Why He's No. 31

One of tennis' brightest young stars, Rafael Nadal became king of the clay court in 2005 when he won the French Open, and then again in '06, and '07 and '08... He also took home the gold medal in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Back Stage

Rafael Nadal Parera (IPA: ) (born June 3, 1986, in Manacor, Mallorca) is a Spanish professional tennis player. As of July 2005, he is ranked No. 2 in the world. He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won three consecutive French Open singles titles (2005-07), and has twice been a runner-up at Wimbledon (2006-07). Nadal is undefeated in his career at the French Open, having won all 21 matches he has played en route to his three championships. He also holds the longest winning streak among male players on a single surface in the open era. From April 2005 to May 2007, he won a record 81 consecutive clay court matches, before being defeated by World Number One, Roger Federer, in the 2007 Hamburg Masters final. 2005 was Nadal's breakthrough year. At the Australian Open, he reached the fourth round and pushed the eventual runner-up, Lleyton Hewitt, to five sets. Two months later, he reached the final of the Miami Masters tournament, and despite being two points away from victory in straight sets, he was defeated in five sets by the world's number one player, Roger Federer. Nadal entered his first French Open among the favorites. He beat two of France's local hopes, Sébastien Grosjean and Richard Gasquet, to reach the semifinals. On his 19th birthday, he defeated Federer in the semifinals, preventing the Swiss from potentially achieving a career Grand Slam. Two days later, he became the fourth-youngest French Open champion in the open era, defeating Argentina's Mariano Puerta in the final. He became the seventh player to win a Grand Slam in his first appearance at the event and the first since Agassi at the 1995 Australian Open, and he is one of only two people to win at Roland Garros on their first attempt, the first being Mats Wilander in 1982. He also became the first teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 U.S. Open at age 19. Nadal is the first teenager to win at least six titles in a year since Agassi in 1988 at the age of 18. The fierce rivalry between Nadal and Roger Federer continued into 2006. In March 2006, Nadal handed Federer his first loss of the year at the final in Dubai, winning 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Nadal defeated Federer again at the Monte Carlo Masters by a score of 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6. Seeded No. 2 going into Wimbledon, Nadal reached the finals, securing a match against Federer by beating Marcos Baghdatis in the semifinals. During his run, Nadal was two points from defeat against American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the second round before coming back to win in five sets. Nadal also defeated Andre Agassi in the third round, in Agassi's final match at Wimbledon. All seven of the previous Nadal/Federer encounters had been played on either clay or hard courts; however, Wimbledon is played on grass, Federer's preferred surface. He had won the title three consecutive years. Though Nadal played well in the final after a sluggish start, he fell in four sets, 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, cementing Federer's position at the top of the world rankings. Despite the loss, Nadal well exceeded most expectations by reaching the finals, winning more matches at Wimbledon (six) than he had ever won on grass in his entire career. Prior to the 2006 tennis season, Nadal's record on grass courts stood at three wins and three losses, and even the most optimistic predictions suggested that he would be several years away from being a contender on grass. During the round robin stage of the Tennis Masters Cup, Nadal lost to James Blake, but defeated Nikolay Davydenko and Tommy Robredo. Nadal reached the semifinals as the second place finisher in his group, where he lost to Federer 7-5, 6-4. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer. In Wimbledon, Nadal reached his second final in a row, having been beaten by Federer in the previous year's final. Nadal's road to the final proved difficult, after having nearly been eliminated both in the third and fourth round in tough five-set matches. Numerous rain delays also kept him on the court for seven straight days. In the quarterfinals, Nadal defeated Tomáš Berdych in straight sets, and was awarded victory in his semifinal when fourth seed Novak Ðokovic retired injured. However, he was defeated 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-2 in the final by Federer, marking the Swiss' fifth straight triumph at the event. While leading 4-1 in the fourth set, Nadal had to take some time out to have an ailing knee taped, and although he exhibited no apparent ill effects, the direction of the match then turned in Federer's favor. Nadal failed to convert four break point chances in the fifth set. At the clay-court tournament in Stuttgart, his first tournament since Wimbledon, Nadal defeated comeback player Stanislas Wawrinka in the final to win his second title there in three years (he did not participate in 2006). It was his 23rd title. At the 2007 Madrid Masters, Nadal repeated his previous year's effort of reaching the quarterfinals. He lost to David Nalbandian 6-1, 6-2. Overall, Nadal is an aggressive counterpuncher, forcing his opponents to make errors with his powerful topspin, his speed, and his athleticism. Nadal began the 2008 year in India, where he was the runner-up to Mikhail Youzhny at the Chennai Open. Nadal then reached the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time. He also reached the final of the 2008 Master Series Miami for the second time. During the spring clay court season, Nadal won four singles titles and defeated Roger Federer in three finals. He beat Federer at the Masters Series Monte Carlo for the third straight year, capturing his open era record fourth consecutive title there. He won in straight sets, despite Federer holding a 4–0 lead in the second set. He then won his fourth consecutive title at the Open Sabadell Atlantico tournament in Barcelona.

Forcaste

During the years he broke a lot of records because he was one of the youngest players. His most famous result is at the French Open. He participated there for the first time in 2005 and surprised everyone after winning the Grand Slam title. It was also his first Grand Slam title in his entire career. The next two years he participated again and managed to win the finals so until now he has three consecutive victories at Roland Garros. In 2006 he played the final at Wimbledon against Roger Federer, but unfortunately lost the game. In the same year he participated at US Open and played into the quarter-finals. In 2007, he played the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, but Fernando Gonzalez was the one who beat him. He is a sensational and talented tennis player. He will break records again and will show the entire world what he is capable of. Let's hope that injuries will stay away from him and he will have a great career.