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| Rafael Nadal |
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "
Rafa"
Nadal Parera ( born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player . He is considered one of the greatest players of all time.
His success on claycourt has earned him the nickname "King of Clay"
and has led many sports journalists and commentators, as well as former
and current players, to regard him as the greatest clay court player in
history.
Nadal has won 13 Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 26 ATP World Tour Masters 1000
and a record 14 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments. He was also a member of the winning Spain Davis Cup team in 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2011. In 2010, he became the seventh player in history and youngest of four in the Open Era to achieve the Career Grand Slam. He is only the second male player, after Andre Agassi, to complete the Career Golden Slam.
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| Rafael Nadal |
Nadal and Mats Wilander
are the only players in history who have won at least two Grand Slam
titles on three different surfaces—hard court, grass, and claycourt. By
winning the 2013 French Open,
Nadal became the only male player to win a single Grand Slam tournament
eight times and the first to win at least one Grand Slam tournament for
nine consecutive years, breaking the record of eight previously shared
by Björn Borg, Pete Sampras, and Roger Federer. Nadal holds the record for most consecutive titles at a particular tournament as a result of winning his eighth straight Monte-Carlo Masters in 2012.
He is the first Spanish player, male or female, to rank No. 1 for
more than 100 weeks. He is the only Spanish player, male or female, to
have won career golden slam, first Spanish male player to win Australian
Open and second Spanish male player to have won Wimbledon and US Open.
Carrer
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| Rafael Nadal |
|
| Full name |
Rafael Nadal Parera |
| Country |
 Spain |
| Residence |
Manacor, Balearic Islands, Spain |
| Born |
3 June 1986 (age 27)
Manacor, Balearic Islands, Spain |
| Height |
1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Turned pro |
2001 |
| Plays |
Left-handed (two-handed backhand) |
| Coach(es) |
Toni Nadal |
| Prize money |
€ 47,270,334
- 2nd all-time leader in earnings
|
| Official website |
rafaelnadal.com |
| Singles |
| Career record |
658–129 (83.61%) |
| Career titles |
60 |
| Highest ranking |
No. 1 (18 August 2008) |
| Current ranking |
No. 1 (30 December 2013) |
| Grand Slam Singles results |
| Australian Open |
W (2009) |
| French Open |
W (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013) |
| Wimbledon |
W (2008, 2010) |
| US Open |
W (2010, 2013) |
| Other tournaments |
| Tour Finals |
F (2010, 2013) |
| Olympic Games |
 Gold Medal (2008) |
| Doubles |
| Career record |
103–60 |
| Career titles |
8 |
| Highest ranking |
No. 26 (8 August 2005) |
| Current ranking |
No. 385 (23 December 2013) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results |
| Australian Open |
3R (2004, 2005) |
| Wimbledon |
2R (2005) |
| US Open |
SF (2004) |
| Team competitions |
| Davis Cup |
W (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011) |
| Last updated on: 23 Dec 2013. |
| Olympic medal record |
| Competitor for Spain |
| Men's Tennis |
| Gold |
2008 Beijing |
Singles |
Early in his career
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| Rafael Nadal |
Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor,
Balearic Islands, Spain, to Sebastián Nadal, a businessman who owns an
insurance company, a glass and window company, Vidres Mallorca, and
manages his own restaurant, Sa Punta. His mother is Ana María Parera, a
housewife. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a retired professional footballer, who played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team. Nadal supports football clubs Real Madrid and RCD Mallorca. Recognizing that Nadal had a natural talent for tennis, another uncle, Toni Nadal, a former professional tennis player, introduced him to tennis when he was three years old.
At age eight, Nadal won an under-12 regional tennis championship at a time when he was also a promising football player.
This made Toni Nadal intensify training, and at that time he encouraged
Nadal to play left-handed for a natural advantage on the tennis court,
as he noticed Nadal played forehand shots with two hands.
When Nadal was 12, he won the Spanish and European tennis titles in his
age group and was playing tennis and football all the time.
Nadal's father made him choose between football and tennis so that his
school work would not deteriorate entirely. Nadal said: "I chose tennis.
Football had to stop straight away."
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| Rafael Nadal |
When he was 14, the Spanish tennis federation requested that he leave Mallorca and move to Barcelona
to continue his tennis training. Nadal's family turned down this
request, partly because they feared it would hurt his education,
but also because Toni said that "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."
The decision to stay home meant that Nadal received less financial
support from the federation; instead, Nadal's father covered the costs.
In May 2001, he defeated former Grand Slam tournament champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match.
Nadal turned professional at the age of 15, and participated in two events on the ITF
junior circuit. In 2002, at the age of 16, Nadal reached the semifinals
of the Boy's Singles tournament at Wimbledon, in his first ITF junior
event.
By the age of 17, he beat Roger Federer the first time they played and became the youngest man to reach the third round at Wimbledon since Boris Becker. At 18, he helped pace Spain over the US in the junior Davis Cup
in his second, and final, appearance on the ITF junior circuit. At 19,
Nadal won the French Open the first time he played it, a feat not
accomplished in Paris for more than 20 years. He eventually won it the
first four times he played at Roland Garros. In 2003, he had won the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award. Early in his career, Nadal became known for his habit of biting the trophies he won.
Gold Medal (2008)
