Rafael Nadal - Tennis Player, picture, biography, profile, info and favourites

Name

Rafael Nadal Parera

Music for Sleep And Relaxation

The Concert - Dr.M.Balamurali Krishna

Vedic Mantras to improve education and memory

Nick name

Rafa

Profession

Professional Tennis Player

Date of Birth

3 June 1986

Birth Place

Manacor, Mallorca, Spain

Nationality

Spanish

Height

6 ft 1 in

Weight

85 Kg

Eyes

Brown

Place of residence

Manacor, Majorca, Spain

Family

* Father: Sebastián
* Mother: Ana María
* Sister: María Isabel

Coach

Toni Nadal

Debut Match

when he was 14-years-old, tennis great Pat Cash played a clay-court exhibition match against him.

Year turned professional

2001

Favorites

* Actors : Morgan Freeman and Denzel Washington
* Movies : Titanic, Gladiator
* Food : Sea food and pasta
* Sportsman : Fernando Alonso
* Music: Maná, Bon Jovi and Bryan Adams

Hobbies

Play Station, Soccer, reading books, fishing and going to cinema with his friends

Playing style

Left; Two-handed backhand

Odd habits

Taking shower before every match

Career Prize Money

Year to date prize money for singles: $4,238,310 USD
Year to date prize money for doubles: $31,125 USD
Total Career prize money: $ 12,334,074

Equipment & Accessories

* a Babolat Aeropro Drive racket.
* string of choice is Babolat Pro Hurricane Tour.
* wears Nike sportswear, most notably Capri (3/4) pants.
* has "Vamos Rafa" ("Let's Go Rafa") written on his shoes, a common exhortation by his fans.

His characteristics

A powerful, exciting player, he is a joy to watch and has shown flashes of brilliance in what is hopefully a long and successful career.

Career graph

2002
* 2002 - won his first ATP match, defeating Ramon Delgado in Majorca to become the ninth player in the open era to win an ATP match before his 16th birthday.

2003
* 2003 - he became the second-youngest player to be ranked among the world's top 100 singles players. At his Wimbledon debut, he then 17, became the youngest male player to reach the third round since 16-year-old Boris Becker in 1984.

2005

* At the Australian Open, he reached the fourth round. He reached the final of the Miami Masters tournament and was finally defeated by Roger Federer.

* In the clay court season, he won two ATP Masters Series events in Monte Carlo and Rome.

* At one point in the year, he won 24 consecutive matches, the longest winning streak of any teenager in the open era, topping Andre Agassi's run of 23 matches in 1988.

* He had reached the top 5 in the world rankings, becoming the youngest player to break into the top 10.

* He entered the first French Open and defeated Sebastien Grosjean and Richard Gasquet, to reach the semifinals.

* On his 19th birthday, he defeated Federer in the semifinals. 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 and he is one of only two people to win at Roland Garros on their first attempt.

*He started his 2005 hard court season by defeating Agassi in the final of the Canada Masters.

*He was seeded second at the U.S. Open but was eliminated in the third round by American James Blake in four sets. Despite the loss, his second seeding and third round performance were both career highs.

* After the U.S. Open, Nadal won two more hard court tournaments. In September, he defeated Guillermo Coria in the final of the China Open in Beijing, and in October, he won his fourth Masters Series event, defeating Ivan Ljubicic in five sets in the final of the Madrid Masters

* He then suffered a foot injury that kept him out of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005 and the start of 2006, causing him to miss the Australian Open.

2006

* He defeated Federer in final in Dubai, Monte Carlo Masters and Rome Masters final.

* He broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas's 29-year record of 53 consecutive clay court match victories after defeating Robin Soderling in the first round of the 2006 French Open. Following the victory, Nadal was presented with a trophy containing the cross section of the construction of a clay court.

* At the French Open he defeated Federer.

* He withdrew due to a shoulder injury against Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals of Queens Club, a Wimbledon tune-up tournament. This loss ended a streak of 26 matches dating from his loss to Carlos Moyà in March.

* Seeded No. 2 going into Wimbledon, he reached the finals, securing a match against Federer by beating Marcos Baghdatis in the semifinals.

* He withdrew due to a shoulder injury against Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals of Queens Club, a Wimbledon tune-up tournament. This loss ended a streak of 26 matches dating from his loss to Carlos Moyà in March.

* He defeated Andre Agassi in the third round, in Agassi's final match at Wimbledon.

* At the 2006 U.S. Open he reached the quarterfinals but lost to Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in four sets. He failed to reach the third round of his Stockholm Open, where he lost to Joachim Johansson. He lost in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters, where he was defeated by Tomas Berdych for the third time.

* During the round robin stage of the Tennis Masters Cup, Nadal lost to James Blake.

2007

* He reached the semifinals of the Chennai Open in India, where he lost to Xavier Malisse.

* At his next tournament in Sydney, Australia, he retired from his first match against Chris Guccione with a groin injury.

* At the Australian Open, Nadal defeated Andy Murray to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost to Fernando Gonzalez.

* In the quarterfinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, Nadal lost to Mikhail Youzhny. He played at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, defeating Novak Ðjokovic in the final.

* He defeated Federer in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters. He won the Open Seat in Barcelona, Spain, defeating Guillermo Cañas. At the Rome Masters, he defeated Fernando Gonzalez.

Records

* His records currently is a 62-match clay court winning streak—an Open Era record for a male player.

* At 19 years 1 month and 22 days, he became the third teenager in history (since 1973) to reach world no. 2.

* He has held two winning streaks of 20 consecutive matches or more. The first one was a 24-match winning streak in mid 2005; the second is a streak of 26 matches dating from his loss to Carlos Moya in March 2006 to his retirement due to injury in the quarterfinals of the Queen's Club tournament against Lleyton Hewitt on 16 June 2006.

* Claimed his 17th title of his career and his second Grand Slam trophy at the 2006 Roland Garros.

* Received the Laureus World Sports Award for Newcomer of the year in 2006.

* Named ATP most improved Player of the Year in 2005.

* Awarded the European ATP Player of The Year in 2005.

* Qualified for the Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai in 2005

* Claimed his first Grand Slam title at the French Open in Paris.

* His 2005 wins include one Grand Slam – French Open; four Masters Series titles - Monte Carlo, Monaco (clay), Rome, Italy (clay), Montreal, Canada (hard) , Madrid , Spain (hard-indoor); and six ATP titles - Costa do Sauipe, Brazil; Acapulco, Mexico, Barcelona, Spain, Bastad, Sweden, Stuttgart, Germany and Beijing, China.

* He became the second youngest Master Series winner (18 years, 10 months) after Michael Chang (18 years and 5 months) won in Toronto in 1990, and the youngest winner in Monte Carlo since Mats Wilander in 1963 (18 years and 7 months).

* He became the second youngest Master Series winner (18 years, 10 months) after Michael Chang (18 years and 5 months) won in Toronto in 1990, and the youngest winner in Monte Carlo since Mats Wilander in 1963 (18 years and 7 months).

* He became the youngest player in history of the Nasdaq-100 Open to reach the final in Miami.

* He now has 17 career titles and his first career win came in Mallorca, Spain in 2002.

* He also became the youngest player in history to win the Davis Cup on his first try, helping Spain to victory in the final in Seville in 2005.

* Named ATP Best Newcomer of The Year in 2003

Facts

* His father owns a restaurant and a glass-making business.

* His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a retired footballer who played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team.

* To this day, Nadal remains a supporter of RCD Mallorca, as well as Real Madrid.

* Although Nadal plays left-handed, he is naturally right-handed. When he was younger, his coach, Toni Nadal, decided that his two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm, so he taught Rafael to play with his left.

* It was not until Nadal was 12 that he decided to pursue a career in tennis instead of football

Quote

“I'm number one in the tournament, but number one doesn't always win.”