Vamos Rafa!!!!!!!!
The wait is over. 160 weeks after he became the no 2, the man from Mallorca(Majorca), the undisputed king of clay Rafael Nadal is the new world no 1. Emulating the great Bjorn Borg by winning 4 consecutive French Open titles and his first Wimbledon title this july, he is only the third person after Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year.
Nadal turned pro in 2001 and surged his way past other players finishing 200th by the end of 2002 and 49th by the end of 2003. His 2004 season was marred by stress fracture in his left ankle and he missed the clay court season including the French Open. It was in the same year when he met the then world no 1 Roger Federer at the Miami Masters for the first time and defeated him in straight sets. In 2005 the world began to see Nadal as a legend in the making. He won 24 consecutive matches on clay which includes the Masters series held at Monte Carlo, Rome, Montreal and Madrid and also his first French Open title becoming the only player since Mats Wilander to win the French Open in his debut appearance. On July 25 2005 he became the world no 2 which he held till august 18 this year, for a record 160 weeks, before becoming world no 1.
In 2006 he broke Guillermo Vilas's record by winning 53 consecutive matches on clay. Also he won the French Open for the second time defeating Roger Federer in 4 sets and became the only player at that time to defeat Federer in a grand slam final. However he lost to Federer in the Wimbledon finals. In the following year Nadal stretched his consecutive clay court victories to 81 and finally lost to Federer at the Hamburg Masters but defeated Federer again at Roland Garros to win his third straight French Open title. The duo met again in the Wimbledon finals which Federer won in 5 sets. This was the first time since 2001 Federer was forced to play 5 sets at Wimbledon. The duo also played in an exhibition match called "Battle of Surfaces" in a court which was half grass and half clay. Nadal defeated Federer again. Finally in 2008, Nadal beat Federer at Wimbledon ending Federer's 65 matches unbeaten run on grass and for the first time since 2003 Wimbledon saw a new champion.
Nadal also won gold medal at the Beijing Olympics, the only player ranked inside top 5 to win gold in Olympics.
Besides winning so many tournaments, Nadal has been participating in the Chennai Open every year since 2004 except in 2006 which he missed because of a foot injury. Though he hasn't won singles title yet, he won the doubles title with Tommy Robredo in 2004. This is what Nadal said about the Chennai Open "I like the crowd and their enthusiasm and support and they always push you to give your best".
Nadal hails from a family of sports persons. He was good in both football and tennis but chose to go with tennis. He is a big fan of Real Madrid and his hometown club Real Mallorca.
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