Rafael Nadal Parera was born in Manacor, Spain, on June 3, 1986. He is a professional tennis player from Spain. He is ranked No. 5 globally by the Association of Tennis Professionals, has spent 209 weeks at the top position of the ATP rankings, and has won the Year-End No. 1 five times. At 21, Nadal holds the record for most men’s singles Grand Slam titles.

He has won 62 of his 90 ATP Singles trophies on clay, including a career-high 13 French Open titles and 26 of his 36 Masters titles. His 81 consecutive wins on clay are the Open Era’s longest single-surface victory streak.

Career

Nadal began his professional career at 15 and competed in two ITF junior tournaments. On April 29, 2002, at the age of 15 and 10 months, the world No. 762 Nadal defeated Ramón Delgado of Paraguay in his first ATP match, becoming the eighth player in the Open Era to achieve so before the age of 16.

At 18 and half months, Nadal became the youngest player to win a singles match in a Davis Cup final for a winning country. He helped Spain win the 2004 title with a 3–2 victory over the United States by defeating No. 2, Andy Roddick. He was ranked No. 51 at the end of the year.

Achievements

Nadal held five Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Awards and was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2011 and 2021. He has won an Olympic gold medal in both singles and doubles for Spain and has been a part of five Davis Cup victories. Nadal is also a philanthropist and has created a tennis academy in Mallorca.

Personal Life

Since 2005, Nadal has been dating Maria Francisca (Mery) Perelló Pascual, and their engagement was announced in January 2019. In October of this year, the couple married.

Nadal enjoys golf and poker in addition to tennis and football. In April 2014, he competed in a poker game in Monaco against Vanessa Selbst, the world’s best female poker player.