Rafael Nadal Biography
Nicknamed
"Rafa", Rafael Nadal has took the tennis
world by storm over the past 5 years as he has
made his way on the professional tennis circuit
to number 2 in the world with a staggering clay-court
winning streak of 60 consecutive matches.
He
was born June 3rd 1986 in Manacor, Mallorca to
Sebastián and Ana María. He has
great sporting heritage as his Uncle is former
F.C. Barcelona footballer Miguel Ángel
Nadal. Between 1986 and 2001 (the year in which
he turned pro at only age 15) he developed a brilliant
all round game playing left-handed despite being
naturally right-handed.
His
rise since then has been a quick and exhilarating
one. In 2002, he won his first ATP match at Majorca
at the age of 15, defeating Ramon Delgado to become
the ninth player in the Open Era to win an ATP
match before his 16th birthday. One year later
in 2003 he became the second-youngest player to
be ranked among the world's top 100 singles players
and earned ATP Newcomer of the Year. At his Wimbledon
debut, at only age 16, he became the youngest
player to reach the 3rd round since 16-year-old
Boris Becker in 1984 and in July 2003 he reached
the Spanish championships where he lost to Lopez.
He
continued to improve in 2004 and by 2005 had climbed
the world rankings to number 5. This made him
the youngest player to make it into the Top 10
since Andrei Medvedev in 1993. During this season
he won two ATP Masters Series events in Monte
Carlo and Rome and managed an astonishing winning
streak of 25 consecutive matches.
Among
his other historical achievements he became the
fourth-youngest Roland Garros champion in the
Open Era defeating Argentina's Mariano Puerta
in the final, the seventh player to win a Grand
Slam in his first appearance at the event and
the first teenager to win a Grand Slam since Pete
Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19.
During
this period the intense rivalry between Nadal
and Federer continued to grow reaching a climax
in 2006 where Nadal beat Federer four times. First,
on March 4, 2006, at the final in Dubai, where
he won 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal then defeated Federer
again at the Monte Carlo Masters 6-2 6-7 6-3 7-6
before meeting and beating him for a third time
in this season at the finals in Rome where he
won a close victory - 6-7 7-6 6-4 2-6 7-6.
Their
last encounter came at the finals in the French
Open. Federer now sought to turn around his dismal
record against Nadal, while Nadal was seeking
to defend his French Open title. In the least
competitive of their 2006 matches Nadal won a
4 set victory and will enter the next French Open
with a perfect 14-0 tournament record.
|
