Tennis Betting - Famous Players

Rafael Nadal

Nadal began playing tennis at age four with his uncle Toni, who is his long-time coach. In 2002 Rafa played his only junior Grand Slam event at Wimbledon and reached the semi-finals.

Rafael is the star of Spanish tennis with two Grand Slam titles to his name. The year 2006 was a record breaking year for Rafael Nadal as he captured 22 of his first 25 matches in the first 4 months of the year. He had 4 wins over the world No.1 Roger Federer in Dubai, ATP Master Series Monte-Carlo; a 5 hour long marathon victory at ATP Masters Rome and his best of the year which saw him beat Federer in the final of the French Open.

He also took the clay court winning total to 60 when he retained his French Open title in June 2006 . Nadal lost his 81 straight unbeatened victories to Roger Federer during the Hamburg Open in 2007.

Then in July 2006 Nadal surprised the tennis world by reaching the Wimbledon final at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Nadal made his game work on grass and cut an impress figure at The Championships succumbing Roger Federer in the final.

Rafa’s consistency through the rest of the year and the five titles he picked up throughout 2006 allowed him to qualify for the year end Masters Cup in Shanghai where he reached the semi finals, becoming the first player since Agassi in 1994-95 to finish season No. 2 in back-to-back years!

2007

Rafael Nadal's participated in the tournament of Chennai, where he retired with an injury. These extra days of rest gave him and edge for the Australian Open, where he advanced undefeated to the quarterfinals. Once there, Fernando Gonzales defeated him 2-6, 4-6 and 3-6.

Due to knee injury, Nadal couldn’t participate in the first round of the Davis Cup, or in the ATP tournament of Marseille.
After recovering, he won his first title of the season at the Indian Wells Master defeating Novak Djokovic in the final. Then, in the Miami Masters, Djokovic got his revenge and beat the Spaniard in the quarterfinals.

At Roland Garros he came with all his might to the semifinals. Nadal again faced and defeated Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-4, 6-2. In the final he played against Roger Federer, who won 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-4 after an intense three hour match. This was his 21st victory without losses in the French competition and the third straight win in the tournament.

For the second consecutive year, Nadal lost Wimbledon’s title against Roger Federer.

In the U.S. Open, Nadal was sent home in the second round after he was defeated by his fellow Spaniard, David Ferrer.

Rafa Nadal finished the season ranked second in the world for the third consecutive year.

2008

Nadal started 2008 doing an outstanding job in the Australian Open. In this first Grand Slam of the year, Nadal eliminated with superiority each of his opponents. However, in the semifinals he faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who beat the Spaniard by 2-6, 3-6, and 2-6.

Nadal was very close of leading the world Rankings due to Roger Federer’s poor performance at the time. Yet his irregular performances at Rotterdam and Dubai kept the Spaniard ranked as second.

In the U.S. Masters Series, Nadal played at his best and recovered from the poor results he had on his previous matches.

In the Beijing Olympics he won the gold medal and added 400 points more to his record. This victory gave him the chance to dethrone Roger Federer and placed himself as the world No.1 in the ATP rankings. Nadal exceeded the Swiss by more than 700 points.

In the U.S. Open semifinals he was eliminated by Andy Murray, who then lost to Federer in the final.

In Roland Garros, Rafa snatched the title to Roger Federer with a crushing 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. In Wimbledon’s final match, once again Nadal defeated Federer and earned another Grand Slam. Both finals were memorable.

2009

In the Australia Open, Rafael Nadal won his sixth Grand Slam title after defeating Roger Federer with a 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2 in the final.

In Roland Garros, Nadal lost his unbeaten record of 31 consecutive games against Robin Soderling. After his defeat in the French Open, Nadal was affected by serious knee injuries. These circumstances made it impossible for him to defend his titles at Queen's and Wimbledon. After 46 weeks, the Spaniard lost the first place, which was regained by Federer.

At the U.S. Open, Nadal advanced to the semifinals, where he was then beat by Juan Martin Del Potro.

2010

Rafa Nadal was unable to retain his title at the Australian Open. In the quarterfinals he was defeated by Andy Murray 3-6, 6-7 and 0-3 until he retired from the game due to a sprained right knee

Back to Famous Players Bios