RAFAEL NADAL | BUTT | BIOGRAPHY

RAFAEL NADAL
Junio 3, 1986
Manacor, Mallorca

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional Tennis Player currently ranked No. 1 in the world. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay", and has prompted many experts to regard him as the greatest clay court player of all time.

Nadal has won nine Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 18 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004, 2008 and 2009. He completed the career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open, being the 7th player in history, and the youngest in the open era, to achieve it. He is the second male player to complete the Career Golden Slam (winner of the four grand slams and the Olympic Gold medal) after Andre Agassi.

Nadal was ranked World No. 2, behind Roger Federer, for a record 160 consecutive weeks before earning the top spot, which he held from 18 August 2008 to 5 July 2009. He regained the World No.1 ranking on 7 June 2010 after winning his fifth French Open title.

In 2008, Nadal was given the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, in recognition of his achievements in tennis. Rafaelnadal is a Main belt asteroid discovered in 2003 at the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca, Spain and named after Rafael Nadal. On 21 November 2010, in London, Nadal won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the first time. This follows six consecutive years of Roger Federer's winning this recognition.

Click to enlarge