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| Rafael Nadal |
| Top 10 Ten Male Tennis Players 2008 |
| Rafael Nadal Born 3rd June of 1986 in Manacor, Majorca, Spain. |
| Rafael Nadal has won five Grand Slam singles titles. He won four consecutive French Open titles from 2005-2008 and Wimbledon in 2008. He is the only male player other than Björn Borg to win four consecutive French Open titles in the Open Era. He is one of only three men (Laver, Borg and Nadal) to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same calendar year. Rafael Nadal is probably the greatest clay-court player in history - with 81 consecutive matches on clay from April 2005 to May 2007. When Nadal was young, his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, taught him to play left-handed even though he is naturally right-handed. Uncle Toni felt that Raffa's two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm. In 2002, Raffa won his first ATP match, defeating Ramon Delgado in Majorca. At his Wimbledon debut, Nadal became the youngest man to reach the third round since Boris Becker in 1984. In 2004, Nadal played his first match against Roger Federer at the Miami Masters. Nadal won the match in straight sets. In 2005 he rose to number two in the world and began his domination of clay court tennis. In 2007 he lost in an epic Wimbledon final against Roger Federer. In 2008 he won Wimbledon - defeating Roger Federer in one of the greatest finals of all time. On August 18 2008 Rafael Nadal claims the official world number one spot! |