Rafael Nadal Player Online Information at WagerWeb Sportsbook

Rafael Nadal Tennis Player Information at WagerWeb Sportsbook

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (born June 3, 1986, in Manacor, Mallorca) is a Spanish professional tennis player. As of August 2007, he is ranked No. 2 in the world. He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won three consecutive French Open singles titles (2005-07), and has twice been a runner-up at Wimbledon (2006-07). Nadal is undefeated in his career at the French Open, having won all 21 matches he has played en route to his three championships. He also holds the longest winning streak among male players on a single surface in the open era. From April 2005 to May 2007, he won a record 81 consecutive clay court matches, before being defeated by World Number One Roger Federer in the 2007 Hamburg Masters final.

Early years

Nadal was born in Manacor, Mallorca to Sebastián and Ana María; he also has a younger sister named María Isabel. His father owns a restaurant and a glass-making business. His uncle, Miguel Ángel, is a retired footballer who played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team. To this day, Nadal remains a supporter of RCD Mallorca, as well as Real Madrid. His other uncle, Toni, is his current coach and introduced him to the sport when Nadal was three years old.

Although Nadal plays left-handed, he is naturally right-handed. When he was younger, his coach, Toni Nadal, decided that his two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm, so he taught Rafael to play with his left.

It was not until Nadal was 12 that he decided to pursue a career in tennis instead of football. In May 2001, when Nadal was 14-years-old, tennis great Pat Cash played a clay-court exhibition match against him. Cash, who was originally scheduled to play Boris Becker, was reluctant to play against Nadal, taking this rearranged match as an offense. Cash lost the game by a close margin.

Career

2006

The fierce rivalry between Nadal and Roger Federer continued into 2006. In March 2006, Nadal handed Federer his first loss of the year at the final in Dubai, winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal defeated Federer again at the Monte Carlo Masters by a score of 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.

The two squared off again in the Rome Masters final. There, it seemed as though Federer might finally defeat his nemesis, thereby ending Nadal's streak of consecutive clay court matches. However, Nadal fought off two match points and won 6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6.

Nadal broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas's 29-year record of 53 consecutive clay court match victories after defeating Robin Soderling in the first round of the 2006 French Open. Following the victory, Nadal was presented with a trophy containing the cross section of the construction of a clay court. Vilas was on hand for the ceremony, although Vilas has refused to acknowledge Nadal's feat as more impressive than his own (which was accomplished in a single season).

At the French Open, Nadal reached the final for the second consecutive year, and squared off against the world's No. 1 player, Roger Federer, in a hotly anticipated match. For Federer, the French Open was the missing link in a career Grand Slam and in holding all four majors simultaneously. For Nadal, the task of defending his French Open title, as well as maintaining a dominant winning record against Federer, was enormous, something that no other player has accomplished thus far. Though Nadal was the favorite based on his clay court ability, Federer was the overwhelming favorite with the raucous French crowd. Everyone expected a highly competitive match, much like the ones they had played in the last three Masters Series tournaments. Yet, the first two sets were hardly competitive, as the rivals traded 6-1 sets. Nadal steamrolled over Federer through the third set and most of the fourth. Federer finally broke Nadal's serve deep in the fourth set as he was serving for the match and forced a tiebreak, which Nadal won. With the win, he became the first player to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam final.

With an undefeated 2006 clay court season, Nadal firmly stamped himself as the dominant clay court player in the world and as the only player able to beat Federer consistently.

Nadal withdrew due to a shoulder injury against Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals of Queens Club, a Wimbledon tune-up tournament. This loss ended a streak of 26 matches dating from his loss to Carlos Moyà in March.

Seeded No. 2 going into Wimbledon, Nadal reached the finals, securing a match against Federer by beating Marcos Baghdatis in the semifinals. During his run, Nadal was two points from defeat against American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the second round before coming back to win in five sets. Nadal also defeated Andre Agassi in the third round, in Agassi's final match at Wimbledon. All seven of the previous Nadal/Federer encounters had been played on either clay or hard courts; however, Wimbledon is played on grass, Federer's preferred surface. He had won the title three consecutive years. Though Nadal played well in the final after a sluggish start, he fell in four sets, 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, cementing Federer's position at the top of the world rankings. Despite the loss, Nadal well exceeded most expectations by reaching the finals, winning more matches at Wimbledon (six) than he had ever won on grass in his entire career. Prior to the 2006 tennis season, Nadal's record on grass courts stood at three wins and three losses, and even the most optimistic predictions suggested that he would be several years away from being a contender on grass.

With their finals appearance, Nadal and Federer became the only pair of men in the open era to reach the Wimbledon final after having both played in the French Open final just a month prior. There have been several men to reach the Wimbledon final after making the French Open final, but never had the same two men accomplished such a feat at the same time. They repeated this feat in 2007.

At the 2006 U.S. Open Nadal reached the quarterfinals, his best result at the tournament to date. He lost to Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in four sets. Nadal failed, however, to reach the third round of his next tournament, the Stockholm Open, where he lost to Joachim Johansson 6-4, 7-6. Nadal also lost in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters, where he was defeated by Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-6 for the third time. After the tournament, Nadal blamed mental and physical exhaustion for his recent losses.

During the round robin stage of the Tennis Masters Cup, Nadal lost to James Blake, but defeated Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Robredo. Nadal reached the semifinals as the second place finisher in his group, where he lost to Federer 7-5, 6-4. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer.

2007

Nadal started 2007 by reaching the semifinals of the Chennai Open in India, where he lost to Xavier Malisse 6-4, 7-6. At his next tournament in Sydney, Australia, Nadal retired from his first match against Chris Guccione with a groin injury. At the Australian Open, Nadal defeated Andy Murray 6-7(3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost to Fernando Gonzalez 6-2, 6-4, 6-3.

In the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, Nadal lost to Mikhail Youzhny 7-6, 6-2. After that loss, he played at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, defeating Novak Ðokovic 6-2, 7-5 in the final. However, at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Nadal was defeated in the quarterfinals by tenth seeded and eventual winner Ðjokovic 6-3, 6-4.

Nadal defeated Federer in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters 6-4, 6-4. This was Nadal's third consecutive title in the principality, the first player since Ilie Nastase in 1971-73 to accomplish that feat. He followed that hat-trick with another one at the Open Seat in Barcelona, Spain, defeating Guillermo Cañas in the final. At the Rome Masters, Nadal continued his hat-trick streak, beating Fernando Gonzalez in the final 6-2, 6-2 to become the first man to win in Rome three consecutive years. At the Hamburg Masters, Nadal lost the final to Federer 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. The loss ended Nadal's clay court winning streak at 81, which is the male open-era record for most consecutive victories on a single surface. He thus surpassed John McEnroe's 65-match streak record on indoor carpet.

Nadal and Federer would meet in the final of the French Open for the second consecutive year, and in the latter stages of the tournament for the third time in a row. Nadal prevailed in four sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, winning his third straight championship at Roland Garros. With this victory, he became the first player since Bjorn Borg in 1978-81 to win the French Open in three consecutive years, and once again prevented Federer from achieving the career Grand Slam and owning all four major titles simultaneously.

In preparation for Wimbledon, Nadal played the grass court Queen's Club Championships, losing in the quarterfinals to Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 7-6(0).

In Wimbledon, Nadal reached his second final in a row, having previously been beaten by Federer in the previous year's final. Nadal's road to the final proved difficult, after having nearly been eliminated both in the third and fourth round in tough five-set matches. Numerous rain delays also kept him on the court for seven straight days. In the quarterfinals, Nadal defeated Tomáš Berdych in straight sets, and was awarded victory in his semifinal when fourth seed Novak Ðokovic retired injured. However, he was defeated 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-2 in the final by Federer, marking the Swiss' fifth straight triumph at the event. While leading 4-1 in the fourth set, Nadal had to take some time out to have an ailing knee taped, and although he exhibited no apparent ill effects, the direction of the match then turned in Federer's favor. Nadal failed to convert four break point chances in the fifth set.

Despite the loss, Nadal remains the only active player with a winning record (8-5) against Federer after five matches or more. Nadal is 6-1 on clay, 2-2 on hard courts, and 0-2 on grass against Federer. With his achievement in the 2007 Wimbledon final, Nadal is also both the first player that has forced Federer to a fifth set in a Grand Slam final, and the first to take Federer to a fifth set at Wimbledon since his 2001 fourth round encounter with Pete Sampras.

At the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, his first tournament since Wimbledon, Nadal defeated comeback player Stanislas Wawrinka in the final to win his second title there in three years (he did not participate in 2006). It was his 23rd title.

Nadal then played the Canada Masters tournament, an event he won in 2005. He reached the semi final, where he lost to the eventual winner Novak Ðokovic 7-5, 6-3. The following week, at the Cincinnati Masters, Nadal retired from his first match (a second-round encounter with Juan Monaco who was leading 7-6, 4-1). Although Nadal had been struggling with a knee injury, it was a problem with his forearm that caused him to retire.

Playing style

Nadal's playing style is best tailored for clay courts, with a strong two-handed backhand, well-angled topspin strokes, fast mobility on the court, and a preference to play from the deep court. He is naturally right-handed, but he plays left-handed, and uses his dominant hand as an anchor for his two-handed backhand. Nadal is extremely athletic, and tends to go after every shot, even apparent winners from his opponents.

Nadal's serve is not considered one of his strengths, but can be relied upon for consistency and also for some short-point wins (aces, serve-return errors, and serve-return sitters). With excellent accuracy, power, and consistency, his topspin groundstrokes is one of his assets. Neither his offensive nor defensive playing style are considered weaknesses.

Overall, Nadal is an aggressive counterpuncher, forcing his opponents to make errors with his powerful topspin, his speed, and his athleticism.

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