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Rafael Nadal Profile |
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Birth Date:
June 3, 1986
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Birth Place:
Manacor, Mallorca, Illes Balears, Spain
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Birth
Name:
Rafael Nadal Parera
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Height: 6'1"
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Rafael Nadal
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Biography |
Rafael Nadal Parera, mostly known as Rafa Nadal, (born June
3, 1986, Manacor, Majorca, Spain) is a Spanish tennis
player. He is currently the world's number two male tennis
player—his highest career singles ranking—and the first man
since Boris Becker to reach that spot before the age of 20.
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.
In 2003, Nadal became the second-youngest player to be
ranked among the world's top 100 singles players. He
finished the year in the top 50, winning two Challenger
titles. At his Wimbledon debut in 2003, he became the
youngest player (at age 16) to reach the 3rd round since
16-year-old Boris Becker in 1984.
By May 2005, he had reached the top 5 in world rankings,
becoming the youngest player to break into the Top 10 since
Andrei Medvedev in 1993.
Nadal has won eleven titles in 2005, including four ATP
Masters Series events (Monte Carlo, Rome, Montreal, and
Madrid, defeating Guillermo Coria in the finals of Monte
Carlo/Rome, and Andre Agassi in Montreal) and one Grand Slam
title (Roland Garros, becoming the first player since Mats
Wilander in 1982 to win the tournament in his first
attempt). He boasts a 44-2 match record on clay in 2005 and
a 79-10 record on all surfaces this season, second only to
Roger Federer, winning the most matches out of any player on
the tour this year.
Nadal won 24 consecutive matches during early 2005, the
longest winning streak of any teenager in the Open Era,
topping Andre Agassi's run of 23 matches in 1988.
In his Roland Garros debut, he claimed the title by
defeating world number one Roger Federer in the semi finals
on his 19th birthday on the way. At 19 years and two days,
he became the sixth-youngest Grand Slam champion, and the
fourth-youngest Roland Garros champion in the Open Era. He
became the seventh player to win a Grand Slam in his first
appearance at the event, and the first since Andre Agassi at
the 1995 Australian Open. He became the first teenager to
win a Grand Slam since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at
age 19. Nadal is the first teenager to win six titles in a
year since Agassi in 1988 at the age of 18.
Three days after his victory in Paris, his winning streak
was snapped on the grass of Halle, Germany, where he was
beaten by German Alexander Waske in the first round.
He was eliminated in the second round of Wimbledon, at the
All England Lawn Tennis Club, where he was seeded fourth, by
Luxembourg player, Gilles Muller.
Nadal has a 35 match winning streak on clay from April till
September 2005, and with his tournament victory in
Stuttgart, he has become the first man since to win eight
clay court titles in the same year (Thomas Muster held the
previous record of seven titles on clay in 1995).
He was eliminated in the third round of the 2005 US Open in
Flushing Meadows, New York, by American James Blake. His
second seed overall and third round U.S. Open performance
were both career highs. He defeated Bobby Reynolds in the
first round and Scoville Jenkins in the second, both
Americans.
However, after the US Open, he won two more hard court
tournaments. In September he defeated Guillermo Coria in the
final of the China Open in Beijing. Then, in October, he won
his fourth Masters Series event, defeating Ivan Ljubicic in
five sets in the final of the Masters Series Madrid
tournament, played in Nadal's home country. He now equals
world number one Roger Federer (who could not participate in
Madrid due to injury) in ATP titles won, eleven, and masters
series events won, four. Nadal is just shy of winning more
matches than Federer, 79 matches to Federer's 81. |
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Other
Information |
Born and resides in Manacor, Mallorca in Spain
Plays left-handed, but is right-handed
Spanish tennis player
Began playing tennis at age four with his uncle Toni, who is
his coach
Considers clay his favorite surface
His uncle, Miguel Angel Nadal, is a professional soccer
player with stints at FC Barcelona, Real Mallorca and
Spanish national team, which competed in 2002 World Cup
Is no. 1 in the ATP Indesit Race (as of Jun 2005)
One of only 7 people that have beaten Roger Federer
Currently (May 2005) ranked 7th in the world
Won the Roland Garros French Open (2005)
Has won 10 tournaments so far in 2005 (Sept 2005) |
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