Rafael Nadal News

Rafael Nadal is a fan favourite on the ATP World Tour. World No. 1 Rafael Nadal has reached another milestone by registering more than 5,000,000 fans on his official Facebook page.

The University of Connecticut recently took over the all-time winning streak from the UCLA men’s basketball teams of the 70s.

Rafael Nadal of Spain tosses the ball to serve to Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany in Rogers Cup ATP tennis action in Toronto on Friday August 13, 2010.

Nadal, who won the tournament last year, struggled against the sixth-ranked Berdych’s serve at the start before taking charge in the ninth game.

Spain’s Rafael Nadal arrives on court to play Czech Republic player Tomas Berdych , during their singles tennis match, on the sixth day of the ATP World Tour Finals, at the O2, in south-east London on November 26, 2010.

Hit for Haiti: Larry Ellison made a splash as the new owner of tennis’ BNP Paribas Open when he put together the “Hit for Haiti” charity exhibition that raised $1 million for earthquake relief for the stricken country.

After a down year in 2009, marred by injuries and poor grand slam results, Rafael Nadal came back on fire in 2010, winning three grand slam titles, completing his career grand slam at age 24 and cementing his Number 1 ranking.

THE annual international tennis migration from the snows of Europe to the heat of Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and Asia is under way.

With 2010 drawing to a close, we asked our sport correspondents to cast their minds back over the past 12 months in their specialist fields to recount their moment of the year.

HER HAPPY PLACE: Svetlana Kuznetsova is enjoying her time in Auckland. “I’ve never come here, so I think this is great.'’ Men’s tennis has its clear hierarchy with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer at the top of the tree and Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic just underneath.

Tomas Berdych beat Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 on Thursday to set up a semifinal meeting with top-ranked Rafael Nadal at the World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi.

World No. 1 tennis player Rafael Nadal of Spain and Croatia’s high jump queen Blanka Vlasic have been named by the International Sports Press Association as the best male and female athletes of the year.

At around 22.30 hours local time in Johannesburg, less than five minutes before the end of extra time in the World Cup final, Andres Iniesta received a pass from teammate Cesc Fabrigas, raced into the Dutch penalty area and scored the only goal of the game with a right foot shot.

ExxonMobil’s stand in the Public Village will feature fun-filled events through the Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2011.

Korean figure skating champion Kim Yu-na was named one of the world’s top 10 athletes of 2010 by Xinhua News of China on Tuesday.