best-of-five-set matches on clay. In each of the last four years, he has won both the French Open and two clay court Masters Series tournaments. He also owns the longest single-surface winning streak in the open era, having won 81 consecutive matches on clay from April 2005 to May 2007. As a result, some tennis critics and top players already regard him as the greatest clay-court player of all time.

On October 18, 2008, Nadal clinched the year-end World No. 1 ranking for 2008. The same year, he was given the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for his achievements in sports. (via Wikipedia)


From The Blogsphere

IMG exec calls Ovechkin a "global icon"

via washingtonpost.com ( 21 Days ago )
IMG Worldwide has a few people you might have heard of in their client portfolio--Tiger Woods, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova, Giselle Bundchen, Heidi Klum and Peyton and Eli Manning, for example. Until this week, though, the sports media and entertainment company wasn't in the hockey business, although they used to represent Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr and several [...]

Roddick, Nadal Scrutinize Long ATP Season

via washingtonpost.com ( 42 Days ago )
SHANGHAI -- Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick complained Tuesday that the ATP season is too long and that tennis players need a proper offseason.

Mechanics vs Mechanics: Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal, Man and Machine

via bleacherreport.com ( 51 Days ago )
The way a player goes about playing tennis is in effect, an "interpretation" of it. Yes, the game is as simple as "win points, games, and sets, and you will win the match," but when the question pops up, "how?" the answers are quite varied. They are indicative of the players' interpretation of the statement "win points, games, and sets, and you will win the match." Again, this question [...]

Rafael Nadal to return in China Open

via telegraph.co.uk ( 53 Days ago )
World No 2 Rafael Nadal will return to action at the China Open next week after medical tests cleared him to play.

Souvenir sphere

via nypost.com ( 69 Days ago )
IF Anna Wintour ever tires of magazines, she shouldn't count on an alternative career as a ball girl. During Sunday's semifinal US Open match between Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro, a ball landed right in the Vogue editor's row. "Everyone sta...

Private table

via nypost.com ( 69 Days ago )
RAFAEL Nadal has a girlfriend, but it didn't stop him from flirting with Shakira the other night. Before his loss in the US Open semi-final, the Spanish ace -- who's been dating high school sweetheart Maria Francisca Perello, nickname Xisca, for thre...

Roger Federer's grand slam finals record

via telegraph.co.uk ( 69 Days ago )
When winning the US Open Juan Martín del Potro became only the second player after Rafael Nadal to defeat Roger Federer in a grand slam final.

Del Potro Dominates Nadal; Federer Awaits

via nytimes.com ( 70 Days ago )
Juan Martín del Potro stunned Rafael Nadal in straight sets and will face Roger Federer, who beat Novak Djokovic.

US Open 2009: Juan Martín del Potro beats Rafael Nadal to face Roger Federer in final

via telegraph.co.uk ( 71 Days ago )
Sixth seed from Argentina has reached his first grand slam final where he will face fivetimes champion Roger Federer.

Nadal finishes rain-interrupted win at U.S. Open

via cnn.com ( 72 Days ago )
Rafael Nadal has no way of knowing how his aching stomach muscles will feel when he plays in the U.S. Open semifinals.