He first made his mark in ATP at age 15 when he beat Ramon Delgado. He was among the nine professional tennis players to have accomplished such a feat before their 16th birthday. “The King of Clay” moniker came in 2006 when he won all his clay court matches in the entire year. That year also saw him emerged as the winner in the Grand Slam final against the then World No. 1 Roger Federer, who had never lost in a Grand Slam final before.

Aside from being a great player, Nadal is also known for being ambidextrous. He uses his left hand when playing tennis but uses his right hand when writing. He has also mastered the two handed backhand. He started out as being right handed but his coach, who also happens to be his uncle, encouraged him to play lefty so that he can utilize his right hand for the two handed back hand to a greater advantage.

After earning the title ATP Newcomer of the Year in 2003, he made it clear he was the one to look out for by entering the Top 50 and grabbing two Challenger titles by the year’s end. The following year, a stress fracture made him notably absent from the court but in 2005, he gained back the momentum in the Australian Open in a match against Lleyton Newitt. Since then, the Spanish tennis player seemed unstoppable.

Rafa started the year 2008 as the World’s second best tennis player. So far, he had won 23 titles in three straight years and made it to the Wimbledon finals twice. By then, there was only Roger Federer who prevented him from becoming World No. 1. That sparked a rivalry which was intensified by the media hype.

Rafael Nadal held on to the number two spot for a record-breaking 160 consecutive weeks. That changed in October 18, 2008 when he finally became World No. 1 and held on to it until July 5, 2009. In June 7, 2010, he became No. 1 again after earning a French Open title for the fifth time. However, his reign ended in July 3, 2011 when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.

Many celebrities are frequently approached by large companies which will ask them to endorse certain products, or simply advertise their label. Rafael Nadal was of course no different in this regard, and he has appeared in a number of different advertisement campaigns. These include advertisements which were sent out by companies such as Kia Motors.

Through his time as a professional player, Nadal has proven his worth time and time again. He has won the titles of a number of games from the French Open, and as well as this has also played in the 2008 Olympics. Here he also managed to gain a gold medal in the singles version of the game, marking him out to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

This kind of athletic ability was nurtured from a very young age. When he was eight years old, he won a competition for under twelves and eventually went on to go up against another famous player, Roger Federer. Defeating him had definitely helped to put Nadal on the map, but it is also interesting to note that he eventually became professional at fifteen years of age.

Athletic ability is sometimes thought to run in families, and it can be seen in his uncle, Miguel Angel Nadal. This man was a professional footballer for many years before he decided to retire.

Celebrities like this have time and time again proven to be national heroes to their own countries. Indeed, Nadal’s father was adamant that, as a young man, Nadal remained at home to work on his athletic skills.

He believed that there was no need for his son to go to America. He liked to think that all the improvement could be done at home. Regardless of where the player himself would have trained, it turned out to be fruitful in the long run.

His only competition in the sport today is Roger Federer, perhaps the player to go down as the greatest ever. However, Nadal has been fine-tuning his game, and in recent tournaments, especially on clay, Rafael is even money against the living legend.

Rafael Nadal was born June 3, 1986, in Manacor, Mallorca, Spain. Some say Nadal’s sporting prowess is genetic, as his uncle was a top footballer for FC Barcelona. Nadal is known as somewhat of a freak. Naturally right-handed, the tennis star grew up playing left-handed, defying logic.

By the time he was 15, Rafael was one of the most promising juniors in the world. Instead of wasting time on the junior circuit, Nadal immediately entered into the pro ranks and made a big splash.

In early 2002, still only 15, Rafael won his first ATP match, defeating Ramon Delgado in Majorca. This win was historic, making Nadal only the ninth player to ever win an ATP event before their 16th birthday. Although a lot of young tennis stars bust onto the scene and then fade into obscurity just as quickly, Nadal was a different type of monster altogether.

In 2003, one short year later, Nadal became the youngest player to ever be ranked in the top 100 in men’s tennis, breaking the record previously held by his rival Roger Federer. He also earned the title of ATP Newcomer of the Year.

Nadal wouldn’t win Wimbledon right away, but he did make a big impression. At 16, he tied Boris Becker as the youngest player to reach the third round of play. That same year, Nadal reached the Spanish championships but lost a heartbreaker to a well-rounded and more practiced Lopez.

In 2005, Nadal won an impressive streak of 25 matches and was ranked as number 5 in the world. He won two ATP Master Series events as well, Monte Carlo and Rome.

It was clear that Nadal was one of the top players in the world, well ahead of America’s Andy Roddick, and only a step behind Roger Federer. Nadal’s saving grace was that he was younger than the other stars and had much room to grow, whereas the competition were all slowing down. Nadal cemented his place in the tennis world with a Grand Slam victory, becoming the first teenager to do so since Pete Sampras in 1990.

Over the past few years, Rafael Nadal has gained momentum and is now considered on equal footing with Federer. On clay courts, Nadal owns Roger, defeating him habitually; but on grass, it’s a different story, with Nadal’s percentage significantly dropping. Nadal won the 2008 Olympic gold medal in men’s singles, and held the world’s number one yard signs ranking from August 2008 to July 2009. He has six Grand Slam titles to his credit and is the only player in history to simultaneously hold Grand Slam titles on grass, clay and hardcourt.

Visit the CasinoMan Blog for more articles and blogs about the lifestyle of the rich and opulant.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Man
http://EzineArticles.com/?Rafael-Nadal—A-Spectacular-Tennis-Champion&id=5358973

Whatever the outcome, the task is a huge one for Nadal particularly as Federer is still playing some of the best tennis of his life and holds a 16-9 advantage as it stands currently.

One aspect of course which supports the argument in Nadal’s favour is his age, he is five years younger than his nemesis, meaning that if he can achieve in the next three years, what he achieved in 2010 then he will most definitely go past Federer’s incredible total.

Both men have now won career Grand Slams, with Nadal completing his in September, when he won the US Open for the first time. Federer had achieved his in 2009, when he took his first and only French title at Roland Garros, for which in some respects he has to thank an injury sustained by Nadal in the 4th round, which was ultimately responsible for Nadal’s only ever defeat at the French Open. It should be remembered that in 2008 French Open final, Nadal defeated Federer in straight sets with the loss of only four games, which confirmed his status as the ‘King of Clay’. Given therefore that Nadal, if free of injury, is unbeatable on clay, then it becomes reasonable to assume that he can win at least three more French Open titles, which would bring him to within four of ‘the Fed’.

The injury that cost Nadal in France was bad enough to force him to miss defending his Wimbledon crown, a title he had wrestled from the grip of Federer in a titanic five set struggle in 2008, thus preventing the Swiss from breaking the record of five straight wins. Federer being the competitor he is however, fully exploited Nadal’s absence, winning it back in 2009, defeating Andy Roddick in another record breaking final.

2010 of course saw a fully fit and fired up Nadal return to SW London determined to regain the title, which he duly achieved, defeating Tomas Berdych in the final, who had put Federer out in the Quarter Final. It was his second Wimbledon crown and proved beyond any doubt that grass is a surface that suits his game perfectly, leading one to believe that there are at least two more Wimbledon titles heading his way. If that should happen then he will only be two behind the Swiss.

The next Grand Slam tournament is the Australian Open which takes place in Melbourne in January 2011. Nadal, of course won the title in 2009, defeating Federer in yet another epic five set final which saw Federer reduced to tears at the award ceremony at the end of the tournament.

Federer however once again, proved that the champion in him was still alive when he came back to Melbourne in 2010 to defeat Britain’s Andy Murray in the final thus winning his fourth Australian Open in the process. Nadal who was just returning to full time tennis after his injury hit 2009, reached the semi final in this tournament, only to lose to Andy Murray, but he proved that he was well on the road to recovery.

Federer now must defend this one Grand Slam crown that he still holds, against Nadal, who will be looking to regain it and complete a full Grand Slam, something he can now achieve having won his first US Open earlier this year.

Hardcourts have long been regarded as the Nadal’s least favourite surface, but having won in both Australia and in the US it is more than conceivable that in the next three years he can win at least one or probably two more of either of these two tournaments, which would put him beyond the 16 titles that Federer holds.

Of course it must be taken into account of how many more ‘Slams’ Federer can win himself, but at 29, time will soon be dictating what he can or cannot do. Add to the mix the fact that there are several young guns, lurking in the shadows ready and good enough to beat the Swiss now. These include, Murray, Novak Djokovic, Juan Carlos del Potro (who beat Federer in the 2009 US Open Final) and Robin Soderling.

The conclusion is that Nadal, provided he stays fully fit should, by the time he reaches the same age as Federer is now, surpass the total and set a new record of around 18 or 19 Grand Slams.

Follow the latest Grand Slam news and get the latest tennis betting at Betting Directory, for which the author is a regular writer.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_R_Smith
http://EzineArticles.com/?Will-Rafael-Nadal-Win-More-Grand-Slams-Than-Federer-During-His-Career?&id=5488481