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Yinette PerezRafael Nadal
June 3rd 2006 05:49
Player of the Month
Since this is Rafael's Tournament, Roland Garros, here is a close-up look on the defending champion. This will be updated as more information is obtained, mainly links to articles or new information, so feel free to check back.
Photo by FFT(Copyright, all rights reserved).
RAFAEL NADAL
Birthdate: 3-Jun-86
Birthplace: Manacor, Mallorca
Residence: Manacor, Mallorca
Height: 6'1'' (185 cm)
Weight: 188 lbs (85 kg)
Plays: Left-handed
Turned Pro: 2001
Rafael (Rafa) Nadal Parera, born June 3, 1986 in Manacor, Mallorca, is a Spanish tennis player. He is the nephew of former F.C. Barcelona footballer Miguel Ángel Nadal. He is currently World's No. 2 male tennis player — his highest career singles ranking — and the first man since Boris Becker to reach that spot in his teenage years.
Although he plays with his left hand, Rafael actually is right-handed. When he was younger, his uncle and coach, Toni, decided that his two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm, so he taught Rafael to play with his left.[1]
By beating Robin Soderling in the first round of the French Open, Nadal won his 54th consecutive clay court match, and claimed the longest clay court win streak among men in the Open Era. Nadal had previously shared the record at 53 with Guillermo Vilas, when he held this record his was still a teen. Chris Evert holds the record (among men and women) at 125 matches.
Career
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 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, Ivan Ljubicic in Madrid, 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 (against whom Nadal has a win-loss record of 5-1) 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.
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. This led to the injury which kept him out of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005 and the start of 2006. He now equals world number one Roger Federer (who could not participate in Madrid due to injury) in ATP titles won in a single season, eleven, and masters series events won, four. Nadal was just shy of winning more matches than Federer, 79 matches to Federer's 81. Overall, Nadal had a wonderful 2005 and is now viewed as the player who can push Federer the most. As of May14, he has a 5-1 record against him, following a hard fought match in the Rome Masters final.
On March 4, 2006, Nadal handed Roger Federer his first loss of the 2006 season at the final of the Dubai Open. Nadal won 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal defeated Federer for a second time on April 23, 2006 at the Monte Carlo Masters, a tournament that he won for the second straight year. Nadal won by a score of 6-2 6-7 6-3 7-6.
Nadal's current clay-court win streak stands at 55 consecutive matches, after defeating Robin Soderling 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the 2006 French Open. With this win, he passed Guillermo Vilas' win streak of 53 matches on clay for the longest win streak on clay in tennis history. Following the victory, Nadal was presented with a trophy containing the cross section of the construction of a clay court. Vilas was on hand for the ceremony. He is also tied with Bjorn Borg for most number of titles won as a teenager - 16, which could have been bettered by Nadal if he had participated in the upcoming Hamburg Masters event and won the competition, because he will reach twenty years of age before the French Open final. However, he will stay tied with Borg, as he has pulled out of the tournament to prepare for the French Open. Unbeknownst to Nadal, his own clay court dominance has been embedded into history. The bullish teen continues to run and slug his way into the annals of tennis greatness with a youthful exuberance that is infectious. It will be interesting to see how as age sets in and if Nadal's style of play will evolve and compensate for the injuries associated with old age.
Article taken from Wikipedia.org, available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Profile taken from www.atptennis.com, copyright, all rights reserved.
LINKS
1) ABOUT HIS CLAY COURT STREAK click here
2) OFFICIAL SITE www.rafaelnadal.com
3) RAFAEL'S BLOG during RG06
Since this is Rafael's Tournament, Roland Garros, here is a close-up look on the defending champion. This will be updated as more information is obtained, mainly links to articles or new information, so feel free to check back.
Rafael Nadal - 2005 Roland Garros Champion
RAFAEL NADAL
Birthdate: 3-Jun-86
Birthplace: Manacor, Mallorca
Residence: Manacor, Mallorca
Height: 6'1'' (185 cm)
Weight: 188 lbs (85 kg)
Plays: Left-handed
Turned Pro: 2001
Rafael (Rafa) Nadal Parera, born June 3, 1986 in Manacor, Mallorca, is a Spanish tennis player. He is the nephew of former F.C. Barcelona footballer Miguel Ángel Nadal. He is currently World's No. 2 male tennis player — his highest career singles ranking — and the first man since Boris Becker to reach that spot in his teenage years.
Although he plays with his left hand, Rafael actually is right-handed. When he was younger, his uncle and coach, Toni, decided that his two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm, so he taught Rafael to play with his left.[1]
By beating Robin Soderling in the first round of the French Open, Nadal won his 54th consecutive clay court match, and claimed the longest clay court win streak among men in the Open Era. Nadal had previously shared the record at 53 with Guillermo Vilas, when he held this record his was still a teen. Chris Evert holds the record (among men and women) at 125 matches.
Career
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 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, Ivan Ljubicic in Madrid, 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 (against whom Nadal has a win-loss record of 5-1) 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.
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. This led to the injury which kept him out of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005 and the start of 2006. He now equals world number one Roger Federer (who could not participate in Madrid due to injury) in ATP titles won in a single season, eleven, and masters series events won, four. Nadal was just shy of winning more matches than Federer, 79 matches to Federer's 81. Overall, Nadal had a wonderful 2005 and is now viewed as the player who can push Federer the most. As of May14, he has a 5-1 record against him, following a hard fought match in the Rome Masters final.
On March 4, 2006, Nadal handed Roger Federer his first loss of the 2006 season at the final of the Dubai Open. Nadal won 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal defeated Federer for a second time on April 23, 2006 at the Monte Carlo Masters, a tournament that he won for the second straight year. Nadal won by a score of 6-2 6-7 6-3 7-6.
Nadal's current clay-court win streak stands at 55 consecutive matches, after defeating Robin Soderling 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the 2006 French Open. With this win, he passed Guillermo Vilas' win streak of 53 matches on clay for the longest win streak on clay in tennis history. Following the victory, Nadal was presented with a trophy containing the cross section of the construction of a clay court. Vilas was on hand for the ceremony. He is also tied with Bjorn Borg for most number of titles won as a teenager - 16, which could have been bettered by Nadal if he had participated in the upcoming Hamburg Masters event and won the competition, because he will reach twenty years of age before the French Open final. However, he will stay tied with Borg, as he has pulled out of the tournament to prepare for the French Open. Unbeknownst to Nadal, his own clay court dominance has been embedded into history. The bullish teen continues to run and slug his way into the annals of tennis greatness with a youthful exuberance that is infectious. It will be interesting to see how as age sets in and if Nadal's style of play will evolve and compensate for the injuries associated with old age.
Article taken from Wikipedia.org, available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Profile taken from www.atptennis.com, copyright, all rights reserved.
LINKS
1) ABOUT HIS CLAY COURT STREAK click here
2) OFFICIAL SITE www.rafaelnadal.com
3) RAFAEL'S BLOG during RG06
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