Rafael Nadal - Tennis Players, Career and Life

Rafael Nadal Parera was born to an entrepreneur Sebastián and his wife Ana María Parera, on June 3, 1986, in Manacor, Spain. He has a sibling, María Isabel, who is younger to him.

His uncles Miguel Ángel, and Toni were both professional sportsmen--while Miguel was a soccer player, Toni played tennis.

Rafael started playing tennis at the age of three, and by 1994, he had tasted victory at a regional tennis tournament for under-12 players.

Being trained under his uncle Toni, he learnt how to play with his left hand, despite being a right-hander.

By the age of twelve, he exceled in the game, and won several tournaments in his age group. By the time he was fifteen, he began playing professional tennis.

In 2002, the young boy participated in his first 'Association of Tennis Professionals' ('ATP') match, and emerged victorious against Ramón Delgado. With this victory, Nadal achieved the feat of becoming the ninth tennis player to win before sixteen years of age.

During 2003-2005, the talented young player beat Roger Federer in the 'Miami Masters' championship. In the same championship, he went on to become the youngest player since Boris Becker, to qualify to the third round.

In the same period, he participated in the 'Davis Cup', defeating Andy Roddick, 3-2, in the final and bringing home the 2004 trophy for Spain. On the clay court, he was victorious in 24 consecutive games, breaking the record of maximum consecutive wins, held by Andre Agassi.

Rafael also won championships like the 'Torneo Conde de Godó', Barcelona, 'Monte Carlo Masters', and 'Rome Masters'. However, his most important triumph came when he beat Argentinian player Mariano Puerta in the 'French Open' finals. The same year, in 2005, he also won a 'Grand Slam' championship, going up the world ranking to spot 3.

In 2006, he won several championships like the ‘Dubai Duty Free Men's Open’, ‘Masters Series Monte Carlo’, ‘Masters Series Internazionali BNL d'Italia’, defeating Roger Federer in all the finals.

In the French Open, Federer played a close match, boiling it down to a tie-breaker. The tie-breaker was won by Nadal, thus becoming the first player in history to have won a 'Grand Slam' final against Federer.

After a few losses in 2007, at the 'Australian Open' and the 'Dubai Tennis Championships', this famous player was victorious at the 'Indian Wells Masters'. He also won tournaments such as the 'Masters Series Monte Carlo', 'Open Sabadell Atlántico', and 'Internazionali BNL d'Italia'.

Though Federer defeated him at the 'Masters Series Hamburg', Rafael defeated the former once again at the 'French Open' title.

In 2008, he reached the 'Chennai Open' finals, but was eventually defeated by Russian player Mikhail Youzhny. He was also defeated at the 'Australian Open' finals by French tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

After the initial setbacks, the gifted Rafael went on to win titles at the 'Masters Series Monte Carlo', 'Open Sabadell Atlántico', 'Masters Series Hamburg', and the 'French Open'.

The same year, in 2008, Nadal faced Federer in the 'Wimbledon' final, and after playing the match for several hours owing to rain, the former won with a score of 9-7. This victory made him the third man in the history of the game, after players Rod Laver, and Borg, to win the Wimbledon and the French Open in the same season.

In the 2009 'Qatar Open', held in Doha, this remarkable player teamed up with Marc López, to win the championship's doubles title, against the pair of Nenad Zimonjić and Daniel Nestor.

The next significant win of the year was at the 'Australian Open', where he defeated Federer once again, becoming the first Spanish player to get the title, and the fourth to have won it on separate surfaces. He also won the 'Davis Cup', 'Indian Wells Masters', and the 'Monte Carlo Masters'.

During the 'ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament' held in Rotterdam, the famous tennis player suffered a serious knee injury. This affected his games, and caused him to pull out of the 'Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'.

After a few more wins, in 2010, he had to withdraw from the 'Australian Open', after another bout of knee pain. On recovering, he went on to win other tournaments including the 'Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters' held in Monaco against Fernando Verdasco, and the 'Internazionali BNL d'Italia' after defeating David Ferrer.

In the 'French Open' finals, he defeated Robin Söderling, bagging the 'Grand Slam' title for the seventh time, and the rank of world no. 1. Even at the 'Wimbledon', he was victorious, after beating Tomáš Berdych. This victory gave him a title which is known as the "Old World Triple" (a collective term for the winner of 'Italian Open', 'Wimbledon', and 'French Open')

The same year, in 2010, he won the 'US Open' against Novak Djokovic, achieving his 'Career Grand Slam'.

In 2011, Rafael won the ‘Mubadala World Tennis Championship’, hosted in Abu Dhabi, once again, defeating Roger Federer. In the 'Davis Cup', he won again, this time winning against Olivier Rochus.

Though he won tournaments like the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, he lost several championships, dropping to the rank of world no. 2.

In the 'Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters', 2012, this splendid tennis player won against Novak Djokovic, winning his eighth trophy in a row. His winning streak continued with tournaments like the 'Barcelona Open', and 'French Open'.

However, in the 'Wimbledon', in 2012, he lost to Rosol, making it his first defeat in the championship. Due to tendinitis in his knee, he was forced to pull out of the 'US Open', 'Olympics', 'Cincinnati Masters' and 'Rogers Cup', resulting in his ranking to drop to no. 4.

In 2013, Rafael won the 'Brasil Open', 'Abierto Mexicano Telcel', 'Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell', 'French Open', 'Mutua Madrid Open', and 'Rome Masters'. However, he was once again defeated in the 'Wimbledon', this time by Belgian player Steve Darcis.

In 2015, at the 'Qatar Open', he lost the singles title to German player Michael Berrer. However, paired with Argentinian Juan Monaco, he won the doubles title in the championship. His game suffered due to injuries, during the Australian Open, where he lost against Tomáš Berdych. In the 'Argentina Open', Nadal won the clay-court title defeating Juan Monaco.

In 2003, this spectacular tennis player was presented with the ‘ATP Newcomer of the Year Award’.

Two years later, in 2005, he was given the ‘Golden Bagel Award’, when he won eleven straight sets without conceding a single match. The same year, he won the ‘ATP Most Improved Player of the Year Award’.

In 2006, this sportsman was felicitated with the ‘Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year’.

Rafael was the recipient of the ‘Prince of Asturias Award for Sports’, the ‘ATP World Tour Champion trophy’, and ‘Best International Athlete ESPY Award’, in 2008.

From 2009-2010, this popular tennis player won the ‘Golden Bagel Award’ for the second time, the ‘Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award’, and the ‘BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year’.

During 2011-2014, Nadal received prestigious honours like 'Best Male Tennis Player ESPY Award’ and the 'Laureus World Sports Awards'. The latter was conferred upon him on two occasions, for 'Sportsman of the Year', as well as 'Comeback of the Year'.

In 2007, this sportsman established the ‘Fundación Rafa Nadal’ with the objective of helping children and young adults. Apart from contributing to the development in his home town, he has also made it a point to visit India's Anantapur city, Andhra Pradesh.

He has assisted the ‘Vicente Ferrer Foundation’, in their 'Anantapur Educational Center project', and has also started a tennis academy for poor children, calling it the ‘Anantapur Sports Village’.

This player is known for his contribution to social and environmental causes, especially his participation in 'A Million Trees for the King' programme launched in Thailand, which was aimed at planting trees to commemorate King Bhumibol.

In 2011, 'Rafa', an autobiography of the sportsman was published, with help from distinguished journalist, John Carlin.

This tennis player enjoys football, golf and poker, and has also played against famous poker player Vanessa Selbst in a game held in Monaco.

According to sources, Nadal has a net worth of 100 million dollars.

This famous tennis player from Spain is known for biting every trophy he receives