To celebrate the end of Rafael Nadal's historic career at this week's Davis Cup Final 8, ATPTour.com is publishing a series of articles paying tribute to the Spaniard. View our #RafaSiempre series.
Rafael Nadal’s career was defined by an almost unrivalled ability to keep on winning.
The Spaniard rarely endured slow periods across his 24 years as a pro. From the moment Nadal lifted his maiden ATP Tour crown as a slight 18-year-old in Sopot in 2004, his title-winning expectations at every tournament were clear to all who watched him compete.
Nadal’s tenacity and unwillingness to stop working contributed to him putting together some of the most outstanding seasons in the history of tennis. Here, ATPTour.com reflects on seven of the legendary Spaniard’s most prolific years on Tour.
[ATP APP] 2005
Win-Loss Record: 79-10 (88.8%)
Tour-level Titles: 11
Grand Slam Titles: 1
Even by the high standards he would go on to set, Nadal’s second full season on the ATP Tour was something special. The teenage Spaniard announced himself at the top of the game with what would prove to be the most prolific trophy-winning year of his career. He added 11 tour-level crowns to his maiden title that he had won in Sopot the previous year, rising from outside the Top 50 to No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings in the process.
Nadal won the first eight of his trophies that year on clay, at this stage clearly still his preferred surface. For the first time, he won the ATP Masters 1000 events in Monte-Carlo and Rome, as well as the ATP 500 in Barcelona, all tournaments he would go on to dominate across the next two decades. At Roland Garros, he dropped just three sets across seven matches and beat World No. 1 Roger Federer en route to becoming the fifth youngest major men’s singles champion in the Open Era. He was 19 years and two days old.
There was little question of Nadal operating only as a clay-court threat, however. He pushed Federer to five sets in the Miami final in March before ending his year by winning his first Masters 1000 crowns on hard courts in Montreal and Madrid, respectively, either side of a title run in Beijing.
“I think this year is almost impossible to repeat,” said Nadal after his October win in Madrid before he ended his season early due to injury. “I'm going to start next year in high spirits, but without pressure because this has been an incredible year, a year to remember, to keep at home like a picture you hang on the wall. Next year, I'll try my best, knowing and being conscious that I cannot repeat this.”
Nadal in action during his title run at the 2005 Mutua Madrid Open. Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
2008
Win-Loss Record: 82-11 (88.2%)
Tour-level Titles: 8
Grand Slam Titles: 2
By 2008, Nadal had established himself as the undisputed dominant force on clay. After winning Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Hamburg and Roland Garros (the latter for the fourth consecutive time) across April, May and June of that year, the Spaniard had won 22 of his 27 tour-level titles on the surface. Yet his constant development on hard and, perhaps most notably, grass, was about to elevate his career to the next level.
Nadal reached back-to-back Wimbledon finals in 2006 and 2007, but grass-master Federer proved too strong on both occasions. In 2008, perhaps buoyed by lifting his maiden ATP Tour trophy on grass at The Queen’s Club just three weeks earlier, Nadal found a way past the Swiss at SW19 to clinch his first major title outside Roland Garros in the most dramatic way.
The 22-year-old prevailed 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-7(8), 9-7 in an all-time classic final to end Federer's 65-match winning streak on grass. Nadal’s multi-Slam breakthrough simultaneously took him to the brink of another significant milestone. On 18 August, he leapfrogged Federer to become World No. 1 for the first time. In doing so, he snapped Federer’s record 237-week streak atop tennis’ mountain.
Nadal’s already-stellar year was not done. Despite a final loss to emerging rival Novak Djokovic in the Cincinnati final, he quickly gained revenge by beating the Serbian en route to the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. He also became a Davis Cup champion with Spain, despite missing the final against Argentina due to a knee injury, and went on to finish as ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF for the first time.
Roger Federer congratulates Nadal after the Spaniard prevailed in an epic 2008 Wimbledon final. Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images
2010
Win-Loss Record: 71-10 (87.7%)
Tour-level Titles: 7
Grand Slam Titles: 3
Nadal forged his Australian Open breakthrough in 2009, when he again defeated Federer in five sets to win his maiden title in Melbourne. That hard-court milestone paved the way for 2010, the best Grand Slam season of the Spaniard’s career. Nadal triumphed at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and, for the first time, at the US Open to finish the year with a 25-1 record at the majors en route to securing year-end No. 1 for the second time.
Having suffered a shock Roland Garros defeat to Robin Soderling in 2009, the Spaniard dispatched any suggestions of a permanent end to his dominance at the clay-court major in style when he charged to his fifth title on the Paris clay without dropping a set. He avenged the Soderling defeat from the previous year by beating the Swede in the championship match, completing a perfect 22-0 European clay season in the process.
After downing Soderling, home favourite Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych in the final three matches of his Wimbledon title run, Nadal capped a stunning summer by completing a Grand Slam hat-trick at the US Open. He did not drop a set en route to the final in New York, where he downed Djokovic in four sets to complete the career Grand Slam of winning all four major titles.
“For me, it's a dream have the career Grand Slam,” said Nadal, who became the seventh man in history to achieve the feat. “[It is an] unbelievable feeling, because I worked a lot all my life, in all difficult moments to be here, but I never imagined having the four Grand Slams.”
Nadal after his maiden US Open triumph in 2010. Photo Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
2013
Win-Loss Record: 75-7 (91.46%)
Tour-level Titles: 10
Grand Slam Titles: 2
Nadal’s career was full of impressive returns to action after injury, but perhaps none can compare to the way he responded after missing the entire second half of the 2012 season.
The Spaniard reached the final in his first tournament for eight months in Vina del Mar, Chile, in February 2013. From there he won 10 of his next 12 tournaments to compile one of the greatest comeback seasons in tennis history. He beat World No. 1 Djokovic in five sets in the Roland Garros semi-finals before easing past David Ferrer for the title, and beat Djokovic in the US Open final to earn his 13th major crown.
Despite falling just short of clinching his first Nitto ATP Finals title after losing to Djokovic in the final, Nadal could reflect on a 75-7 record for the year that also included five ATP Masters 1000 title runs.
“I never thought something like this could happen,” said Nadal after his US Open triumph. “I was so excited to be back on Tour, trying to be competitive, but never thought about competing for all that I competed for this year. All the Masters 1000s, two Grand Slams. So it is just more than a dream for me, and I'm very happy for everything.”
Nadal falls to the court with joy after defeating Novak Djokovic to win the 2013 US Open. Photo Credit: Al Bello/Getty Images
2017
Win-Loss Record: 68-12 (85%)
Tour-level Titles: 6
Grand Slam Titles: 2
After two relatively quiet years by his standards, partly due to injury struggles, Nadal again demonstrated his ability to return from adversity with a stellar 2017 season. By now into his 30s, the Spaniard lost his first three finals of the year at the Australian Open, in Acapulco and Miami, but bounced back from those disappointments to claim six tour-level trophies.
Those titles included one at Roland Garros, where Nadal became the first player in the Open Era to win 10 single's crowns at the same Grand Slam event. He dropped just 35 games across seven matches on the Paris clay, where he overwhelmed Stan Wawrinka in the championship match. Nadal made it two major titles for the year at the US Open, before he joined forces with his great rival Federer to help Team Europe win at the inaugural Laver Cup.
The Spaniard then fell to Federer for the fourth time in four Lexus ATP Head2Head clashes between the pair that year in the Shanghai final, and injury later forced him to withdraw from the Nitto ATP Finals. Yet Nadal's season had otherwise been so strong that he finished the year as ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF for the first time since 2013.
Roger Federer and Nadal in doubles action at the 2017 Laver Cup in Prague. Photo Credit: Julian Finney/Getty Images for Laver Cup
2019
Win-Loss Record: 58-7 (89%)
Tour-level Titles: 4
Grand Slam Titles: 2
Nadal competed at only nine tour-level tournaments in 2018 due to injury, although he still won five of them as he continued to showcase his quality whenever his body allowed. Heading into the 2019 Australian Open, the Spaniard had not player a competitive match for four months, but he nonetheless reeled off six straight-sets victories before falling to World No. 1 Djokovic in the championship match.
In a rare occurrence for Nadal, he then lost three straight semi-finals on clay in Barcelona, Monte-Carlo and Madrid, respectively. Were the injuries finally catching up with the ‘King of Clay’?
Nadal swiftly put any such suggestions to bed with a pair of typically dominant title runs. He defeated Djokovic in the Rome final, before seeing off Federer and established clay threat Dominic Thiem to clinch his record-extending 12th crown at Roland Garros.
Later that summer there was another high-class demonstration of Nadal’s staying power. He breezed past Daniil Medvedev in Montreal to defend his Omnium Banque National présenté par Rogers crown, before edging the same opponent in five sets to win the US Open. The Spaniard went on to be crowned as the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF for the fifth and final time in his career, and he celebrated by winning all five singles matches he played to help Spain triumph at the 2019 Davis Cup Finals.
Nadal lifts La Coupe des Mousquetaires for the 12th time at 2019 Roland Garros. Photo Credit: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
2022
Win-Loss Record: 39-8 (83%)
Tour-level Titles: 4
Grand Slam Titles: 2
Another long-term injury layoff, followed by another immediate return to the winner’s circle on one of tennis' biggest stages. That was the story for Nadal after he returned for the 2022 Australian swing after a six-month absence due to a foot injury. Having already made a title-winning start to his year by winning an ATP 250 in Melbourne (ensuring he had won an ATP Tour title in a record 19 consecutive seasons), the Spaniard then pulled off arguably one of the most unexpected Grand Slam runs of his career by battling his way to his second Australian Open crown.
Nadal rallied from two sets down to Medvedev in the championship match to secure a then-record 21st Grand Slam men’s singles trophy, and the 35-year-old's stunning comeback did not stop after Melbourne. After winning in Acapulco and then reaching the final in Indian Wells, he had won a personal-best 20 straight matches to start his season. Taylor Fritz snapped that streak in the championship match in Tennis Paradise, after which it was revealed that the Spaniard had been playing with a broken rib.
Once again, Nadal showcased his desire to continue competing at the top level in spite of injury misfortune. He returned midway through the European clay season and, despite winning just three matches across Madrid and Rome, promptly raced to his record 14th Roland Garros title for the loss of just three sets.
Nadal was still on track for the Calendar Grand Slam at Wimbledon, before an abdominal tear forced him to withdraw prior to the semi-finals. He competed in just four more tournaments that season, but the lefty could nonetheless reflect on one of the most productive six-month periods of his illustrious career.
Nadal celebrates after clinching the title at the 2022 Australian Open. Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
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