The ‘King of Clay’, Rafael Nadal has undoubtedly been a trailblazer when it comes to clay court specialists and tennis players from his country to excel consistently on all surfaces and countries. Nadal has a list of achievements in his 20-year career which his competitors and aspiring players can just think of in awe.
Although Rafael Nadal will not be playing for the rest of 2023 as well, he has received another cap in his feather, which might motivate him to not just recover, but once again excel in the 2024 season once he returns. And as a result, with this award, he will once again invite comparisons with his two biggest rivals, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.
Rafael Nadal wins ITF World Champion award for the 5th time
The International Tennis Federation (ITF), with whom the ATP Tour partners to govern the game, honours the best every year with their own ‘World Champion Award’. For the 2022 season, while Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz impressed in the second half to rise in the ATP rankings, there’s no doubt that one man stole the show.
Thanks to his cracking start to the season which involved 20 ATP match wins in a row and back-to-back Grand Slam titles, Rafael Nadal won the prestigious ITF award for the 5th time in his career. Nadal created history by becoming the first man in men’s singles tennis to win 21 and 22 Grand Slams respectively, before Djokovic overtook his tally to 23 in June 2023. Before he faced serious abdominal pain at the Wimbledon 2022 Championships, the Spaniard was looking extremely strong to win his third Grand Slam of the year with his 5-set quarterfinal against Taylor Fritz being a match which will not be forgotten for years to come. Additionally, that was his 12th win in a row, which could have meant another humungous winning streak to his name in the same season.
This is Rafael Nadal’s 5th ITF award win, matching the great Roger Federer’s feat, who remarkably won the award in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009. However, Nadal still trails Djokovic, who has 6 such awards to his name already and might add a 7th next year. The all-time leader is 14-time Grand Slam winner, Pete Sampras, who has won 7 ITF Champion awards.
And yet Nadal has still managed to level with Djokovic in one aspect as well. The Serbian was the first ever player to take home the award, i.e. for his performances in the 2012 season. Though he was given the honour in 2013, ironically it was Nadal who was World No.1 at that point of time. On this instance, Nadal has become the second player to win despite fellow Spaniard, Alcaraz being the No.1 men’s player currently.
A message from our 2022 Men’s ITF World Champion @RafaelNadal 💛@RFETenis pic.twitter.com/4htX2eG4DO
— ITF (@ITFTennis) July 9, 2023
Rafael Nadal retirement, ranking and current activities
Whenever the Rafael Nadal retirement question pops up, one can never say when would be his last appearance in professional tennis thanks to the Mueller-Weiss syndrome, which in effect cripples the feet. However, this time his comeback might be tougher not just because of age, but his ranking having also slipped to a lowly No.136.
However, this has given Nadal the time to relax and retrospect while also focus more on his personal life and business commitments. The Spaniard has many investments in his name, while he is now more involved in the functioning of the Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca, which is managed by his wife, Maria Xisca Perello.
