Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera
(Catalan: [rəˈfɛɫ
nəˈðaɫ pəˈɾeɾə]; Spanish: [rafaˈel naˈðal paˈɾeɾa])
(born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. As of 9 April
2012,
he is ranked No. 2 by the
Association of Tennis
Professionals (ATP). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of
all time;
his success on clay has earned
him the nickname "The King of Clay", and has prompted many experts to regard him
as the greatest clay court player of all time
Nadal has won ten Grand Slam
singles titles, including a record six French Open titles (tied with Bjorn Borg),
the 2008 Olympic
gold medal in singles, a record 19 ATP World Tour Masters 1000Roger
Federer), and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals
in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011. He completed the Career
Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open, being the seventh player in
history, and the youngest in the open era, to achieve it. He is the second male player
to complete the Career Golden Slam (winner of the four grand
slams and the Olympic Gold medal) after only Andre Agassi.
Nadal had a 32-match winning streak in 2008, starting at the 2008 Masters Series Hamburg to the
2008
Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, which
included titles at Hamburg, the French Open
(where he did not drop a set), Queen's Club, his first title at
Wimbledon, and the Rogers Cup. In 2011, by winning the Monte Carlo Masters, he became the
only player to have won seven editions of a tournament in a row at the ATP
level. Nadal was ranked world No. 2, behind Roger Federer, for a record 160
consecutive weeks before earning the top spot, which he held from 18 August 2008
to 5 July 2009. He
regained the world No.1 ranking on 7 June 2010, after winning his fifth French
Open title. He held it until 3
July 2011, when Novak
Djokovic replaced him as world No. 1. Nadal has held the No. 2 ranking for
an ATP record 230 weeks (as of 9 April 2012).
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