1997–2000: Juniors

Nadal won the Spanish junior championships in 1997 and 1998, beating Ricardo Villacorta and Marcel Granollers respectively.^[16][17] In 1998 he completed the double as a junior, winning the Spanish championship in doubles with his great friend Tomeu Salvá, beating Diáz and Granollers in the final.^[16] Nadal then reached the final of the U14 Spanish championship at the age of 12, a feat that remains unmatched, losing to Juan Sanchez de Luna in straight sets.^[16][18] In late 1998, Nadal won the season-ending U12 Junior Masters at Stuttgart, beating future world No. 5 Kevin Anderson in the final.^[19]

In February 1998, Nadal won the Open Super 12, an unofficial world championship for U12 players held in Auray. It was the first time that Nadal competed outside of Spain and he beat the 1997 winner Jamie Murray in the final.^[20] At the time, Nadal was still hesitating between football and tennis, partly because his uncle Miguel Ángel was preparing to compete in the 1998 FIFA World Cup with Spain, but in the end it was Auray who decided it.^[21] In a letter in French that he sent to the organizers in 2010, Nadal stated that winning this tournament helped him make the decision to "opt for tennis and try an international career".^[20][21] Latter in 1998, when Nadal was runner-up in the U14 event Spanish championship, he was still playing football.^[7] Nadal's father told him he had to choose between football and tennis so that his schoolwork would not deteriorate entirely. Nadal said: "I chose tennis. Football had to stop straight away."^[14]

In 1999, the 12-year-old Nadal was already playing in the U14 circuit of the ETA Junior Tour, currently known as the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, winning the prestigious Tim Essonne,^[22] and finishing the year at No. 69.^[23] Nadal then dominated the U14 circuit in 2000, collecting two of the most prestigious trophies of the year at Les Petits As in Tarbes, beating home favourite Julien Gely in the final,^[16][23][24] and the European Junior Masters in Prato.^[16][25] On the same day he turned 14, Nadal won the Sport Goofy Trophy, held in Getxo, beating Granollers in the final.^[26][27] In July, Nadal finally won the U14 Spanish championships, beating his friend and training partner Tomeu Salvá in the final.^[16][28] He broke a finger on his left hand during the first round, but still won the tournament anyways despite gripping the racquet with his four good fingers, his pinkie dangling.^[28][29] As a member of the Spanish national team, Nadal won the 2000 ITF World Junior Championship for players under 14, winning his matches in both singles and doubles (paired with Marcel Granollers) in a 3–0 win over Russia.^[30] Nadal ended 2000 at No. 5 of the ETA rankings for U14s.^[23]

By the time Nadal was 14, he had made a name for himself in the Spanish junior circuit by winning multiple age group titles.^[13] Those achievements earned him a tennis scholarship in Barcelona, and the Spanish tennis federation requested that Nadal leave Mallorca and move to Barcelona to continue his tennis training.^[7] His family turned down this request, partly because they feared his education would suffer,^[14] but also because Toni said, "I don't want to believe that you have to go to America or other places to be a good athlete. You can do it from your home."^[7][10] Furthermore, Nadal already was by then practicing three times a week at Palma with his childhood idol and fellow Majorcan, the former World No. 1 Carlos Moyá, who later became Nadal’s mentor and confidant,^[7][10] and whom Nadal beat in 2000, at the time still a Top-10 player, in an exhibition match.^[31] The decision to stay home meant less financial support from the federation; instead, Nadal's father covered the costs.^[14]

Rafael Nadal singles-ranking history chart through January 2020

Singles ranking composite history chart through January 2020 (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic)

2001–2002: Start of professional career

Nadal turned professional at the beginning of 2001, at the age of 14. While most of his contemporaries were making their first steps on the ITF Junior Circuit, Nadal took a different approach and played just two events on the ITF junior Tour, both after turning 16 in 2002,^[32] reaching the semifinals of the junior singles event at Wimbledon,^[33] and then helping Spain defeat the US in the final of the Junior Davis Cup in his second and final appearance on the ITF Junior Circuit.^[33][34] He thus posted a 9–1 career junior record in singles, 4–1 on grass and 5–0 on clay.^[33] He had a career-high juniors singles ranking of world No. 145, attained on 30 December 2002.^[33]

In early 2001, at age 14, Nadal began playing the qualifying draws of professional tournaments. Although he managed to win some matches, he failed to qualify for the main draws in any of the 10 Spanish Futures he played between January and September.^[35] He also competed in the qualifying round of the ATP 250 event at home in Mallorca, but failed to qualify.^[32] In May 2001, he defeated former Grand Slam tournament champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match.^[8][36] Nadal finally made his pro debut in the main draws at the Futures in Madrid on 11 September 2001, wasting no less than 13 match points against Guillermo Platel-Varas in the opening round.^[32][29][37] A week later he received a wild card into the main draw of the Challenger in Seville, his first Challenger tournament, and he ousted world No. 751 Israel Matos Gil 6–4 6–4 to claim his first pro win and earn the first five ATP points of his career to become world No. 1002.^[35][32][29] At age 15, Nadal ended 2001 as the world No. 811.^[35]

In 2002, Nadal, then ranked No. 762, received a wild card to the ATP 250 event on his home island of Mallorca,^[38] where on 29 April, at 15 years and 10 months of age, Nadal won his first ATP match by defeating No. 81 Ramón Delgado,^[39] and became the ninth player in the Open Era to do so before the age of 16.^[35][40] He proceeded not to compete for two months as he had to study for school exams, which was a very important thing for his family, thus missing the junior French Open in June.^[41] He made his return to the tour in the aforementioned Wimbledon junior event, where he was the only non-English speaking player to receive a wildcard and reaching the semifinals after winning four matches against rivals with much more experience on grass, such as second seed Brian Dabul in the first round and eight seed Philipp Petzschner, who was also two years older than him, in the quarterfinals, before being eliminated by Lamine Ouahab.^[42] Nadal then won six of the nine Futures events he entered from July until December, including 5 on clay and 1 on hard courts, but he did not reach any doubles finals.^[35][43] Nadal finished 2002 with a Futures record of 40–9 in singles and 10–9 in doubles.^[44][45] In October, Nadal achieved his first victory over a top-100 by defeating No. 76 Albert Montañés in the quarterfinals of a Challenger at Barcelona,^[16] before losing to Albert Portas in the semifinals.^[46] Nadal ended 2002 as the world No. 199.

2003: First ATP title and ascending to the top 50

Nadal continued his incredible ascent in early 2003, reaching the finals of Challengers at Hamburg, Cherbourg and Cagliari, and winning at Barletta.^[35] He scored a total of 19 Challenger wins in the first three months of the season to find himself inside the Top 150.^[47] He then qualified for his second career ATP event, the Monte Carlo Masters, where in the second round he beat the 2002 French Open champion Albert Costa, then ranked No. 7, thus getting his first top 10 career win and entering the world’s top 100.^[35][48] In his next ATP event, the Torneo Godó in Barcelona, Nadal scored his first ATP bagel in a first round win over Juan Antonio Marín.^[49] Nadal then reached his fifth Challenger final of the year in Aix-en-Provence, which he lost to Mariano Puerta.^[50] In May, the 16-year-old Nadal entered his second Masters event at Hamburg, where he upset No. 4 Carlos Moyá before losing to future French Open Champion Gaston Gaudio in the third round.^[51] Nadal was then forced to postpone his French Open debut after injuring his elbow in a fall while training.^[52] He then qualified directly to Wimbledon, thus having never contested in a major qualifying event before.^[53] In his major main draw debut in Wimbledon, Nadal defeated Mario Ančić, who at the time was the most recent player to defeat Roger Federer on grass,^[47] and then reached the third round to became the youngest man to do so since Boris Becker in 1984.^[31][54]

In July, Nadal reached the first national final of his career at the Spanish Championship in Majadahonda, where he beat the champion and finalist of the previous edition, Tommy Robredo and Fernando Verdasco, en route to the final, which he lost to Feliciano López.^[55] Nadal then participated at Umag, where he lost to Moyá in the semifinals. This remained Nadal's only loss at a clay-court semifinal for the next 12 years, as he then began a streak of 52 consecutive wins in semifinal matches on clay that only ended at the 2015 Rio Open.^[56] Nadal also competed in seven doubles tournaments in 2003, and won his first ATP title (doubles or singles) at Umag, partnering Álex López Morón to defeat Todd Perry and Thomas Shimada in the final.^[57] Nadal won his second Challenger title of the year in August at Segovia, thus entering the top 50 and winning the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award.^[35]

At the US Open, Nadal won the first round to became one of the youngest players with a victory at the US Open, but then lost in the second round to Younes El Aynaoui.^[58] In September, Nadal entered the final Challenger event of his career, on hard courts in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, retiring with an injury against Richard Gasquet, who never defeated Nadal again.^[50][59] Nadal then reached another national final in the Albacete Tournament after overcoming three match points and a headache in the semifinals against Ferrán Ventura to set up another final with López, this time winning comfortably.^[60] Nadal finished the year ranked as the world No. 49.^[35]

2004: Davis Cup title

2004 started with a doubles title alongside Tommy Robredo at the Chennai Open, defeating Israeli pair Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the final; Nadal’s second doubles title and first on hard courts.^[61] In singles, however, Nadal piled up his 5th consecutive loss after a first round exit to Thierry Ascione; this remains the worst losing streak of his career.^[62] He bounced back in the very next tournament in Auckland as he reached the first ATP final of his career, which he lost to Dominik Hrbatý.^[63] Nadal then reached the third round of the Australian Open, where he lost in straight sets to former world No. 1 and Australian native Lleyton Hewitt.^[64] Later that year, Nadal, then ranked No. 34, played the first match of his historic rivalry with Roger Federer, then ranked No. 1, in the third round of the Miami Open, winning in straight sets before a loss to Fernando González in the fourth round.^[65][66]

In the first tournament of the clay court season at Estoril, Nadal suffered a stress fracture in his left ankle during his round of 16 victory over Richard Gasquet, causing him to miss 3 months of play and 2 majors, the French Open and Wimbledon.^[35][8] On his return in July, he struggled to regain his form, and although he won his first ATP singles title at the Prokom Open by defeating No. 105 José Acasuso in the final, Nadal won hardly any other match on the tour.^[67] At the US Open, Nadal lost to defending champion Andy Roddick in the second round,^[35] but he also entered the tournament's doubles event partnering Robredo, where they upset the No. 4 seed in the third round and reached the semifinals; Nadal's best performance in a grand slam doubles event.^[68]

In the 2004 Davis Cup final, the 18-year-old Nadal beat world No. 2 Andy Roddick on clay in Spain to help his nation clinch the title over the United States, and in doing so at 18 years and six months of age, he became the youngest player to register a singles victory in a Davis Cup final for a winning nation.^[15][31][69] Nadal finished the year ranked as the world No. 51, two places worse than the prior year, mainly because he missed most of the clay court season.^[35]

2005: First major title

2005 started with a doubles title alongside Albert Costa at the Qatar Open, defeating pair Andrei Pavel and Mikhail Youzhny in the final.^[70] At the 2005 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt. Two months later, he reached the final of the 2005 Miami Masters, and despite being two points from a straight-sets victory, he was defeated in five sets by No. 1 Roger Federer. Both performances were considered breakthroughs for Nadal.^[71][72]

He then dominated the spring clay-court season. He won 24 consecutive singles matches, breaking Andre Agassi's Open Era record of consecutive match wins for a male teenager.^[73] Nadal won the Torneo Conde de Godó in Barcelona after defeating the former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final; a triumph that propelled him into the top 10 for the first time in his career.^[74] He then beat 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria in the finals of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters and the 2005 Italian Open. These victories raised his ranking to world No. 5^[75] and made him one of the favorites at his career-first French Open. On his 19th birthday, Nadal defeated Federer in the French Open semifinals, being one of only four players to defeat him that year (along with Marat Safin, Richard Gasquet, and David Nalbandian). Two days later he defeated Mariano Puerta in the final, becoming the second man, after Mats Wilander in 1982, to win the French Open on his first attempt.^[36] He also became the first male teenager to win a major singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19.^[8][76] Winning improved his ranking to No. 3.^[75]

Three days after his victory in Paris, Nadal's 24-match winning streak was snapped in the first round of the grass court Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, where he lost to No. 147 Alexander Waske,^[77] the second lowest-ranked defeat of his career.^[78] He then lost in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon to No. 69 Gilles Müller of Luxembourg.^[79] Nadal then played at the Copa del Rey de Tenis in Huelva, the oldest tournament in Spain on clay, beating Carlos Moyá in the final.^[80] Following his Wimbledon loss, Nadal won 16 consecutive matches and three consecutive tournaments, the Swedish Open, Stuttgart Open, and the Canada Masters, defeating Agassi in the final of the latter to win the first hardcourt title of his career^[76] and to bring his ranking to No. 2 on 25 July 2005, where he remained for the next three years behind Roger Federer.^[35] His winning streak ended in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters at the hands of Tomáš Berdych.^[81] Nadal was seeded second at the 2005 US Open, but was upset in the third round by No. 49 James Blake in four sets.^[82]

In September, he defeated Coria in the final of the China Open in Beijing and won both of his Davis Cup matches against Italy.^[83] In October, he won his fourth Masters title of the year, coming back from two sets down to prevail against Ivan Ljubičić in the final of the 2005 Madrid Masters, his biggest indoor title to this day.^[29][76][84] He then suffered a foot injury that prevented him from competing in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup.^[85]

Both Nadal and Federer won eleven singles titles and four Masters titles in 2005. Nadal broke Mats Wilander's previous teenage record of nine in 1983.^[15][86] Eight of Nadal's titles were on clay, and the remainder were on hard courts. Nadal won 79 matches, second only to Federer's 81. Also, he earned the highest year-end ranking ever by a Spaniard and the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award.^[35]

2006: Second French Open title

Nadal missed the Australian Open because of a foot injury.^[87] In February, he lost in the semifinals of the first tournament he played, the Open 13 tournament in Marseille. Two weeks later, he handed Roger Federer his first loss of the year in the final of the Dubai Open (in 2006, Nadal and Andy Murray were the only two men who defeated Federer), thus ending Federer’s 56-match winning streak on hard courts.^[88] Nadal was then upset in both the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters by James Blake, and in the second round of the Miami Masters by Carlos Moyá, who thus ended Nadal's 22-match win streak over fellow Spaniard players.^[89]

Nadal with the Coupe des Mousquetaires after winning the French Open in 2006.

On European clay, Nadal won all four tournaments he entered and 24 consecutive matches. He defeated Federer in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters in four sets.^[90] The following week, he defeated Tommy Robredo in the final of the Torneo Godó tournament in Barcelona.^[91] After a one-week break, Nadal won Italian Open title defeating Federer in a fifth-set tiebreaker in the final, after saving two match points and equaling Björn Borg's tally of 16 ATP titles won as a teenager.^[31][76] At five hours and five minutes, this is the longest match Federer and Nadal have ever contested and it is considered to be where the Federer–Nadal rivalry began in earnest, with The New York Times comparing it to the Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier rivalry in boxing on the following day.^[92] Nadal then broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas's 29-year male record of 53 consecutive clay-court match victories by beating Robin Söderling in the first round of the French Open.^[93][94] Vilas presented Nadal with a trophy, but commented later that Nadal's feat was less impressive than his own because Nadal's winning streak covered two years and was accomplished by adding easy tournaments to his schedule.^[95] Nadal went on to face Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, the first-ever meeting of their historic rivalry, which Nadal won via a retirement from Djokovic after Nadal took the first two sets.^[96] He then beat Ivan Ljubičić to set up a final against Federer. The first two sets of the match were hardly competitive, as the rivals traded 6–1 sets. Nadal won the third set easily and won the fourth in a tiebreaker to become the first player to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam tournament final.^[97]

Nadal injured his shoulder during a quarterfinal match against Lleyton Hewitt at the Artois Championships, played on grass at the Queen's Club in London.^[98] Nadal was unable to complete the match, which ended his 26-match winning streak. Nadal was seeded second at Wimbledon, and was two points from defeat against American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the second round before coming back to win in five sets.^[99] In the third round, Nadal defeated No. 20 Andre Agassi in straight sets in Agassi's last career match at Wimbledon.^[100] Nadal also won his next three matches in straight sets, which set up his first Wimbledon final, which was against Federer, who had won this tournament the three previous years. Nadal was the first Spanish man since Manuel Santana in 1966, to reach the Wimbledon final, but Federer won the match in four sets to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.^[101]

During the lead up to the US Open, Nadal played the two Masters tournaments in North America. He was upset in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto and in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters by Juan Carlos Ferrero. Nadal was seeded second at the US Open, but lost in the quarterfinals to No. 54 Mikhail Youzhny in four sets.^[102]

Nadal played only three tournaments for the remainder of the year. Joachim Johansson, ranked No. 690, upset Nadal in the second round of the Stockholm Open.^[78][103] The following week, Nadal lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters. 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. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer.^[104]

Nadal went on to become the first player since Andre Agassi in 1994–95 to finish the year ranked No. 2 in consecutive years.

2007: Third French Open title

At the Australian Open, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Fernando González.^[105] After another quarterfinal loss at the Dubai Tennis Championships, he won the Indian Wells Masters after beating Novak Djokovic in the final, before losing to Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Miami Masters.^[106]

He had comparatively more success after returning to Europe to play five clay-court tournaments. He won the titles at the Monte-Carlo Masters, the Torneo Godó in Barcelona, and the Italian Open, before losing to Roger Federer in the final of the Hamburg Masters.^[107] 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 bounced back quickly in the French Open, not dropping a set en route to the final where he faced Federer once again, this time winning in four sets to join Björn Borg as the only man to win three French Open titles in a row since Anthony Wilding in 1914.^[108] Between the tournaments in Barcelona and Rome, Nadal defeated Federer in the "Battle of Surfaces" exhibition match in Mallorca, with the tennis court being half grass and half clay.^[109][110]

Nadal was upset in the quarterfinals of the Artois Championships at the Queen's Club in London for the second consecutive year. Nadal then won consecutive five-set matches during the third and fourth rounds of Wimbledon before being beaten by Federer in the five-set final. This was Federer's first five-set match at Wimbledon since 2001.^[111] In July, Nadal beat the unseeded Stan Wawrinka in the final of the clay-court Stuttgart Open, which proved to be his last title of the year.^[112] In the North American summer hard court season, Nadal was a semifinalist at the Canadian Masters in Montreal before losing his first match at the Cincinnati Masters.^[113] He was the second-seeded player at the US Open, but was defeated in the fourth round by David Ferrer.^[114]

After a month-long break, Nadal played Madrid Masters and Paris Masters, but David Nalbandian beat him in straight sets in the quarterfinals and final of those tournaments.^[115] 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 in straight sets.^[116]

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".^[117]

2008: Two majors, Olympic singles gold, Davis Cup, and world No. 1

Nadal at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.

Nadal began the year in India, where he was comprehensively beaten by Mikhail Youzhny in the final of the Chennai Open. Nadal then reached the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated him in the semifinals in straight sets.^[118] Nadal also reached the final of the Miami Masters for the second time, which he lost to Nikolay Davydenko.^[119]

During the spring clay-court season, Nadal won four singles titles and defeated Roger Federer in three finals. At the Monte Carlo Masters, he beat Federer in the final for the third year in a row to become the first player to win four consecutive titles there since Anthony Wilding in 1914.^[120] Furthermore, he also won the tournament's doubles event paired with Tommy Robredo, thus becoming the first player since Jim Courier in 1991 to win the singles and doubles titles at a Masters Series event.^[120] Nadal then won his fourth consecutive title at the Open Sabadell Atlántico tournament in Barcelona. A few weeks later, Nadal won his first Masters Hamburg title defeating Federer in a three-set final, thus becoming only the third player to have won all three clay-court Masters Series titles, in Rome, Monte Carlo and Hamburg.^[121] He then won the French Open, becoming the fifth man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles title without losing a set.^[122] 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.^[123] This was Nadal's fourth consecutive French title, tying Björn Borg's all-time record. Nadal became the fourth male player during Open era to win the same Grand Slam singles tournament for four consecutive years (the others being Borg, Pete Sampras, and Federer).^[124]

Nadal then played Federer in the final of Wimbledon for the third consecutive year, in the most anticipated match of their rivalry.^[125][126] Nadal entered the final on a 23-match winning streak, including his first career grass-court title at the Stella Artois Championships staged at the Queen's Club in London prior to Wimbledon, while Federer had won his record fifth grass-court title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, and then reached 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.^[126][127] At 4 hours and 48 minutes, they played the longest (in terms of time on court, not in terms of numbers of games) final in Wimbledon history, and because of rain delays, Nadal won the fifth set 9–7 in near-darkness (The 2019 final later broke the record for the longest Wimbledon final). The match was widely lauded as the greatest Wimbledon final ever, with some tennis critics even calling it the greatest match in tennis history.^{[128][129][130][131][132]}

By winning his first Wimbledon title, Nadal became the third man in the open era to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, after Rod Laver in 1969, and Borg in 1978–1980, (Federer later accomplished this the following year) as well as the second Spaniard to win Wimbledon after Manolo Santana in 1966.^[133] He also ended Federer's record streak of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and 65 straight wins on grass courts.^[133] This was also the first time that Nadal won two Grand Slam tournaments back-to-back.

After Wimbledon, Nadal extended his winning streak to a career-best 32 matches by winning his second Canada Masters title in Toronto, thus becoming the third youngest player to accumulate 30 titles behind Borg and Jimmy Connors,^[134] and then reaching the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters, in which his winning streak was snapped by Djokovic.^[135] Nadal then played at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he defeated Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the semifinals and Chile's Fernando González in the final to win the gold medal.^[136][137] With the win, Nadal finally clinched the world No. 1 ranking on 18 August, ending Federer's record four-and-a-half-year reign at the top.^[138]

At the US Open, Nadal was the top-seeded player for the first time at a major. He did not lose a set during his first three matches, but lost in the semifinals to Andy Murray.^[139] Later in the year in Madrid, Nadal helped Spain defeat the United States in the Davis Cup semifinals. At the Madrid Masters, Nadal lost in the semifinals to Gilles Simon. However, his performance at the event guaranteed him the year-end No. 1 ranking, making him the first Spaniard to finish a season as such in the Open Era.^[140] Two weeks later at the Paris Masters, Nadal reached the quarterfinals, where he withdrew because of a knee injury.^[141] The following week, Nadal announced his withdrawal from the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, citing tendinitis of the knee. On 10 November, Nadal withdrew from Spain's Davis Cup final against Argentina, as his knee injury had not healed completely.^[142]

2009: Australian Open and Davis Cup titles

Nadal's first ATP Tour event for the season was the Qatar Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Gaël Monfils. Nadal also entered and won the tournament's doubles event partnering Marc López, where they defeated the No. 1-ranked doubles team of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić in the final.^[143] At the Australian Open, Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set, before defeating Fernando Verdasco in the semifinals in the second-longest match in Australian Open history at 5 hours and 14 minutes.^[144] This set up a championship match with Roger Federer, their first meeting in a hard-court major. Nadal defeated Federer in a five-set final to earn his first hard-court major singles title,^[145] and become the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open.^[146]

Nadal at the 2009 Australian Open.

At the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Nadal sustained a knee injury during the final, which he lost to Andy Murray.^[147] 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.^[148] In March, Nadal defeated Janko Tipsarević and Novak Djokovic to help Spain beat Serbia in a Davis Cup World Group first-round tie on clay in Benidorm, Spain.^[149][150] At the Indian Wells Masters, Nadal won his 13th Masters tournament after saving five match points in the fourth round to beat David Nalbandian for the first time, and then beating three top-10 players in a row, Juan Martín del Potro, Andy Roddick, and Murray in the final, all in straight set victories.^[151] At the Miami Masters, Nadal again faced del Potro in the quarterfinals, this time losing the match.^[152]

Nadal began his European clay court season at the Monte Carlo Masters, where he defeated Djokovic in the final to win a record fifth consecutive singles title there.^[153] He then won back to back titles in Barcelona and Italian Open, defeating Ferrer and Djokovic respectively.^[154][155] In the semifinals of the Madrid Open, Nadal saved three match points to defeat Djokovic in a deciding set tiebreaker to take his career record over Djokovic to 14–4 as well as his clay record since 2005 to an impresive 150–4.^[156] The match, at 4 hours and 3 minutes, was at the time the longest three-set singles match on the ATP Tour in the Open Era, and is widely regarded as the best match in the history of the Madrid Open.^[157] Exhausted from his clash with Djokovic, Nadal then surprisingly lost the final to Roger Federer. This was Nadal's first defeat on clay in 33 matches and ended his hopes of being the first man to take all three clay Masters events in the same season. This was also the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer since the semifinals of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup.^[158]

By beating Marcos Daniel in the first round of the French Open, Nadal broke Björn Borg's 28-year male record of 28 consecutive victories at the French Open,^[159] and he then broke Chris Evert's overall record of 29 by beating Teymuraz Gabashvili in the second round.^[160] This run came to an end on 31 May 2009, when Nadal was upset by the eventual runner-up, Robin Söderling in the 4th round.^[161] This was Nadal's first and, until 2015, only loss at the French Open. The former three-time French Open champion Mats Wilander stated after the match that "Everybody's in a state of shock, I would think. At some point, Nadal was going to lose. But nobody expected it to happen today, and maybe not this year."^[162] Nadal then withdrew from the AEGON Championships. It was then confirmed that he was suffering from tendinitis in both of his knees.^[163] On 19 June, Nadal withdrew from Wimbledon, citing his recurring knee injury.^[164] Roger Federer went on to win the title, and Nadal consequently dropped back to No. 2 on 6 July 2009.^[165]

Nadal returned to the tour at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, where he lost in the quarterfinals to del Potro.^[166] With this loss, he relinquished the No. 2 spot to Andy Murray on 17 August 2009, ranking outside the top two for the first time since 25 July 2005.^[167] Nadal then reached the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters, which he lost to Djokovic in straight sets.^[168] At the US Open Nadal fell in the semifinals, losing to eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro.^[169] At the ATP Finals, Nadal lost all three of his matches against Robin Söderling, Nikolay Davydenko, and Djokovic respectively without winning a set.^[170] In December, Nadal participated in the second Davis Cup final of his career, defeating Tomáš Berdych in his first singles rubber to give the Spanish Davis Cup Team their first point in the tie.^[171] After Spain had secured its fourth Davis Cup victory, Nadal defeated Jan Hájek in the first Davis Cup dead rubber of his career.^[172]

Nadal finished the year as No. 2 for the fourth time in five years.

2010: Majors on all three surfaces, year-end No. 1, and Career Golden Slam

Nadal began the year by participating in the Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, an exhibition event, where he defeated Robin Söderling in the final in straight sets.^[173] In his first competitive tournament of the year, Nadal reached the final of the Qatar Open, which he lost to Nikolay Davydenko.^[174] In the Australian Open, Nadal reached the quarterfinals, where he had to pull out at 3–0 down in the third set against Andy Murray.^[175] After examining Nadal's knees, doctors told him that he should take two weeks of rest, and then two weeks of rehabilitation.

Nadal then reached the semifinals of both the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Masters, where on both occasions he was defeated by the eventual champion in three sets, Ivan Ljubičić and Andy Roddick respectively.^[176][177] Nadal then won the Monte-Carlo Masters, beating Fernando Verdasco in the final, 6–0, 6–1. It was his first title in 11 months, and he lost only 14 games and no sets en route to the title. With this win, Nadal became the first player in the Open Era to win the same tournament for six straight years.^[178] Nadal next chose to skip the Barcelona tournament, and his next tournament was the Italian Open, where he defeated David Ferrer in the final for his fifth title at Rome.^[179] At the Madrid Masters, Nadal reached the final where he faced the defending champion Roger Federer in a rematch of the previous year's final, this time winning in straight sets to become the first man to complete a clean sweep of the three clay-court Masters 1000 titles.^[180] The win gave him his 18th Masters title, breaking Andre Agassi's all-time record and moving two Masters titles ahead of Federer.^[181] Nadal moved back to No. 2 the following day.^[182]

At the French Open, Nadal advanced to the final where he faced Söderling, the man who beat him the previous year. He avenged that defeat by beating Söderling in straight sets to win his fifth French Open championship. This marked the second time that Nadal won the title without dropping a set.^[183] By winning the title, Nadal regained the world No. 1 ranking from Federer, who was in contention to break Pete Sampras' all-time record of 286 weeks spent at No. 1.^[184]

Nadal then entered the Aegon Championships, where his 24-match winning streak was snapped by compatriot Feliciano López in the quarterfinals.^[185] In Wimbledon, Nadal needed five sets to defeat Philipp Petzschner in the third round. During the match Nadal was warned twice for allegedly receiving coaching from his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, resulting in a $2,000 fine by Wimbledon officials.^[186][187] He then defeated Andy Murray in the semifinals and Tomáš Berdych in the final to win his second Wimbledon title and his eighth career major title.^[188][189]

In Canada, Nadal lost in the semifinals to Murray.^[190] Nadal also competed in the doubles with Djokovic in a one-time, high-profile partnership. This had not happened since 1976, when Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe as No. 1 and No. 2 paired together as a doubles team.^[191] The pair lost in the first round to Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil. The next week, Nadal was the top seed at the Cincinnati Masters, losing in the quarterfinals to Marcos Baghdatis.^[192] At the 2010 US Open, Nadal reached his first final without dropping a set. In the final, he defeated Novak Djokovic in four sets to complete his first Career Grand Slam while also becoming the second male after Andre Agassi to complete a Career Golden Slam.^[193] Nadal's US Open victory meant that he also became the first man to win majors on clay, grass, and hard courts in the same year, and the first to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in the same year since Rod Laver in 1969.^[194] Nadal's victory also clinched him the year-end No. 1 ranking for 2010.^[195]

Nadal began his Asian tour at the 2010 PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok where he was upset by compatriot Guillermo García-López in the semifinals despite creating 26 break points.^[196] Nadal then won the Japan Open in Tokyo after surviving two match points against Viktor Troicki in the semifinals and then defeating Gaël Monfils in the final for his seventh title of the season.^[197] Nadal next played in the Shanghai Masters, where he lost to Jürgen Melzer in the third round. On 5 November, Nadal announced that he was pulling out of the Paris Masters owing to tendinitis in his left shoulder.^[198] On 21 November 2010, in London, Nadal won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the first time.^[199] At the 2010 ATP Finals in London, Nadal won all of his round-robin matches for the first time in his career. In the semifinals, he defeated Murray in three sets, before losing to Roger Federer in the final.^[200]

Nadal has called 2010 his best year as a professional tennis player. Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who lost to Nadal in the 2010 US Open final, stated that Nadal had "the capabilities already to become the best player ever", and added that "he has the game now for each surface, and he has won each major. He has proven to the world that he is the best in this moment".^[201]

2011: Sixth French Open title and Davis Cup crown

Nadal started 2011 by participating in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, an exhibition event, where he defeated Roger Federer in the final.^[202] At the Qatar Open, he fell in straight sets to Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals.^[203] He also entered and won the tournament's doubles event partnering López, defeating Daniele Bracciali and Andreas Seppi in the final.^[204] In the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, Nadal suffered a hamstring injury against David Ferrer early in the pair's quarterfinal match and ultimately lost in straight sets, thus ending his effort to win four major tournaments in a row.^[205]

Nadal at the 2011 Australian Open.

In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Belgium in a 2011 Davis Cup World Group first-round tie in the Spiroudome in Charleroi, Belgium. Nadal defeated Ruben Bemelmans and Olivier Rochus.^[206][207] At both the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Masters, Nadal reached the final and lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets.^[208][209] This was the first time Nadal reached the finals of Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.

Nadal began his clay-court season by winning the Monte-Carlo Masters with the loss of just one set. In the final, he avenged his defeat by David Ferrer in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.^[210] Just a week later, Nadal won his sixth Barcelona Open crown, again defeating Ferrer in straight sets. This was also the 31st clay court title of his career, thus breaking a tie that he jointly held with Björn Borg and Manuel Orantes for the third most clay titles in the Open era.^[211] He then lost to Novak Djokovic in the finals of the Italian Open and Madrid Open, which ended his 37-match winning streak on clay.^[212] However, Nadal retained his No. 1 ranking during the clay-court season and won his sixth French Open title by defeating Roger Federer.^[213]

At Wimbledon, Nadal won three four-set matches to set up a final against No. 2 Novak Djokovic, whose victory in the semifinals meant that he was going to replace Nadal as the world No. 1 at the end of the tournament, regardless of the result at the final, which Nadal lost in four sets. This was Nadal's first defeat in Wimbledon since the 2007 final and ended his 20-match winning streak there.^[214] After resting for a month from a foot injury sustained during Wimbledon, he contested the Canadian Open, where he loses a deciding set tiebreaker to No. 41 Ivan Dodig in the quarterfinals.^[215] He next played in the Cincinnati Masters, where he defeated Fernando Verdasco in a third round clash that lasted three hours and 38 minutes with three tiebreaks. This was the fifth time that Nadal played in a three tiebreak game, winning on all five occasions.^[216] In the quarterfinals, Nadal was hampered by burns to his right hand after an accident at a Japanese restaurant and lost to Mardy Fish in straight sets.^[217]

At the 2011 US Open, Nadal made headlines when after defeating David Nalbandian in the fourth round, he collapsed in his post-match press conference because of severe cramps.^[218] Nadal then played Djokovic in their second successive major final, losing the match in four sets.^[219] After the US Open, Nadal reached the final of the Japan Open, where he was defeated by Andy Murray.^[220] At the Shanghai Masters, he was upset in the third round by No. 23 ranked Florian Mayer. At the ATP Finals, Nadal was defeated by Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round-robin stage, and was subsequently eliminated from the tournament.^[221] In the Davis Cup final in December, he helped Spain win the title with victories over Juan Mónaco and Juan Martín del Potro.^[222]

2012: Seventh French Open title

Nadal began his ATP Tour season at the Qatar Open, where he lost to Gaël Monfils in the semifinals.^[223] In the Australian Open, Nadal won his semifinal match against Roger Federer to set up a third successive major final against Novak Djokovic, which he lost in a five-set epic that lasted 5 hours and 53 minutes, the longest Grand Slam final match (by duration) in history.^[224] It is considered to be one of the greatest tennis matches of all time.^{[225][226][227][228]} It remains the longest match of both Nadal and Djokovic's careers, and it also remains the only time that Nadal has lost a major final after winning the first set.^[229] Nadal called it "the toughest loss in his career", but also "the best match he ever played".^[230]

Nadal then reached the semifinals of both the Indian Wells Masters, where he was beaten by Federer, and the Miami Masters, where he withdrew because of knee problems in order to risk no further injury given the Olympic-tightened 2012 schedule and the upcoming clay swing.^[231] At the Monte-Carlo Masters, Nadal did not lose a single set en route to the title to become the first man in the Open Era to win the same tournament eight consecutive times. In the final, he defeated No. 1 Novak Djokovic to end a streak of seven straight final losses to him,^[232] but unexpectedly, this was the most lopsided of all their matches, as Nadal only lost four games in a 6–3, 6–1 win.^[233] Nadal then beat compatriot David Ferrer in a three-set final to clinch his seventh title in eight years at the Barcelona Open.^[234] At the Madrid Open, Nadal surprisingly lost to Fernando Verdasco, whom he held a 13–0 record against. He heavily criticized the new blue-colored clay and threatened not to attend in the future if the surface was not changed back to red clay. Several other players such as Novak Djokovic voiced similar criticism.^[235] His tremendous record on clay continued as he defeated Djokovic in a tight straight-set final at the Italian Open. This was his second victory over Novak Djokovic in 2012 and his third title of the season, as well as his 6th Rome title overall.^[236]

At the French Open, Nadal won his semifinal match against Ferrer to set up another final against Novak Djokovic. This marked only the second time in tennis history (after Serena and Venus Williams between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open), two opposing tennis players played four consecutive major finals against each other. This was a match of historic proportions as either Nadal would break Björn Borg's record of six French Open titles, or Djokovic would become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win four majors in a row. Nadal eventually emerged victorious in four sets after multiple rain delays that forced the final to be concluded on the following afternoon. With this victory, Nadal became the most successful male player at the French Open, winning seven French Open titles.^{[237][238][239]} Nadal lost a total of only three sets in the 2012 clay court season.

As a warm-up ahead of Wimbledon, Nadal played in Halle, losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals.^[240] At Wimbledon, Nadal was upset in the second round by Lukáš Rosol in a close five-set match. This was the first time since the 2005 Wimbledon championships that Nadal had failed to progress past the second round of a Grand Slam tournament.^[241]

In July 2012, Nadal withdrew from the 2012 Olympics owing to tendinitis in his knee, which subsequently led to him pulling out of both the Canadian Masters and the Cincinnati Masters. He later withdrew from the rest of the 2012 season, as he felt he still was not healthy enough to compete.^[242][243] Nadal ended 2012 ranked No. 4 in the world, the first time in eight years that he has not been ranked 1st or 2nd at the end of the year.

2013: Two majors and return to No. 1

Two weeks prior to the Australian Open, Nadal officially withdrew from the tournament citing a stomach virus.^[244] Nadal's withdrawal saw him drop out of the ATP's Top Four for the first time since 2005.^[245] Playing in his first tournaments in South America since 2005, Nadal made his comeback at the VTR Open in Chile,^[246] where he was upset by Argentine No. 73 Horacio Zeballos in the final. At the Brasil Open, Nadal reached the final, where he defeated David Nalbandian.^[247] In the title match of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Nadal defeated David Ferrer, losing just two games in the match.^[248]

Nadal serving at the Indian Wells Masters in 2013.

Nadal then returned to the American hard courts, playing the Indian Wells Masters as the fifth seed. He lost only one set en route to the title, defeating No. 2 Roger Federer and No. 6 Tomáš Berdych before beating Juan Martín del Potro in the final.^[249] After withdrawing from Miami, Nadal attempted to defend his title at the Monte-Carlo Masters, but was beaten by Djokovic in straight sets to end his eight-year reign at the tournament.^[250] He then won his eighth title at the Barcelona Open after beating Nicolás Almagro in the final.^[251] Nadal went on to win the Madrid Open, beating Stan Wawrinka in the final.^[252] This was the 40th clay court title of his career, equal second in the Open era with Thomas Muster. Nadal then overtook him when he defeated Federer for his 7th title at the Italian Open.^[253] These victories raised his ranking to No. 4.

Nadal won the French Open after beating Novak Djokovic in the semifinal and David Ferrer in the final, breaking the record for the most match wins in the tournament in the process with his 59th match victory, surpassing the previous record held by Guillermo Vilas and Roger Federer (who equaled Vilas' record with his fourth round win but lost in the quarterfinals).^[254] Nadal also became the first man in history to win any major eight times, and tied Roy Emerson for the third-most major titles in history.^[255] He also equaled Max Decugis, who won eight titles at this event when it was only open to French club members.^[256] His semifinal match with Djokovic is widely considered one of the greatest clay court matches ever played, as Nadal came back from down a break in the fifth set to take out a hard-fought 4-hour, 37-minute victory.^[257] This was only the second time Nadal had been pushed to five sets at the French Open (the first being against John Isner in the first round of the 2011 French Open).^[258] This victory meant that since returning from seven months out due to a left knee injury, Nadal had reached eight consecutive finals, won 7 titles, and compiled a 43–2 record in 2013. However, Nadal then lost his first-round match at Wimbledon in straight sets to unseeded Belgian Steve Darcis (ranked No. 135), the first time he had ever lost in the first round of a major. At the time, he was the lowest-ranked player ever to beat Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament.^[259]

In August, Nadal won a close semifinal match in Montreal, denying Djokovic his fourth Canadian Open title.^[260] Nadal proceeded to win the title after beating Milos Raonic in the final in straight sets.^[261] He then won his 26th Masters title in Cincinnati after beating John Isner in the final.^[262] Nadal concluded a brilliant North American hard court season with his 4th hard court title of the year, defeating Djokovic at the 2013 US Open final in four sets to achieve the Summer Slam and clinch the US Open Series. He became only the third player in history, after Patrick Rafter and Andy Roddick, to win all three events in succession.^[263] This granted him $3.6 million in prize money, the most money earned by a male tennis player at a single tournament.^[264]

Later in September, Nadal helped Spain secure their Davis Cup World Group Playoff spot for 2014, with a victory against Sergiy Stakhovsky and a doubles win with Marc Lopez. In October, he reached the final of the China Open, helping him regain the No. 1 ranking.^[265] In the final, he was beaten by Djokovic in straight sets.^[266] At the Shanghai Masters, he reached the semifinals but was defeated by Del Potro. In November, Nadal played his final event of the season in London at the ATP Finals where he secured the year-end No. 1 spot. He beat David Ferrer, Stan Wawrinka, and Tomáš Berdych in the round-robin stage to set up a semifinal victory over Roger Federer before losing in straight sets to Djokovic in the final.^[267]

2014: Ninth French Open title and sustained injuries

Rafael Nadal began his 2014 season at the Qatar Open in Doha, defeating Lukáš Rosol in the first round^[268] and he won the title after defeating Gaël Monfils in the final.^[269]

At the Australian Open, he defeated Roger Federer to reach his third Australian Open final. This marked Nadal's 11th consecutive victory in a major semifinal, second only to Borg's all-time record of 14. In the final, he faced Stanislas Wawrinka, against whom he entered the match with a 12–0 record. However, Nadal suffered a back injury during the warm-up, which progressively worsened as the match wore on.^[270] Nadal lost the first two sets, and although he won the third set, he ultimately lost the match in four sets. The first tournament he played after that was the inaugural Rio Open which he won after defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov in the final. However, at the Indian Wells Masters, Dolgopolov would avenge his loss, defeating Nadal in three sets in the third round. He reached the final of the Miami Masters, falling to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.

Nadal began his clay court season with a quarterfinal loss to David Ferrer in the Monte-Carlo Masters. He was stunned by Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open. Nadal then won his 27th masters title at the Madrid Open after Kei Nishikori retired in the third set of the final.^[271] 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. Nadal equaled Pete Sampras' total of 14 Grand Slam wins.^[272] Nadal then lost in the second round of the Halle Open to Dustin Brown the following week.^[273]

Nadal entered the Wimbledon Championships in a bid to win the tournament for the third time. In the fourth round he was upset by Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios in four sets.^[274] Nadal withdrew from the American swing owing to a wrist injury.^[275] He made his return at the 2014 China Open but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Martin Klizan in three sets.^[276] At the 2014 Shanghai Rolex Masters, he was suffering from appendicitis. He lost his opening match to Feliciano Lopez in straight sets.^[277] Later, he was upset by Borna Ćorić at the quarterfinals of the 2014 Swiss Indoors. After the loss, he announced that he would skip the rest of the season to undergo surgery for his appendix.^[278]

2015: Continued struggles and rankings drop

Nadal began the year as the defending Champion at the Qatar Open, but suffered a shocking three set defeat to Michael Berrer in the first round.^[279] He won the doubles title with Juan Mónaco. At the Australian Open, Nadal lost in straight sets to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinal, thus ending a 17-match winning streak against the seventh-seeded Czech.^[280]

In February, Nadal lost in the semifinals to Fabio Fognini at the Rio Open,^[281] before going on to win his 46th career clay-court title against Juan Mónaco at the Argentina Open.^[282] Nadal then participated at the Indian Wells and Miami Open but suffered early defeats to Milos Raonic and Fernando Verdasco, in the quarterfinals and third round respectively.^[283][284] Nadal then began his spring clay season at the Monte Carlo Masters and reached the semifinals where he lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.^[285] After losing to Fognini again at the Barcelona Open quarterfinals,^[286] Nadal entered the Madrid Open as the two-time defending champion but lost in the final to Andy Murray in straight sets, resulting in his dropping out of the top five for the first time since 2005.^[287][288] He then lost in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open to Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.^[289]

Nadal lost to eventual runner-up Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the French Open, ending his winning streak of 39 consecutive victories in Paris since his defeat by Robin Söderling in 2009.^[290] 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.^[291] He was unable to continue his good form on grass as he lost in the first round of the Aegon Championships to Alexandr Dolgopolov in three sets.^[292] Nadal's struggles continued when he lost in the second round of Wimbledon to Dustin Brown.^[293]

In the third round of the 2015 US Open, Nadal once again lost to Fognini, despite having won the first two sets.^[294] This early exit ended Nadal's record 10-year streak of winning at least one major.

2016: Olympic doubles gold medal

Nadal started the year winning the Mubadala Title defeating Milos Raonic in straight sets. After that, he entered the Doha, Qatar, where he reached the finals, losing to Djokovic in straight sets. This was their 47th match, after which Djokovic led their head-to-head rivalry with 24 matches won. At the Australian Open, Nadal was defeated in five sets by compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the first round. The defeat marked his first opening round exit at the Australian Open.^[295]

Nadal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

In April he won his 28th Masters title in Monte Carlo.^[296] He went on to win his 17th ATP 500 in Barcelona, winning the trophy for the ninth time in his career.^[297] He continued the clay court season in Madrid, falling to Murray in the semifinal.^[298]

The following week, Nadal played in Italian Open where he reached the quarterfinal. Nadal was again defeated by Djokovic in straight sets, although he had a break advantage in both sets and served to win the second.^[299]

Following Federer's withdrawal due to injury, Nadal was named the fourth seed at the French Open.^[300] On 26 May, he became the eighth male player in tennis history to record 200 Grand Slam match wins, as he defeated Facundo Bagnis in straight sets in the second round of the Slam.^[301] Following the victory, however, Nadal had to withdraw from competition owing to a left wrist injury initially suffered during the Madrid Open,^[302] handing Marcel Granollers a walkover into the fourth round.^[303] On 9 June, Nadal announced that the same wrist injury that forced him to withdraw from the French Open needed more time to heal, and that he would not play at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships.^[304] At the Rio 2016 Olympics, Nadal achieved 800 career wins with his quarterfinal victory over the Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci. Partnering Marc López, he won the gold medal in men's doubles event for Spain by defeating Romania's Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau in the finals.^[305] This made Nadal the second man in the Open Era to have won gold medals in both singles and doubles. Nadal also advanced to the bronze medal match in the men's singles but was defeated by Kei Nishikori.

At the US Open Nadal was seeded 4th and advanced to the fourth round but was defeated by 24th seed Lucas Pouille in 5 sets. The defeat meant that 2016 was the first year since 2004 in which Nadal had failed to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final.^[306] He played the Shanghai Masters and was upset in the second round by Viktor Troicki. He subsequently ended his 2016 season to let his wrist recover.

2017: La Decima, US Open win, and year-end No. 1

Nadal opened his season by playing at the Brisbane International for the first time, where he reached the quarterfinals before losing to Milos Raonic in three sets.^[307] In the second round of the tournament, he defeated Mischa Zverev for the loss of just two games;^[308] Nadal began the Australian Open with straight-set wins over Florian Mayer and Marcos Baghdatis, before more difficult wins over Alexander Zverev and Gael Monfils, which set up his first quarterfinal berth at a Grand Slam since the 2015 French Open. Nadal defeated Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinal and semifinal, respectively (the latter lasting for five sets over five hours), to set up a final against Roger Federer, his first Grand Slam final since he won the 2014 French Open. Nadal went on to lose to Federer in five sets; this was the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer in a Grand Slam since the final of the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.

Nadal made it to the final of Acapulco without dropping a set, but was defeated by big-serving Sam Querrey. In a rematch of the Australian Open final Nadal took on Roger Federer in the fourth round at Indian Wells but again lost to his old rival, this time in straight sets; it was their earliest meeting in a tournament in over a decade. In the Miami Masters, Nadal reached the final to again play Federer, and was once again defeated in straight sets.^[309] Nadal then won his 29th Masters title in Monte Carlo; it was his tenth victory in the principality, the most wins by any player at a single tournament in the Open era.^[310] Nadal won his 18th ATP 500 title in Barcelona without dropping a set, also marking his tenth victory in Barcelona.^[311] Nadal next played in the Madrid Open, where he defeated Dominic Thiem to tie Novak Djokovic's all-time Masters record of 30 titles.^[312]

Nadal went on to beat Stan Wawrinka in straight sets and win a record tenth French Open title. This marked his first Grand Slam title since 2014, ending his three-year drought in Grand Slams.^[313] Nadal won every set that he played in the tournament, dropping a total of only 35 games in seven matches, which is the second-fewest by any male player (second only to Björn Borg's 32 dropped games at the 1978 French Open) en route to a major title in the Open Era. The title "La Décima" ("the tenth" in Spanish) was used to proclaim Nadal's achievement in becoming the first player, male or female, to win 10 titles at a single major in the Open Era, following similar feats at Monte Carlo and Barcelona. Nadal also climbed to second on the all-time major singles titles list, with 15, placing him one ahead of Pete Sampras.^[314]

Nadal lost in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, 13–15 in the fifth set, to Gilles Müller.^[315] He returned to competition in Montreal. He won his first match against Coric in straight sets but fell in the Round of 16 to Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov.

By 21 August, he retook the ATP No. 1 ranking from Andy Murray. Nadal earned his third US Open title against first-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson, winning the final in straight sets. This marked the first time that Nadal had captured two Grand Slam tournaments in a year since 2013, and the second time since 2010. Nadal extended his winning streak by winning the China Open, winning the final against Nick Kyrgios in straight sets.^[316] On 11 September 2017, Nadal and Garbiñe Muguruza made Spain the first country since the United States 14 years ago to simultaneously top both the ATP and the WTA rankings, with Muguruza making her debut in the No. 1 spot.^[317]

After defeating Hyeon Chung in the second round of the Paris Masters Nadal secured the year-end No. 1. He became year-end No. 1 for the fourth time in his career, tying him for fourth all-time with Novak Djokovic, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe, behind Pete Sampras (6), and Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors (5). By securing the year-end no. 1 ranking, Nadal became the first player aged over 30 to finish as year-end No. 1 and the first to finish in the top spot four years since he last achieved the feat; he also broke a number of other historical records, all of which he broke again in 2019.^[318]

2018: 11th French Open and Monte Carlo titles

Nadal began his 2018 season at the Kooyong Classic, where he lost to Richard Gasquet in the first round. He then played at the Tie Break Tens exhibition tournament in Melbourne, losing in the final to Tomáš Berdych. At the Australian Open, Nadal recorded straight-sets wins in the first three rounds, before notching a tougher four-set win against Diego Schwartzman in the fourth round. He faced Marin Čilić in the quarterfinal, but retired in the fifth set due to a hip injury.^[319]

Nadal serving at the 2018 US Open.

On 16 February, Nadal dropped to the No. 2 ranking after 26 weeks at the top when his rival Roger Federer overtook him in points. Nadal withdrew from the Mexican Open, Indian Wells Masters, and Miami Open due to an injury. Despite his absence in Miami, he regained the No. 1 ranking on 2 April due to Federer's second-round loss. After recovering from injury, Nadal helped secure the Spanish Davis Cup team a victory over Germany in the quarterfinal of the World Group. He beat Philipp Kohlschreiber and Alexander Zverev in straight sets.^[320]

At the Monte Carlo Masters, Nadal successfully defended his title and won a then-record-breaking 31st Masters title, thus becoming the player with the most Masters titles in tennis history. It also marked his 11th title in Monte Carlo, as well as the 76th title in his career. Because he defended the points won the previous year, he kept his No. 1 ranking and began his 171st week as the world No. 1.^[321] Nadal won in Monte Carlo without dropping a set, beating Kei Nishikori in the final. Nadal went on to win his 11th title in Barcelona, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, becoming the first player in the open era to win 400 matches on both clay and hard.^[322][323] 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. It also marked his 14th consecutive season with at least one ATP 500 title.

Fresh after achieving the "Undecima" at Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Nadal had to defend yet another title at Madrid. He reached the quarterfinals, defeating Gael Monfils and Diego Schwartzman in straight sets, to extend his record to 50 consecutive sets won on clay, starting from the 2017 French Open. His win over Schwartzman broke John McEnroe's record of 49 straight sets won on a single surface.^[324] McEnroe had previously achieved the record on carpet in 1984. 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 also relinquished his world No. 1 ranking to Federer in the process.

At the Italian Open, Nadal captured his 8th title in the Italian capital as well as his 78th career title, defeating Alexander Zverev in three sets, thus overtaking John McEnroe in the fourth place on the list of most titles won in the Open Era.^[325] It was Nadal's 32nd Masters title – most of any player in the Open Era. With his victory in Rome, Nadal also regained the No. 1 spot from Federer.

Then at the French Open, Nadal won his 17th Grand Slam title. This tied Margaret Court's record for singles titles at a Grand Slam event (Court won 11 Australian Opens, but seven came when it was the Australian Championships, an amateur event). En route to the title, Nadal dropped only one set, beating Dominic Thiem in the final in three sets.^[326] Nadal became just the fourth man in the Open Era to win three or more major titles after turning 30.

Going into Wimbledon, Nadal was ranked world number one, but was seeded second due to Wimbledon's seeding algorithm. He made it to the quarterfinals without dropping set. He then faced #5 seed Juan Martín del Potro, who he defeated in five sets. In the semifinals he faced long-time rival Novak Djokovic, who was aiming to reach his first major final since the 2016 US Open. This match lasted 5 hours and 17 minutes, spread over two days, becoming the second-longest Wimbledon semifinal in history, second only to the match between Kevin Anderson and John Isner held earlier on the same day. Djokovic defeated Nadal in five sets with the fifth set being 10–8.^[327] This was Nadal's first defeat in the semifinals of a major since the 2009 US Open, and his first-ever defeat in the semifinals of Wimbledon. Despite this, Nadal achieved his best results at Wimbledon since 2011. This performance, combined with Roger Federer's unsuccessful title defence, ensured that Nadal retained the world number one ranking after the grass season.

He then won the Rogers Cup, a record-extending 33rd Masters title.^[328] This was Nadal's first Masters title win on hard court since 2013. He then withdrew from the Cincinnati Masters to prepare for the US Open. Nadal was the top seed during his title defence at the US Open. He first faced David Ferrer in Ferrer's last Grand Slam match, who retired due to injury during the second set. In his semi-final matchup against Juan Martin del Potro, Nadal retired after losing the second set 6–2 due to knee pain. On 31 October, he announced his withdrawal from the Paris Masters due to an abdominal injury and as a result Novak Djokovic replaced him as world No. 1.^[329]

2019: Fourth French-US title double, Davis Cup, and year-end No. 1

Nadal was due to start his season at the Brisbane International, but withdrew shortly before due to an injury. He was seeded second at the 2019 Australian Open, where he progressed to his fifth Australian Open final, and did so without losing a set. Nadal then lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic, winning only eight games for the match and marking Nadal's first straight-sets defeat in a major final.^[330] Nadal next played at the Mexico Open, where he lost to Nick Kyrgios in the second round despite holding three match points.^[331] He withdrew from both Indian Wells and Miami due to a right hip injury.^[332]

Rafael Nadal began the clay season at the Monte Carlo Masters, reaching the semifinals, where he was upset by Fabio Fognini in straight sets.^[333] He then competed in Barcelona, reaching the semifinals where he lost to Dominic Thiem in straight sets. In Madrid, he reached his third clay-court semifinal of the year, but lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets.^[334] He won his first tournament of the year in Rome, with a three-set win over Djokovic in the final.^[335]

Nadal at the 2019 ATP Finals in London.

At the 2019 French Open, Nadal defeated Kei Nishikori and Roger Federer (their first meeting at the tournament since 2011) en route to the final, dropping only one set en route. In a rematch of the previous year's final, Nadal prevailed in four sets against Thiem to claim his record-extending twelfth French Open title.^[336] In doing so, he broke Margaret Court's all-time record of singles titles won at the same major.^[337]

Nadal next played at Wimbledon and, like the previous year, reached the semifinals, where he faced Federer for the first time at Wimbledon since the 2008 final. Nadal lost the match in four sets.^[338] At the Rogers Cup, Nadal was the defending champion and top seed. By defeating Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinals, he surpassed Roger Federer's record of 378 victories at Masters tournaments.^[339] In the final, Nadal yielded just three games to Daniil Medvedev, winning in straight sets. This victory marked the first time he defended a title on a surface other than clay.^[340] At the US Open, Nadal lost only one set (against Marin Čilić) en route to the final, where he won against Medvedev in five sets. In doing so, Nadal claimed his fourth US Open title and 19th major title overall (placing him only one behind Roger Federer in overall standings), and completed his second-best season in terms of Grand Slam singles results.^[341] At the Paris Masters, Nadal reached the semifinals, but withdrew due to an abdominal injury.^[342]

At the ATP Finals, Nadal defeated Tsitsipas and Medvedev in the round-robin stage, but failed to progress to the semifinals.^[343] Despite his elimination, Nadal secured the year-end No. 1 ranking when Djokovic was also eliminated in the round-robin stage. This was Nadal's fifth time as the year-end No. 1 player, drawing level with Jimmy Connors, Federer and Djokovic behind Pete Sampras (six), and in doing so, he surpassed a number of the records he set in 2017, becoming (at the time) the oldest person to finish as the year-end No. 1 player, and creating a record eleven-year gap between his first and last year-end No. 1 seasons (2008 and 2019, respectively).^[344]

At the 2019 Davis Cup Finals, Nadal helped Spain win its sixth Davis Cup title, defeating Canada in the final. Nadal won all eight of his matches in singles and doubles, extending his winning streak in Davis Cup singles matches to 29 (29–1 record overall), without dropping a set or having his serve broken;^{[345][346][347]} he also won the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.^[347]

2020: 13th French Open title

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.^[348] Nadal then played at the 2020 Australian Open and won his first three matches in straight sets against Hugo Dellien, Federico Delbonis and Pablo Carreño Busta. In the fourth round, he defeated Nick Kyrgios in four sets and reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to eventual runner-up Dominic Thiem in four sets.^[349] Afterwards, Nadal went on to win his third Mexican Open title, defeating Taylor Fritz in straights sets in the final.^[350]

Nadal lost in the quarter-final of the Italian Open after Diego Schwartzman beat him in straight sets.^[351]

Nadal won his 13th French Open title, beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the tournament's final, only losing seven games. In doing so, he won his 20th Grand Slam title, equalling Roger Federer's record as the man with the most Grand Slam titles.^[352][353] It also marked his 100th win at the tournament, losing only twice in 16 years. His straight-sets victory over Djokovic marked also the 4th time that he won a Grand Slam without losing a set, all at the French Open, doing it also in 2008, 2010 and 2017.^[354]

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 that milestone.^[355] He then reached the semifinals where he lost to Alexander Zverev in straight sets.^[356]

On 9 November 2020, Nadal reached his 790th back to back week as one of the ten highest placed players on the ATP rankings and surpassed the record held by Jimmy Connors.^[357]

At the 2020 ATP Finals, Nadal played in the London 2020 group. He defeated Rublev and defending champion Tsitsipas progressing to the semifinals and securing ending the year as no. 2.^[358] It was the first time since 2015 that Nadal reached the semifinals.^[359] Nadal then lost his semifinal match to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev in three sets.^[360] This was the seventh time that Nadal had finished Year-end No. 2 and now leads the "Big Three" with 12 Top 2 finishes.^[361]

2021: 12th Barcelona Open and 10th Italian Open titles, and injury-shortened season

At the 2021 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, despite being two sets to love up. This marked only the second time Nadal had lost a Grand Slam match after being two sets up.^[362] Nadal next played at the Monte Carlo Masters and defeated Federico Delbonis and Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost to Andrey Rublev in three sets.^[363] On 25 April, Nadal won a record-extending twelfth Barcelona Open trophy with a three-set victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final, saving a championship point in the third set.^[364] At 3 hours and 38 minutes, this was the longest best-of-three-set ATP Tour final since statistics started being tracked in 1991.^[365] He followed up in May by making the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open and winning his record-extending tenth Italian Open title.^[366] In the latter, he saved two match points against Denis Shapovalov and defeated Novak Djokovic in the final.

At the French Open, Nadal entered as the heavy favorite seeking to become the first man to win 21 majors. He reached the semifinals after wins over Jannik Sinner and Diego Schwartzman, where he encountered Novak Djokovic in a rematch of the previous year's final. There, Nadal was upset by eventual champion Djokovic in four sets, in only his third-ever loss at the French Open. Following his loss, Nadal withdrew from both Wimbledon and the Olympics, citing schedule reasons.^[367]

Nadal returned to action at the 2021 Citi Open, revealing that his recent withdrawals were actually due to a recurring left foot injury that returned at the 2021 French Open.^[368] He defeated home favorite Jack Sock in a tight 3 set match before being upset by 50th ranked Lloyd Harris in the 3rd round.^[369] He was then set to defend his title at the National Bank Open, but withdrew from the tournament before his first match, citing the same foot injury.^[370] He also withdrew from the Cincinnati Masters.^[371]

On 20 August 2021, just 10 days out from the US Open, Nadal announced that would be ending his 2021 season due to the left foot issue that had been troubling him for most of the year. Therefore, his ranking fell to No.6, due to his injury.^[372]

Nadal returned to the court on 17 December 2021, in an exhibition match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi. Receiving a bye in the quarterfinals, Nadal lost to Andy Murray in the semifinals in straight sets.^[373] In the third place play-off, he lost to Denis Shapovalov in three sets.^[374]

2022: Historic 21st and 22nd majors, and double Career Grand Slam

In January, Nadal won his 89th ATP singles title at Melbourne Summer Set 1, defeating first time finalist Maxime Cressy in the final. Following wins over Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov, and Matteo Berrettini, Nadal won his second Australian Open title and a 21st major title overall by defeating Daniil Medvedev in a five-set final, coming back from two sets down.^[375] With the win, Nadal surpassed a tie held with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer for the most men's singles major titles of all time.^[376] Nadal also became the second man in the Open Era, after Djokovic, to complete the double Career Grand Slam.

At the Mexican Open, Nadal won the title without dropping a set, which included a win over Medvedev, who that week had clinched the world No. 1 ranking. He also extended his winning streak to 15 matches, his best start to a season in his career. Nadal next entered the 2022 Indian Wells Masters as the fourth seed. After seeing off a final set tie-break from Sebastian Korda in the second round, Nadal beat Dan Evans, Reilly Opelka, Nick Kyrgios, and Carlos Alcaraz to reach his fourth final of the season and extend his winning streak to 20 matches.^[377][378] Nadal was beaten by Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the final, ending his winning streak.^[379] On 22 March, it was reported that Nadal will be unable to play for between four and six weeks, due to a rib stress fracture that occurred during Indian Wells.^[380]

Nadal returned at the Madrid Open, where he defeated Miomir Kecmanovic, David Goffin in the second and third rounds respectively. He then lost to Carlos Alcaraz in a rematch of their Indian Wells semifinal. Nadal then entered Rome, where he was the defending champion. He defeated John Isner in straight sets, but then lost to Denis Shapovalov in three sets despite leading by a set and a break.

At the French Open, Nadal recorded his 106th win defeating Jordan Thompson in the first round. With a 106–3 record at the French Open, he became the player with the most wins at a single major. He recorded his 300th career major win by defeating Corentin Moutet in the second round.^[381][382] He defeated Botic van de Zandschulp in the third round and faced Felix Auger Aliassime (coached by Nadal's uncle Toni) in the fourth round, winning the encounter after being taken to five sets for only the third time in his career at the French Open. Nadal met Djokovic for a record-extending 59th time in the quarterfinals – the first singles match in tennis history to feature two players each holding at least 20 Grand Slam titles and 1000 career match wins. Nadal emerged victorious in four sets to advance to his 15th French Open semifinal.^[383] He faced Alexander Zverev in a grueling battle lasting over three hours with only two sets played, and ended with Zverev's retirement due to an ankle injury. As a result, Nadal advanced to his record-extending 14th French Open final. There, he defeated Casper Ruud in three dominant sets to win his 14th French Open title and 22nd major title overall. In doing so, he became the then-oldest French Open champion ever, and the third man to earn four Top-10 wins en route to a major title since the ATP rankings started in 1973, after Mats Wilander (1982 French Open) and Roger Federer (2017 Australian Open). He ascended to world No. 4 on 6 June 2022.^[384]

After treating his foot injury, Nadal returned to Wimbledon for the first time in three years, however he tore an abdominal muscle during the tournament. Following wins over Francisco Cerúndolo, Ričardas Berankis, Lorenzo Sonego, and Botic van de Zandschulp, he faced Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinal, which aggravated his abdominal injury. Despite winning the encounter, Nadal withdrew from the tournament the following day.^[385]

After a six-week layoff following Wimbledon, Nadal lost in the opening round at the Cincinnati Masters to eventual champion Borna Ćorić.^[386] Despite this setback, Nadal was the first to qualify for the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals.^[387] Nadal returned to the US Open after three years, where he won the tournament the last time he competed. He defeated Rinky Hijikata, Fabio Fognini and Richard Gasquet, before losing to American Frances Tiafoe. His fourth round loss to Tiafoe became his first and only loss at a major in 2022, and also resulted in his earliest major defeat since the 2017 Wimbledon Championships.^[388]

At the Laver Cup, Nadal competed for Team Europe alongside his fellow Big Four members Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.^[389] He played one match on Day 1, where he partnered in doubles with long-time rival Federer, for Federer's final professional match. They lost to Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe.^[390] Nadal withdrew from the tournament the following day, citing "personal reasons".^[391]

At the 2022 ATP Finals, Nadal won his last match of the year against Casper Ruud after losing his first two matches against Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger Aliassime. Nadal finished the 2022 season with a year-end ranking of world No. 2, becoming the oldest year-end top-2 player in the history of the ATP rankings.^[392]

2023: Struggles with injury and exit from top 100 after 20 consecutive years

Nadal was the defending champion at the 2023 Australian Open, but lost in straight sets to Mackenzie McDonald in the second round.^[393][394] During the match, Nadal was severely hampered by a hip injury for which he received treatment. In late February, Nadal officially announced his withdrawal from the Indian Wells and Miami Masters to recuperate from the injury he sustained at the Australian Open.^[395] As a result, he exited the Top 10 for the first time since 25 April 2005 (after 18 years, 912 consecutive weeks) on 20 March 2023, ending the longest Top-10 streak in ATP rankings history.^[396] According to tournament organizers, Nadal was aiming to make a comeback despite the injury at the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters but withdrew in April.^[397][398] He later declined to enter the French Open as well, meaning he missed the entire clay court season. Nadal's withdrawal from the French Open meant he dropped out of the top 100 for the first time since 2003.^[399] He did not return for the grass-court season, including Wimbledon, nor the American hard-court season, including the US Open. As a result he failed to qualify for the world tour finals. In September, he hinted he would like to return in 2024 and that next year might be his last year in professional tennis.^[400]

2024: Return to ATP tour

Nadal began his season at the 2024 Brisbane International, after defeating former 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem 7-5, 61. He went on to defeat reigning 2023 Australian Open doubles champion Jason Kubler 6-1, 6-2. His run would be cut short in the quarterfinals after being defeated by Australian Jordan Thompson.

Nadal vs. Federer

Roger Federer and Nadal have been playing each other since 2004, and their rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers.^{[128][402][403]} They held the top two rankings on the ATP Tour from July 2005 to 14 August 2009,^[404] and again from 11 September 2017 to 15 October 2018. They are the only pair of men to be consistently ranked in the Top 2 for four years continuously (from July 2005 to August 2009).^[405][406] Nadal ascended to No. 2 in July 2005 and held this spot for a record 160 consecutive weeks before surpassing Federer in August 2008.^[407] Nadal and Federer are also the only pair of men to have ever finished six consecutive calendar years at the top 2 positions (from 2005 to 2010).^[408]

They have played 40 times. Nadal leads 24–16 overall and 10–4 in Grand Slam tournaments. Nadal has a winning record on clay (14–2) and outdoor hard courts (8–6), while Federer leads the indoor hard courts 5–1 and grass 3–1.^[409]

As tournament seedings are based on rankings, 24 of their matches have been in tournament finals, including a joint-record nine Grand Slam tournament finals (tied with Djokovic–Nadal).^[123] From 2006 to 2008, they played in every French Open and Wimbledon final, and also met in the title match of the 2009 Australian Open, the 2011 French Open and the 2017 Australian Open.^[123] Nadal won six of the nine, losing the first two Wimbledon finals. Four of these matches were five-set matches (2007 and 2008 Wimbledon, 2009 and 2017 Australian Open), and the 2008 Wimbledon final has been lauded as the greatest match ever by many long-time tennis analysts.^{[129][410][411][412]} Nadal is the only player who has competed and won against Federer in the final of a Grand Slam on all three surfaces (grass, hard, and clay).

Nadal vs. Djokovic

Novak Djokovic and Nadal have met 59 times (more than any other pair in the Open Era). Nadal leads 11–7 at Grand Slam events but trails 29–30 overall.^[260][413] They have played a record 18 Grand Slam matches and a joint-record nine Grand Slam tournament finals (tied with Nadal–Federer). Nadal leads on clay 20–8, while Djokovic leads on hard courts 20–7, and they are tied on grass 2–2.^[260][413] In 2009, this rivalry was listed as the third greatest of the previous 10 years by ATPworldtour.com.^[414] Djokovic is one of only two players to have at least ten match wins against Nadal (the other being Federer) and the only person to defeat Nadal seven consecutive times, doing so twice. They have also played in a record 14 ATP Masters finals.

In their first ever meeting in a Grand Slam final at the 2010 US Open Nadal prevailed over Djokovic in four sets. Nadal achieved a Career Grand Slam with this victory.^[415] In 2011-12, they played four consecutive major finals against each other, with Djokovic winning the first three, Wimbledon,^[416] US Open, and the Australian Open, the latter being the longest Grand Slam final in history at 5 hours and 53 minutes.^[224] It remains the longest match of both Nadal and Djokovic's careers, and it also remains the only time that Nadal has lost a major final after winning the first set.^[229] In 2013, Djokovic defeated Nadal in straight sets in the final at Monte Carlo, ending Nadal's record eight consecutive titles there, but Nadal got revenge at the French Open semifinals in an epic five-setter.^[257] In August 2013, Nadal defeated Djokovic in the 2013 US Open Final to complete the Summer Slam.^[413]

Tennis pundits have classified many of their matches as some of the greatest contests ever, such as 2009 Madrid Masters semifinal,^[157] 2011 Miami Masters final,^[208][209] the 2012 Australian Open final,^[224] the 2013 French Open semifinal,^[257] 2018 Wimbledon semifinal,^[417] and the 2021 French Open semifinal.^[418]

Nadal vs. Murray

Nadal and Andy Murray have met on 24 occasions since 2007, with Nadal leading 17–7.^[419] Nadal leads 7–2 on clay, 3–0 on grass, and 7–5 on hard courts (including 4–4 on outdoor courts, but Nadal leads 3–1 on indoor hard courts), but trails 1–3 in finals. The pair once met regularly at Grand Slam level, with nine out of their 23 meetings coming in Grand Slams, with Nadal leading 7–2.^[419] Seven of these nine appearances have been in quarterfinals and semifinals, making the rivalry an important part of both men's careers. Nadal defeated Murray in three consecutive Grand Slam semifinals in 2011 from the French Open to the US Open.^[419] They have never met in a Grand Slam final, but Murray leads 3–1 in ATP finals, with Nadal winning at Indian Wells in 2009 and Murray winning in Rotterdam the same year, Tokyo in 2011, and Madrid in 2015.^[419]

Nadal vs. Wawrinka

Nadal and Stan Wawrinka have met 20 times, with Nadal leading 17–3 (85.0%).^[420] Although this rivalry has less significance than rivalries with the other members of the Big Four, the pair have met in several prestigious tournaments. The rivalry saw Nadal winning the first 12 encounters, all in straight sets, including 2 finals, one of which was a Masters final in Madrid in 2013.^[420] 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. Wawrinka scored his first win against Nadal in their most important encounter, the 2014 Australian Open final in 4 sets, denying Nadal's double career slam. It was also the only match between them that did end in a straight-set win for either player.^[420] Nadal then won their second Grand Slam final, at the 2017 French Open.^[420]

Other rivalries

Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro met 17 times, with Nadal leading 11–6 (64.7%).^[421] Outside the Big Four, no active player has more wins against Nadal than del Potro. The two met in many prestigious tournaments, including at three of the four majors and the Olympics.^[421] Nadal won their first four meetings between 2007 and 2009, before del Potro went on to win the next three, including a straight-sets victory at the 2009 US Open semifinals.^[421] Their next significant meeting came during the 2011 Davis Cup final. Nadal beat del Potro in four sets to claim the Davis Cup for Spain. In 2013, Nadal denied del Potro his first Masters title, with a victory in the final of the Indian Wells Masters. However, del Potro sought revenge in the semifinals of the 2016 Rio Olympics, narrowly beating Nadal via a third-set tiebreak.^[421] They then played a further four matches, all of which in majors, first at the 2017 US Open, which Nadal won in four sets, and then they met in three of the four majors in 2018, including a memorable match in the Wimbledon quarterfinals that lasted nearly five hours, with Nadal winning. The pair met for the last time at the 2018 US Open, where Nadal retired against del Potro in the semifinals.^[421]

Nadal and Tomáš Berdych met a total of 24 times, with Nadal leading 20–4 (83.3%).^[422] Although this rivalry is lopsided in favor of Nadal, the two had several close matches in prestigious tournaments. Their first match was a final in Båstad, which Nadal won.^[422] They then met four times in 2005–06, all in Masters tournaments, with Berdych winning in three. Their biggest meeting came in the 2010 Wimbledon final, which Nadal won in straight sets.^[422] Their next most significant meeting was in the opening round of the 2009 Davis Cup Final, where Nadal again defeated Berdych in straight sets en route to the title. At the 2015 Australian Open quarterfinal, following 18 straight losses over 9 years, Berdych was able to claim his only win over Nadal in a Grand Slam, winning in straight sets, including a "bagel" (6–0) in the second.^[422]

Nadal and compatriot David Ferrer met a total of 32 times, with Nadal leading 26–6 (81.3%).^[423] They have faced each other in finals on eight occasions, including two pairs of consecutive finals in Barcelona (2008–09 and 2011–12), with Nadal winning all of them.^[423] Their biggest meeting came in the 2013 French Open final, which Nadal won in straight sets.^[423]

Playing style

Nadal generally plays an aggressive, behind-the-baseline game founded on heavy topspin groundstrokes, consistency, speedy footwork and tenacious court coverage, thus making him an aggressive counterpuncher.^[464] Known for his athleticism and speed around the court, Nadal is an excellent defender^[465] who hits well on the run, constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions. He also plays very fine dropshots, which work especially well because his heavy topspin often forces opponents to the back of the court.^[466]

Nadal hitting a forehand.

Nadal employs a semi-western grip forehand, often with a "lasso-whip" follow-through, where his left arm hits through the ball and finishes above his left shoulder – as opposed to a more traditional finish across the body or around his opposite shoulder.^[467][468] Nadal's forehand groundstroke form allows him to hit shots with heavy topspin – more so than many of his contemporaries.^[469]

San Francisco tennis researcher John Yandell used a high-speed video camera and special software to count the average number of revolutions of a tennis ball hit full force by Nadal. Yandell concluded:

The first guys we did were Sampras and Agassi. They were hitting forehands that in general were spinning about 1,800 to 1,900 revolutions per minute. Federer is hitting with an amazing amount of spin, too, right? 2,700 revolutions per minute. Well, we measured one forehand Nadal hit at 4,900. His average was 3,200.^[470]

While Nadal's shots tend to land short of the baseline, the characteristically high bounces his forehands achieve tend to mitigate the advantage an opponent would normally gain from capitalizing on a short ball.^[471] Although his forehand is based on heavy topspin, he can hit the ball deep and flat with a more orthodox follow through for clean winners, but instead of being admired for his finesse and angles, it was the brutality of his groundstrokes that caught the public eye; Nadal carried this stigma for most of his career.^[29]

Nadal's serve was initially considered a weak point in his game, although his improvements in both first-serve points won and break points saved since 2005 have allowed him to consistently compete for and win major titles on faster surfaces. Nadal relies on the consistency of his serve to gain a strategic advantage in points, rather than going for service winners.^[472] 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. Moreover, he also modified his service grip to a more continental one, swiveling his iron left wrist a few millimeters on the racket.^[201] These two changes in his serve increased his average speed by around 10 mph during the 2010 US Open, maxing out at 135 mph (217 km/h), allowing him to win more free points on his serve.^[473] Since the 2010 US Open, Nadal's serve speed dropped to previous levels and was again cited as in need of improvement.^{[474][475][476]} From 2019 onwards, several analysts praised Nadal's improvement on the serve, noting the speed of his serve had increased.^{[477][478][479][480]}

Nadal is a clay court specialist, in the sense that he has been extremely successful on that surface. He has won 14 times at the French Open, 12 at Barcelona, 11 at Monte Carlo, and 10 at Rome. However, Nadal has shed that label owing to his success on other surfaces, including holding simultaneous Grand Slam tournament titles on grass, hard courts, and clay on two separate occasions, winning ten Masters titles on hard court, and winning an Olympic gold medal on hard court.^[464][481] Even though he has been successful on hard courts, Nadal himself admitted that playing a lot on them is tiring and takes a physical toll on ATP Tour players, so he has repeatedly requested for a reevaluated tour schedule featuring fewer hard court tournaments and increasing the weeks of rest.^[482]

Despite praise for Nadal's talent and skill, in the past, some had questioned his longevity in the sport, citing his build and playing style as conducive to injury.^[483] For instance, after winning the 2010 US Open, former world No. 1 Pete Sampras stated: "The only question with Rafa is physically how much his body can handle the pounding with how hard he works for every point. You just watch him play, the kid is relentless".^[484] This "longevity" narrative has proven inaccurate, and pundits today admire his resilience to come back from devastating injuries and his ability to play with physical pain.^[485]

Attitude and demeanor

The junior Nadal was noted for being far less emotionally demonstrative than the typical Spanish player.^[487] Nadal was also noted for his cool demeanor and emotional control on the court. He always displayed exemplary behaviour, rarely misbehaved on court, and has allegedly never broken a racquet in his life.^[7] In an interview in CBS's 60 Minutes in May 2021, Nadal added that his family does not approve of racket abuse, and breaking them means he is not in control of his emotions.^[488]

Despite his success, his uncle Toni ensured that Nadal remained as normal, modest, and down to earth as possible, as he believed these qualities to have a tremendous impact on results and motivation.^[7] He rarely if ever touts his achievements, refuses to put down his rivals, travels in public without a large entourage, and lingers after matches and practices to sign autographs.^[489] For instance, in 2007, Nadal would often interrupt his training sessions on the public courts of Manacor, just to hit a few balls with fans and foreign tourists that had asked him to, even though they were not very good, and even against his uncle Toni’s wishes, who had to tell him that he "cannot do this all the time".^[10] Former world No. 6 Gilles Simon has stressed that more than being grounded and simple off the court, what separates Nadal from the rest in contemporary tennis is his on-court humility, stating "Do not tell me that Rafael Nadal is not humble because he said in a press conference that he is not favorite in the first round of Roland-Garros".^[490]

Nadal is also noted for his visceral delight in competing, whether he wins or loses.^[489] He also has a rare philosophical approach to tennis and life that one sportswriter described as a “model of humility, empathy, and perspective”.^[489]

Nadal is known for a host of on-court rituals including specific bodily movements and the positioning of items courtside.^[491][492] At changeovers, he always waits until his opponent first crosses the net, refuses to step on the lines, and devotedly lines up his drinks bottles in precise positions near his chair, labels always facing out, before stepping back into action.^[493] His water-bottle routine is so well-known that when they fell over during a match at the 2015 Australian Open, a ball boy dashed over to return the bottles to their upright position, with the labels facing the court as Nadal had intended.^[489] Nadal himself has explained that such rituals do not stem from an obsessive–compulsive disorder complex or are based on superstition; they are instead meant to work as an almost therapeutic, psychological mechanism to help him stay calm in incredibly stressful situations.^[489][494]

There is also a pattern to the way he approaches a serve. He usually takes three balls, examines them, discards one, shakes the strands of hair that have not been corralled by his headband out of his eyes, and then serves.^[487] Nadal constantly picks at the rear of his shorts, wipes sweat from his brow and pushes hair back behind his ears before every serve.^[493] Nadal's extensive time taken between points has received criticism from other players including Roger Federer and Denis Shapovalov,^[495][496] with the later wanting Nadal to be given a code violation for pushing the 25-second serve clock to the limit, stating that he was being given preferential treatment because of his status in the game.^[493]

Nadal's personality has been described by Jimmy Connors: "He's built out of a mold that I think I came from also, that you walk out there, you give everything you have from the first point to the end no matter what the score. And you're willing to lay it all out on the line and you're not afraid to let the people see that".^[497]

Coaching and personal team

Nadal's first and most important coach was his uncle Toni Nadal, who coached him from 1990 to 2017, from age 4 to 31.^[498] Though strong physically as a player, Toni Nadal had struggled to be aggressive with his forehand and possessed no big shots. Along with working on the mental and physical sides, as Nadal improved, he ensured that his nephew developed a good technical, all-round aggressive game, became competent at the net, and developed his forehand into a weapon.^[7]

At age 12, Nadal began attending the Balearic Islands training centre 50 kilometers and a one-hour car journey away from Manacor in Palma.^[7] He and his uncle came to train there three times a week, so that Nadal could train with the best boys in the Balearic Islands. There, he was trained along with his uncle Toni, by Toni Colom, who became Nadal’s traveling coach for the next four years, between 1999 and 2003, mainly for Futures tournaments.^[7] Colom later explained that "I was traveling to those tournaments because I had a bigger availability of traveling [than Toni] and not because I was more experienced".^[499] After 2005, Nadal left the structure of the Balearic School and little by little he created his own team.^[500]

Unlike most of his contemporaries, Nadal remained loyal and rarely made changes to it. For instance, he worked with the exact same team for 11 years between 2006 and 2017. Nadal’s team consists of members from his family and professional staff, whom Nadal also considers his family.^[501] Besides Toni, the first members of his team were Joan Forcades, Nadal's instructor since childhood,^[501] and doctor Ángel Ruiz Cotorro, who had a crucial participation in his professional tennis career.^[502] Cotorro, who has also worked with Juan Martín del Potro and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, helped him play after facing injuries and his suggestions have been pivotal to his game.^[502] Nadal has said of his doctor that: "I trust Dr. Cotorro with my life. He was my doctor then, he remains my doctor today, and if I have anything to do with it he will remain my doctor till the day I retire".^[502] Forcades is the lead fitness expert for Nadal and develops his training program that is further implemented by the other experts who work with Nadal.^[501]

Toni has described his coaching style as 'hard', saying that he occasionally puts too much pressure on Nadal, but that he does so because he wants him to succeed.^[503] Together, they won 16 major titles between 2005 and 2016, making them the second most successful tennis coach-player partnership only behind Marián Vajda and Novak Djokovic.^[503]

In 2005, Nadal was signed by Spanish agent Carlo Costa, who oversees the huge operation that runs around him, such as managing everything related to advertising, sponsorship or social events.^[504][505] In 2006, Costa and Nadal's father convinced Benito Pérez Barbadillo, who had been working as the press officer of the ATP since the late 1990s, to open his own company (B1PR) to work with them as Nadal's communications director (PR manager).^[504][506] Nadal then hired physiotherapist Rafael Maymó, who also designs his physical preparation together with Forcades and who is one of Nadal's closest friends, thus also acting as a psychologist.^[501][504] Nadal has stated that Maymó "has been almost my shadow since 2006” and that they spend more time with each other than they do with their wives.^[507]

After signing his new coach Carlos Moyá in December 2016,^[508] Nadal's game style acquired a more offensive approach. Under Moyá's direction, Nadal improved his serve,^[509][479] and incorporated serve-and-volley as a surprise tactic in some of his matches.^[510] Moyá, who has known Nadal since he was 12, has always been more a friend than a coach for his pupil, and when he realizes that Nadal is going through a bad time, he leaves his duty as a coach and acts like a friend with whom Nadal can speak to.^[503]

Nadal is currently working with two coaches, Moyá, his head coach, and Francisco Roig, who was hired by Nadal in 2005, and who sometimes acts as the alternate coach.^[503][511]

Equipment and Apparel

Nadal wearing his signature Nike sleeveless shirt at the French Open in 2007, while holding his Babolat racquet

Nike serves as Nadal's clothing and shoe sponsor. Nadal's signature on-court attire entailed a variety of sleeveless shirts paired with 3/4 length capri pants.^[512] For the 2009 season, Nadal adopted more-traditional on-court apparel. Nike encouraged Nadal to update his look in order to reflect his new status as the sport's top player at that time^[513] and associate Nadal with a style that, while less distinctive than his "pirate" look, would be more widely emulated by consumers.^[514][515] At warmup tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Doha, Nadal played matches in a polo shirt specifically designed for him by Nike,^[516] paired with shorts cut above the knee. Nadal's new, more conventional style carried over to the 2009 Australian Open, where he was outfitted with Nike's Bold Crew Men's Tee^[517] and Nadal Long Check Shorts.^{[518][519][520]} Nadal wears Nike's Air CourtBallistec 2.3 tennis shoes,^[521] bearing various customizations throughout the season, including his nickname "Rafa" on the right shoe and a stylized bull logo on the left.

Nadal uses an AeroPro Drive racquet with a 4+1⁄4-inch L2 grip. As of the 2010 season, Nadal's racquets are painted to resemble the new Babolat AeroPro Drive with Cortex GT racquet in order to market a current model that Babolat sells.^[522][523] Nadal uses no replacement grip, and instead wraps two overgrips around the handle. He used Duralast 15L strings until the 2010 season, when he switched to Babolat's new, black-colored, RPM Blast string. Nadal's rackets are always strung at 55 lb (25 kg), regardless of which surface or conditions he is playing on.

In popular culture

Nadal's autobiography, Rafa (Hyperion, 2012, ISBN 1-4013-1092-3), written with assistance from John Carlin, was published in August 2011.^[524]

In February 2010, Rafael Nadal was featured in the music video of Shakira's "Gypsy", filmed in Barcelona.^[525][526] The chemistry between them was such that denials were released by both parties to quash rumors of a possible romantic relationship.^[527] 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. And Rafael Nadal is a person who has been totally committed to his career since he was very young. Since he was 17, I believe."^[528][529] In 2016, Nadal made a five-second cameo in the music video of RedOne's "Don't You Need Somebody", which featured many other sporting stars, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and James Rodriguez.^[530]

In 2018, Nadal was featured in a new ad for the 2018 tennis game Mario Tennis Aces, the latest entry in the Mario Tennis series.^[531] In the ad, Nadal is serving for the win against a stubborn Mario before finally overcoming him in a climatic final shot.^[531]

Homages and tributes

In April 2017, the centre court of the Barcelona Open was named Pista Rafa Nadal.^[532] In 2021, prior to the start of the tournament, the French Open paid tribute to Nadal with the installation of a 3-meters tall steel statue at Stade Roland Garros.^[533] It was created by Jordi Díez Fernández, one of Spain's most renowned sculptors.^[533]

128036 Rafaelnadal is a main belt asteroid discovered in 2003 at the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca and named after Nadal.^[534] The decision to name the asteroid after Nadal was made by the International Astronomical Union in response to a request by the observatory. The asteroid is four kilometers in diameter and travels through space at a speed of 20 km per second.^[535]

At both the London and Rio Olympic Games, Nadal was chosen as the country's flag bearer, and although he had to give up carrying Spain's red and yellow banner in 2012 due to his ongoing injuries, Nadal was the flagbearer for Spain in the opening ceremony of the 2016 edition; Nadal later described this experience as an "unforgettable moment".^[536][537]

Philanthropy

After countless philanthropic efforts in the early part of his career, he launched the nonprofit Fundación Rafa Nadal in November 2007, and its official presentation was in February 2008, at the Manacor Tennis Club in Mallorca, created to help disadvantaged children and teenagers, offering them opportunities through the practice of sports.^[538] Two months earlier, in December 2007, Nadal and Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas teamed up to stage a charity sports event in Madrid, aptly named "Friends of Iker v Friends of Rafa", to raise money to buy vaccines for children infected by Malaria as a means to help the Red Cross in its fight against the disease.^[539] This charity event was a huge success overnight, raising well over £100,000, which inspired Nadal to set up his own foundation, stating, "We raised an amount of money that we would never have imagined. [...] That is why the time has come to set up my own foundation and determine the destination of the money".^[539]

On deciding why to start a foundation, Nadal said "This can be the beginning of my future, when I retire and have more time, [...] I am doing very well and I owe society, [...] A month-and-a-half ago I was in Chennai, in India. The truth is we live great here... I can contribute something with my image..."^[540] Even though poverty in India struck him particularly hard, Nadal wants to start by helping "people close by, in the Balearic Islands, in Spain, and then, if possible, abroad".^[540] Nadal's mother, Ana María Parera, chairs the charitable organization and father Sebastian is vice-chairman.^[541] His wife Maria Perello also works for the foundation as the Project Director of Strategy and Relations with Institutions.^[540]

On 16 October 2010, Nadal traveled to India for the first time to visit his tennis academy for underprivileged children at Anantapur Sports Village, in the Anantapur City, Andhra Pradesh.^[541] His foundation has also worked in the Anantapur Educational Center project, in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation.^[542][543]

Nadal took part in Thailand's "A Million Trees for the King" project, planting a tree in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on a visit to Hua Hin during his Thailand Open 2010. Nadal stated: "I want to congratulate the Thai people and congratulate the King for this unbelievable day. I wish all the best for this idea. It's very, very nice."^[540][544]

In 2020, his foundation joined hands with Endesa, the largest electrical utility company in Spain and one of the most recognizable brands for Spanish citizens.^[545] Endesa donated €400,000, which was used to help people who survived the pandemic, but also to add personnel and increase the capabilities of different services offered by the centers, with special focus on setting up a psychotherapy sector in Valencia.^[545]

In 2023, on the occasion of the International Day of Sport on 6 April, the Fundación Rafa Nadal announced that they had decided to partner with UNESCO through its Fit for Life project, a sport-based flagship program designed to tackle physical inactivity, such as accelerating the recovery from Covid-19, mental health issues, and inequality.^[546]

Sponsorships and endorsements

Nadal has been sponsored by Kia Motors since 2006. He has appeared in advertising campaigns for Kia as a global ambassador for the company. In May 2008, Kia released a claymation viral ad featuring Nadal in a tennis match with an alien. In May 2015, Nadal extended his partnership with Kia for another five years.^[562] He became the face of Lanvin's L'Homme Sport cologne in April 2009.^[563]

As of January 2010, Nadal is the international ambassador for Quely, a company from his native Mallorca that manufactures biscuits, bakery and chocolate-coated products; he has consumed their products ever since he was a young child.^[564]

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.^[565] The watch is made of titanium and lithium and is valued at US$525,000; Nadal was involved in the design and testing of the watch on the tennis court.^[565] During the 2010 French Open, Men's Fitness reported that Nadal wore the Richard Mille watch on the court as part of a sponsorship deal with the Swiss watchmaker.^[566]

Nadal replaced Cristiano Ronaldo as the new face of Emporio Armani Underwear and Armani Jeans for the spring/summer 2011 collection.^[567][525] This was the first time that the label has chosen a tennis player for the job; association football has ruled lately prior to Ronaldo, David Beckham graced the ads since 2008.^[568] Armani said that he selected Nadal as his latest male underwear model because "...he is ideal as he represents a healthy and positive model for youngsters".^[567]

In June 2012, Nadal joined the group of sports endorsers of the PokerStars online poker cardroom.^[569] Nadal won a charity poker tournament against retired Brazilian football player Ronaldo in 2014.^[570]

In August 2023, Nadal signed up as the brand ambassador for the Indian IT major Infosys.^[571] Rafael said: "I’m very happy to work closely with Infosys, as they work to not only evolve the experience of tennis to the times, but also empower people in our communities to be part of a brighter future."

Rafa Nadal Sports Centre

Nadal owns and trains at the Rafa Nadal Sports Centre (40,000 m², 430,000 sq ft) in his hometown of Manacor, Mallorca. The centre houses the Rafa Nadal Academy, where the American International School of Mallorca is located, making it easier for the players to handle school and tennis while still getting a good education.^[572] Also located in the centre is a sports residence, a Rafael Nadal museum, a health clinic, a fitness centre with spa and a café. The facility has 26 tennis courts among its sporting areas, as well as padel and squash courts, football fields, swimming pools, and multi-sports areas.^[572] The Academy is not only used by a lot of young talented Spanish tennis players, but also from across the world. For instance, in 2017, the Australian tennis federation even agreed on a partnership with Nadal's Academy to let their players use it as their European training base.^[572][573] Coach and uncle Toni Nadal is the Head of the academy, his agent Carlos Costa is the Head of business development, and his childhood idol and fellow Majorcan Carlos Moyá is also involved as a technical director.^[572]

In 2021, a four-episode series about the Rafa Nadal Academy was aired on both Amazon Prime and Movistar and broadcast in 244 countries around the world.^[574] The docuseries features several young tennis talents who tell their stories, testimonies, and experiences at the Academy.^[574]

Nadal also owns and operates three other similar Rafa Nadal Academy/Centre facilities in Al Zahra, Kuwait (called the Rafa Nadal Academy Kuwait),^[575] Cancún, Mexico (called the Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre Mexico),^[576] and Chalkidiki, Greece (called the Rafa Nadal Tennis Centre Greece).^[577] The Mexico and Greece Centres started operations in 2019 while the Kuwait Academy opened in 2020.^[578]

Involvement in football and other sports

Nadal is an avid football fan and his favorite clubs are RCD Mallorca and Real Madrid CF,^[525] stating "when my uncle (Miguel Ángel) was playing for Barcelona, we wanted Barcelona to win. Before that, my whole family was for Real Madrid. After my uncle left the Barcelona team, then we’re all for the Real Madrid again. I have got nothing against Barcelona, but I prefer Real Madrid to win".^[579] According to his uncle Toni, Nadal is "a mad fan of Real Madrid", and regards French football player Zinedine Zidane as an athlete who is "as high as any man can get". In 2005, Nadal received the Coupe des Mousquetaires from the hands of Zidane, who called him "a phenomenon".^[580]

In December 2007, in the "Friends of Iker v Friends of Rafa" charity sports event, the two teams contested a tennis match and a football match, in which Nadal showed his football skills by scoring six goals against Casillas.^[539] With the teams tied at 14-14, the combined scores from the football and tennis matches, the event had to be decided in a penalty shoot-out, which was won by Nadal's squad.^[539] In December 2008, Nadal and Casillas staged a similar event, this time including an indoor football match, a tennis match, and a go-kart race.^[581][582] Casillas’ team won the kart race, mainly thanks to the experienced driving abilities of Spanish former Formula One world champion Fernando Alonso, while Nadal’s squad, which included Barcelona football star Samuel Eto'o and Novak Djokovic, then hit back to win the tennis event.^[581][582] The deciding football match ended in defeat for Nadal by a score of 9-12 loss.^[581]

On 8 July 2010, it was reported that he had become a shareholder of RCD Mallorca, his local club by birth, in an attempt to assist the club from debt.^[583] Nadal reportedly owns 10 percent and was offered the role of vice president, which he rejected.^[584] His uncle Miguel Ángel Nadal became assistant coach under Michael Laudrup. Shortly after acquiring his interest in Mallorca, Nadal called out UEFA for apparent hypocrisy in ejecting the club from the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League for excessive debts, saying through a club spokesperson, "Well, if those are the criteria upon which UEFA is operating, then European competition will only comprise two or three clubs because all the rest are in debt, too."^[585]

He is a fervent supporter of the Spanish national team, and he was one of six people not affiliated with the team or the national federation allowed to enter the team's locker room following Spain's victory in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final.^[585]

Nadal has made several honorary kick-offs, such as in the Parc des Princes between PSG and Stade de Reims for a Ligue 1 match in 2012, swapping his racket for the shirt of Zlatan Ibrahimovic,^[586] and in Rio's local football derby between CR Vasco da Gama and CR Flamengo at the Maracanã Stadium in 2014.^[587] In 2022, Nadal was invited to take the symbolic kick-off between Real Madrid and RCD Espanyol for a La Liga match at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and was greeted by a heartfelt standing ovation from Real Madrid supporters and from Carlos Alcaraz, who was also present in the stands.^[588] In 2023, Nadal kicked-off a Copa del Rey match between his hometown club CE Manacor and UD Las Palmas. Manacor's vice-president, Joan Gonzalez, then presented Nadal with a Manacor team’s red and white-striped T-shirt for his baby son, who had just turned a year old.^[589]

In addition to tennis and football, Nadal enjoys playing golf and poker.^[590] In April 2014, he played the world's No. 1 female poker player, Vanessa Selbst, in a poker game in Monaco.^[591] In October 2020, Nadal competed in the professional-level Balearic Golf Championship,^[592] obtaining a World Amateur Golf Ranking in the process.^[593] Nadal plays golf even more determinedly than tennis, stating "I am decidedly unfriendly during a golf game, from the first hole to the last".^[594]

Family and children

In June 2009, the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, and then The New York Times, reported that his parents, Ana María and Sebastián, had separated. This news came after weeks of speculation in Internet posts and message boards over Nadal's personal issues as the cause of his setback.^[595] Nadal later stated "My parents' divorce made an important change in my life. It affected me. After that, I couldn't play Wimbledon, it was tough. For one month I was outside the world."^[401]

Nadal met his future wife, María Francisca (Mery) Perelló Pascual^[596] (often mistakenly^[597] referred to as Xisca in the press),^[598] through his younger sister, María Isabel, and began dating her in 2005, when he was 19 and she was 17; but they only formalized their relationship to the public in 2007.^[599] After dating for more than 14 years, their engagement was reported in January 2019.^[600] In October 2019, the couple was married at the La Fortaleza castle in Port de Pollença, Majorca,^[525] in a wedding ceremony that had 350 guests, including prominent personalities like Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman and Hugh Laurie.^[540][601] On 8 October 2022, they welcomed their first child, a son named Rafael.^[602][603] Unlike most of his contemporaries, Nadal decided to delay having children with his wife only towards the end of his sporting career because he would otherwise not be able to allocate his complete attention to his kids.^[540][604]

Perelló took her first job as a sports marketer in London, but later, as she saw Nadal’s career getting bigger, she decided to help his off-court business.^[599] Currently, she is the Project Director of Strategy and Relations with Institutions for the Fundación Rafa Nadal.^[540] Perelló rarely appears as a spectator at Nadal's competitions not only because of her reserved nature and unwillingness to be amongst the hot news and glamour of the celebrity world, but also because she is very susceptible to stress; for instance, during the 2021 Italian Open final, Perelló yelled from her box when Nadal took a bad fall after stumbling off a protruding sideline.^[599] Furthermore, Perelló believes that staying away from the tours keeps their relationship stronger, stating that “It would asphyxiate me. And then he would have to be worrying about me”.^[594][599]

Residences

When Nadal was aged 10 to 21, the entire extended Nadal family shared a five-storey, family-owned apartment building in their hometown of Manacor, proving just how close-knit a group they are.^[7][10] For instance, in 2008, the 21-year-old Nadal was still living with his parents despite already being a superstar with a prize money close to $16 million and off-court endorsements beyond that.^[10] Later in his career, when Nadal won a Mercedes at a tournament, Toni insisted that he put the car in the garage, and drive around in a cheaper sponsor car so that he would remain humble, and with his feet planted firmly on the ground.^[7]

In 2012, Nadal purchased a house in Porto Cristo for about 4 million euros, with his family home being right around the corner.^[605] Around the time he won the 2012 French Open, Nadal acquired a vacation home, a two-story villa in Playa Nueva Romana, in the Dominican Republic, for about 2 million euros.^[606]

Religion and Multilingualism

Nadal was raised a Catholic, but now identifies himself as a agnostic atheist.^[607] In a Sports Illustrated interview in 2010, Nadal was asked whether he believed in God or not, to which he replied that it was "a very difficult thing for me to believe".^[525][608] In an interview for the Spanish newspaper Información, Nadal stated on the context of his view on wars that "You can be religious, or atheist, Christian, Muslim... whatever, but I think the atrocities that people committed in the name of religion are too much. For me, religion is the main cause of mortality in history".^[609]

Nadal speaks three languages fluently: Spanish, Balearic Catalan and English.^[610] He started learning English when traveling the world to compete. In recent years, Nadal has been learning Italian and French, but is not yet fluent in either language.^[611]

Other endeavors

As a young boy, he would run home from school to watch Goku in his favorite Japanese anime, Dragon Ball. CNN released an article about Nadal's childhood inspiration, and called him "the Dragon Ball of tennis" owing to his unorthodox style "from another planet".^[612]

Nadal is known for his fearless competitive nature on the court. However, off the court, Nadal has always been "a bit of a scaredy cat", as his sister put it.^[594] In fact, he has had a fear of the dark since he was a young boy.^[13] Nadal has always preferred sleeping with at least one light or television screen switched on, and turns up the TV volume in order not to hear other noises coming from outside his home.^[613] Furthermore, Nadal is afraid of deep water, dogs, and thunderstorms, hiding under cushions each time there is one, and is nervous about riding a bicycle.^[13][594]

Despite playing tennis left-handed, Nadal is known for being right-handed while doing things in everyday life such as eating, writing, and playing golf and darts.^[15][614]

During his leisure time, Nadal loves his PlayStation, going to the cinema with friends, and spending a lot of time reading and surfing the internet.^[615] He also goes to Broadway every year to see a musical, claiming that he has seen "Mamma Mia, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera like six, seven times".^[401]

Nadal loves fishing due to its relaxing nature.^[401] During the Covid-19 pandemic, Nadal took the opportunity of the break to explore newer interests and learn new things, notably building on his hobby of cooking, which already was one of his favorite pastimes.^[616][617]

Diet and lifestyle

Nadal has often said that he owes his power and agility to his strict routine, which includes training, nutrition, and conditioning.^[616] Nadal centres the bulk of his entire diet around seafood since at least 2007. He has often promoted the importance of a seafood-rich diet to the media, which includes steamed fish and shrimp dumplings, along with pasta and white rice.^[618] Nadal is not overly restrictive, however, since he has frequently expressed that his personal favourites include paella and chocolate, but he does understand the need for self-control, stating: "You eat paella every day, you cannot play tennis".^[618] According to Vigour Fact, he is working with a daily consumption of around 4,700 calories per day.^[618] He has also revealed that on average, he consumes 172kg of fruit every year.^[616] During gameplay, Nadal stays hydrated by drinking lots of water, as well as hypotonic beverages.^[619] After grueling matches, Nadal's drinks of choice to recover are protein shakes because they assist with muscle regeneration, and filtered seawater because of its efficiency in getting important minerals back into the body.^[619]

He typically hits the court just after breakfast and does not leave until early afternoon, in between performing rigorous tennis-related exercises like footwork drills, racket swings, ball drills, and short sprints.^[618]

Health

Throughout his career, Nadal expressed a lot of concern over his knee injuries, which were long-lasting and chronic, sidelining him for years. In late 2012, Nadal received over six months of physical therapy, along with Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, an innovative non-surgical treatment option for people with sprained knees and chronic tendon injuries that had been legalized in 2011.^[620] The PRP therapy proved to be successful as 2013 was one of Nadal's best years and he has since had much fewer knee injuries.^[621]

In 2021, Nadal announced that he had a rare chronic disorder of his left ankle, Mueller-Weiss syndrome.^[622] He was diagnosed at the age of 19 and held off surgery as long as he could.^[623] After surgery in 2021, he returned to tennis in early 2022, winning the Australian Open. He later received two numbing injections and anti-inflammatories before each of his seven matches en route to winning the 2022 French Open.^[624] Nadal stated that he was not willing to do this again. In an open statement regarding his injury, he said, "I am not injured, I am a player living with an injury."^[624]

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

Current through the 2023 Australian Open.

Nadal's 22 Grand Slam singles titles place him second in the men's all-time rankings, behind Djokovic's 24 titles. His 30 Grand Slam singles finals place him 3rd in the men's all-time rankings, behind Djokovic's 36 and Federer's 31 finals, respectively. He has won 14 French Open titles, an all-time record at any tournament. He is the youngest player in the Open Era to win all four majors (24 years old).

Grand Slam tournament finals: 30 (22 titles, 8 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	2005	French Open	Clay	Mariano Puerta	6–7(6–8), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5
Win	2006	French Open (2)	Clay	Roger Federer	1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Loss	2006	Wimbledon	Grass	Roger Federer	0–6, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–2), 3–6
Win	2007	French Open (3)	Clay	Roger Federer	6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss	2007	Wimbledon	Grass	Roger Federer	6–7(7–9), 6–4, 6–7(3–7), 6–2, 2–6
Win	2008	French Open (4)	Clay	Roger Federer	6–1, 6–3, 6–0
Win	2008	Wimbledon	Grass	Roger Federer	6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7
Win	2009	Australian Open	Hard	Roger Federer	7–5, 3–6, 7–6(7–3), 3–6, 6–2
Win	2010	French Open (5)	Clay	Robin Söderling	6–4, 6–2, 6–4
Win	2010	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Tomáš Berdych	6–3, 7–5, 6–4
Win	2010	US Open	Hard	Novak Djokovic	6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2
Win	2011	French Open (6)	Clay	Roger Federer	7–5, 7–6(7–3), 5–7, 6–1
Loss	2011	Wimbledon	Grass	Novak Djokovic	4–6, 1–6, 6–1, 3–6
Loss	2011	US Open	Hard	Novak Djokovic	2–6, 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 1–6
Loss	2012	Australian Open	Hard	Novak Djokovic	7–5, 4–6, 2–6, 7–6(7–5), 5–7
Win	2012	French Open (7)	Clay	Novak Djokovic	6–4, 6–3, 2–6, 7–5
Win	2013	French Open (8)	Clay	David Ferrer	6–3, 6–2, 6–3
Win	2013	US Open (2)	Hard	Novak Djokovic	6–2, 3–6, 6–4, 6–1
Loss	2014	Australian Open	Hard	Stan Wawrinka	3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	2014	French Open (9)	Clay	Novak Djokovic	3–6, 7–5, 6–2, 6–4
Loss	2017	Australian Open	Hard	Roger Federer	4–6, 6–3, 1–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	2017	French Open (10)	Clay	Stan Wawrinka	6–2, 6–3, 6–1
Win	2017	US Open (3)	Hard	Kevin Anderson	6–3, 6–3, 6–4
Win	2018	French Open (11)	Clay	Dominic Thiem	6–4, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	2019	Australian Open	Hard	Novak Djokovic	3–6, 2–6, 3–6
Win	2019	French Open (12)	Clay	Dominic Thiem	6–3, 5–7, 6–1, 6–1
Win	2019	US Open (4)	Hard	Daniil Medvedev	7–5, 6–3, 5–7, 4–6, 6–4
Win	2020	French Open (13)	Clay	Novak Djokovic	6–0, 6–2, 7–5
Win	2022	Australian Open (2)	Hard	Daniil Medvedev	2–6, 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–4, 7–5
Win	2022	French Open (14)	Clay	Casper Ruud	6–3, 6–3, 6–0

Year–End Championships performance timeline

Year–End Championship finals: 2 (2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	2010	ATP Finals	Hard (i)	Roger Federer	3–6, 6–3, 1–6
Loss	2013	ATP Finals	Hard (i)	Novak Djokovic	3–6, 4–6

Olympic gold medal matches

Singles: 1 (1 Gold medal)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Gold	2008	Summer Olympics (Beijing)	Hard	Fernando González	6–3, 7–6(7–2), 6–3

Doubles: 1 (1 Gold medal)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Gold	2016	Summer Olympics (Rio)	Hard	Marc López	Florin Mergea Horia Tecău	6–2, 3–6, 6–4

All-time tournament records

Open Era records

• These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.
• Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.
• Records in italics are currently active streaks.
• ^ Denotes consecutive streak.