Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (Catalan pronunciation: Spanish pronunciation: [rafaˈel naˈðal paˈɾeɾa]; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is 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 nine Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 18 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004, 2008 and 2009. 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 Andre Agassi.
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal is currently the reigning champion in three out of the four Slams.
Going for his fourth consecutive Slam title, the Rafa Slam, he lost in straights to David Ferrer in a match in which Ferrer played great, but Nadal was hobbled in his movement from a leg injury early on.
Nadal, a man who many a fan has declared unbeatable in a five-set match while healthy, has in fact not lost a Grand Slam match for the last three years without there being some reason for it.
The last time he did? Well, that was in 2008, just prior to him reaching his first period of dominance at the top, against as hot a player as one can imagine.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Nadal 6-2, 6-3, 6-2, Nadal's worst loss in a Slam since the US Open in 2004 against Andy Roddick. Against Tsonga, Nadal could do nothing, he himself stated in the reports.
'“I was playing fine,” Nadal said. “He played unbelievable. Congratulate him.”
Tsonga didn’t face any break points until the third set, when he saved three in one game.
“I can’t believe some of his volleys,” Nadal said. “I tried to play little bit slower; I tried to play a little bit faster; I tried to play more inside the court, behind the court. No chance. Not today.”'
That was just how good Tsonga was.
Since then, few have been able to upset Nadal in the Slams, and as I will argue, none have done it without it being possible to presume some reason for Nadal losing other than his opponent simply having a good day.
With just a tiny bit of spin, it is possible to prove that a healthy Nadal hasn't lost a Slam tournament after entering his prime at 22 years old at the French Open in 2008.
As we know, he won both the French and Wimbledon in 2008, respectively crushing and winning a nail-biter against Federer in the process.
Come US Open, and Rafa finds himself down two sets to Andy Murray before rain delays the match. Nadal felt he wasn't playing at his best during the tournament, recovering from his success at the Olympics. On the second day of the match, where Nadal had to win all three sets to proceed, they both won one, so Murray prevailed. It must be added that Nadal felt much more energized and credited Murray with the win.
Nevertheless, the loss has in large parts been attributed to Nadal being slightly off and tired after a successful clay, grass and Olympic campaign.
Come 2009 and Nadal wins his first hard-court Slam, once again defeating Federer.
At the French, the tennis world was stunned when the then relatively unknown Robin Söderling blasted Nadal off the court in a four-set fourth-round victory, only a month after having won a mere one game in a two-set defeat against the Spaniard.
102617163_crop_340x234 Pool/Getty Images
Rafael's post-match comments were not too flattering to the longtime foe, who had brought down the king of Roland Garros.
'“His game didn’t surprise me; I was more surprised by mine,” Nadal said. He continued, “It was my fault more than his. Well sure, he did well, he did very well. But I think I didn’t play my best tennis.”
Soon, it became clear that there was a reason for that.
Nadal's knees were injured, and he withdrew from Wimbledon shortly after the draw came out, having lost two exhibition test matches in the last days before the tournament.
Come US Open and Nadal's knees were quite fine again. However, this time he was struggling with an abdominal tear, which prevented his serving to be as good and fast as it can.
Though Nadal did make it to the semis, his hobbled game didn't stand a chance against the revelation and eventual winner of the tournament, Juan Martin del Potro, who won the match 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
Next up was the Australian Open, where the defending champion fell in the quarters; being down two sets to love and 3-0 and a double break in the third, Nadal withdrew, citing knee injury as the cause.
He came back strong as he won the next three Slams, setting himself up for the Rafa Slam before falling to Ferrer with yet another injury in this year's Aussie Open.
104069509_crop_340x234 Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
In the post-match interview, Nadal gave all the credit to Ferrer, not wanting to talk about his injury, as he told reporters, "Seems like I always have problems when I lose, and I don’t want to have this image, no?"
Nevertheless, he did manage to say something.
"I don’t have to tell you what I felt on the court, but it is obvious I did not feel at my best," Nadal said. "I had a problem with the match at the very beginning, and after that, the match was almost over."
