Rafael Nadal – Spanish celebrity, player

Rafael Nadal was born in Majorca, Spain on June 3, 1986. He is a Spanish professional tennis player who has been ranked among the world’s Top 5 since 2003. As of 27 May 2013, he is ranked No. 4 by the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals). Nadal is only the second male player to achieve the Career Golden Slam & the first to win 7 French Open title. He won the Roland Garros from 2005 to 2008 & went on to win Wimbledon 2008 against Roger Federer. In 2009, Nadal won the Australian Open & came back to win his second Wimbledon in 2010 as well as his first U.S. Open & fifth Roland Garros tournament. In 2011, a No. 1-ranked Nadal lost his top ranking as well as Wimbledon 2011 to Novak Djokovic. Again, in 2011, he won his sixth & in 2012, seventh Rolland Garros tournament. In the 2012 Wimbledon semifinals, Nadal lost to Lukas Rosol—a match that some commentators labeled one the biggest upsets in tennis history.

Early years
When Nadal was 3 years old, his uncle, Toni, a former professional tennis player, started working with him. He found nadal promising in tennis. At the age of 8, Nadal won an under-12 regional tennis championship, giving. Toni noticed at the time that Rafael played his forehand shots with two hands, so he suggested him to play left-handed, thinking it could give Nadal an edge on the court. When Rafael Nadal was just 12 years old, he won the Spanish & European tennis titles in his age group.

His young professional life
At the age of 16, in his first ITF junior event, Rafael made it to the semifinals of the Boys’ Singles tournament at Wimbledon. At the age of 17, he became the youngest man to reach the third round at Wimbledon since Boris Becker.

In 2005, Nadal won the French Open the first time he played it, His world ranking went to No. 3 thereby. Nadal won 11 singles titles that year, 8 of which were on clay & he was soon dubbed the “King of Clay.”

Nadal went on to win the next three French Opens. After winning the French Open title in 2006, despite both shoulder & foot injuries, he won four other titles. By 2007, he won again at Roland Garros & took home 5 other titles. Rafael Nadal poured it on in 2008, winning the French Open title again in addition to winning Wimbledon, where he defeat longtime rival Roger Federer in the longest final in Wimbledon history. After Wimbledon, his winning streak stood at a career best 32 matches.

In 2009, Nadal won the Australian Open & came back to win his second Wimbledon in 2010 as well as his first U.S. Open. In the same year he won fifth Roland Garros tournament.

The following year, Nadal lost his top position as well as Wimbledon 2011 to Serbian player Novak Djokovic. In 2012, however, Nadal defeated top-ranked Novak Djokovic to win his record seventh French Open title, an achievement never accomplished before in men’s tennis.