Nadal is currently 640 points behind Djokovic in the standings so would rise to the top if Djokovic misses just one of the remaining events. Nadal defeated Ruben Bemelmans and Olivier Rochus. [74] Nadal won the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, beating Fernando Verdasco in the final. 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 (3–0 at Wimbledon, 2–0 at the French Open, 1–1 at the Australian Open, and 1–1 at the US Open). Not only did the Serb play exhibition games during the hiatus, he’s had a 20-match run since the resumption of the tour coming into this final, including title wins at Cincinnati and Rome Masters. [174], Nadal began his 2018 season at the Kooyong Classic, where he lost to Richard Gasquet in the first round. ", "Nadal Ruthless On Serve To Reach Wimbledon Quarter-finals", "Carlos Moya On Rafael Nadal Improving Serve", "Is serve and volley dead? [294] He is currently being coached by Francisco Roig (2005–)[295] and Carlos Moyá (2016–). Nadal defeated Federer in five sets to earn his first hard-court Grand Slam singles title,[55] making him the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open. The match was widely lauded as the greatest Wimbledon final ever, with some tennis critics even calling it the greatest match in tennis history.[45][46][47][48][49]. ", Former ATP world no. [213][214] Nadal ascended to No. Out of their 4 matches, Berdych was able to win in 3, in Canada, Madrid, and Cincinnati. [191] In doing so, he broke Margaret Court's all-time record of eleven singles titles won at a single Grand Slam event.

He used Duralast 15L strings until the 2010 season, when he switched to Babolat's new, black-colored, RPM Blast string. Probably not. [180] McEnroe had previously achieved the record on carpet in 1984.

[99] He again lost in four sets to Novak Djokovic in the final. [25] By beating No. In Madrid, he had a bye in the first round and defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime, Frances Tiafoe and Stan Wawrinka, leading to his third clay-court semifinal of the year.

[90], 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.[91]. 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. These victories raised his ranking to No. Here, after 18 straight losses over 9 years, Berdych was able to claim a win over Nadal, and his only in a Grand Slam against the Spaniard.

1 spot. He made it to the quarterfinals without dropping set. Copyright © HT Media Limited All rights reserved. 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. 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. 1 spot. [340] Nadal reportedly owns 10 percent and was offered the role of vice president, which he rejected. After a month-long break from tournament tennis, Nadal played the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid and the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. I find it hard to believe Djokovic will be as dominant in 2012, but he definitely has Nadal’s number right now, in terms of style and in the mental game. [280][281][282] From 2019 onwards, several analysts praised Nadal's improvement on the serve, and noticed the speed of his serve had notably increased.

[325], 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. The two met later in 2015 in Madrid, where Nadal won in straight sets.

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. We keep talking about it - the slower and heavier conditions not aiding Nadal’s topspin-heavy game. By defeating Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinals, he took over the record for the highest number of Masters 1000 match wins of any active player, surpassing Roger Federer's previous record of 378 victories. In 2011, Nadal was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year. He was defeated by compatriot Feliciano López in the quarterfinals.

[301][302] At warmup tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Doha, Nadal played matches in a polo shirt specifically designed for him by Nike,[303] paired with shorts cut above the knee. It felt better but again it resurfaced. Rafael has a younger sister, María Isabel. [21] In singles, Nadal reached the third round of the 2004 Australian Open where he lost in three sets against Australian Lleyton Hewitt. [43][44] 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. Rafael Nadal Exercising Resistance Bands – Using resistance band is one of the most favored exercise routine followed by the Spanish tennis star. He won the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award.

Not after his wonderful 2010, not during a 2011 in which Novak Djokovic wasn’t far from perfection, and beat Nadal every time the two faced each other. 1 ranking on 2 April due to Federer's second-round loss.

Will Novak Djokovic Become the Player With the Most Grand Slams in Tennis? [41] 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. At the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals, Nadal was defeated by Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round-robin stage, and was subsequently eliminated from the tournament. Both will play the final. File images of Rafael Nadal (L) and Novak Djokovic. However, like many of their meetings, Nadal dominated the Czech and beat him in straight sets. [26][27], He then dominated the spring clay-court season. 135), the first time he had ever lost in the first round of a Grand Slam. Rafael Nadal. 1 ranking on 18 August, officially ending Federer's record four-and-a-half-year reign at the top. I mean, a lot of people didn't know what's happening, so you cannot blame them. "[8] The decision to stay home meant less financial support from the federation; instead, Nadal's father covered the costs. [112] Nadal's withdrawal saw him drop out of the ATP's Top Four for the first time since 2005. The pair met in their first tournament final in 2008, in Barcelona, where Nadal won in three sets. [9] Nadal's father made him choose between football and tennis so that his school work would not deteriorate entirely. As in 2006, Nadal was upset in the quarterfinals. He defeated David Ferrer in the final for his fifth title at Rome. His family turned down this request, partly because they feared his education would suffer,[9] 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. 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). It is frustrating (smiling). 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.

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. [163] In the second round of the tournament, he defeated Mischa Zverev for the loss of just two games;[164] 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. [84] Nadal's victory also clinched the year-end No. This victory marked the first time he achieved a title defence on a surface other than clay. ", "Nadal v Federer, who is the greatest of all time? The two have met in many prestigious tournaments, including at 3 of the 4 grand slams. Nadal and Andy Murray have met on 24 occasions since 2007, with Nadal leading 17–7. [57] 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. 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. "This is not the time to change many things. Nadal lost the final in straight sets to Novak Djokovic, winning only eight games for the match and marking Nadal's first straight-sets loss in a Grand Slam final. He beat David Ferrer, Stanislas Wawrinka and Tomáš Berdych in the round robin stage to set up a semifinal victory over Roger Federer.