Rafael Nadal Best Spanish tennis player

Date of Birth

3 June 1986, Manacor, Majorca, Spain

Birth Name

Rafael Nadal Parera

Nickname

Rafa
Rafi
Spain's Raging Bull
El Nino
King of clay

Height

6' 1" (1.85 m)

Trivia

Born and resides in Manacor, Mallorca in Spain
Plays left-handed, but is right-handed
Spanish tennis player

Began playing tennis at age four with his uncle Toni, who is his coach
Considers clay his favorite surface
His uncle, Miguel Angel Nadal, is a professional soccer player with stints at FC Barcelona, Real Mallorca and Spanish national team, which competed in 2002 World Cup
Is no. 1 in the ATP Indesit Race (as of Jun 2005)

One of only 7 players to have beaten Roger Federer since Federer attained the #1 ranking.
Currently (May 2005) ranked 7th in the world
Won the Roland Garros French Open (2005)
Has won 10 tournaments so far in 2005 (Sept 2005)
Won The French Open in 2006
Has known Richard Gasquet since he was 12.
Currently (July 2007) ranked 2nd in the world for Tennis.
Defeated Roger Federer in 2008 Wimbledon 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7.
Won 2008 French Open defeating Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.
Nadal's Wimbledon 2008 defeat of Roger Federer was the longest men's singles final in the history of the prestigious tournament: 4 hours 48 minutes. Former Wimbledon champ John McEnroe proclaimed that it was the greatest match he'd ever seen.
Has a younger sister named María Isabel.
Son of Sebastián Nadal and Ana María Parera.
Won the gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games on August 17th 2008.
Defeated Roger Federer in the 2008 Australian Open.
Girlfriend is Xisca Perelló.

Personal Quotes

Being home alone at night makes me a bit nervous. If I'm at home alone I have to sleep on the sofa.I can't face going to bed. I'm there with the TV on and all the lights on. I'm not very brave about anything in life. In tennis, yes. In everything else, not very. -- Vogue, June 2009

Where Are They Now

(2008) (June 8) Joins Björn Borg as the only man to win 4 straight French Open singles titles, beating Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0.
(July 2008) Defeats Roger Federer for 2008 Wimbledon title in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 victory.
(June 2010) Has won his fifth Roland Garros after beating 'Robin Soderling' by 6-4, 6-2 and 6-4 and has also recuperated the number one of the ATP.
(July 2010) Has been in South Africa in order to attend the Football World Cup final between Spain and Holland one week after winning his second Wimbledon tournament.