Nadal, Rafael

Nadal, Rafael

(Rafael Nadal Parera), 1986–, Spanish tennis player, b. Majorca. Widely regarded as the greatest clay-court player ever, "Rafa" turned professional at 15. In 2005 he won his first major, the French Open. He has since dominated the event, winning it a record 11 times (2005–8, 2010–14 2017–18); four times he defeated Roger FedererFederer, Roger,
1981–, Swiss tennis player, b. Basel. He was an outstanding junior player, ranking number one in 1998, the year he turned pro. Federer won his first Association of Tennis Professionals tournament in 2001 at Milan, and scored his first major victory in 2003
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 in the finals (2006–8, 2011). In 2008 he won Wimbledon, again defeating Federer in the final, and also won gold at the summer Olympic Games. Susequently, he has won the Australian Open (2009, facing Federer in the final), Wimbledon again (2010), and the U.S. Open three times (2010, 2013, 2017). The 2010 U.S. Open win made him the youngest player in the Open Era to win a career grand slam. In 2016 Nadal won Olympic gold in the men's doubles (with Marc Lopez).