Rafael Nadal has managed to create a niche for himself in tennis in the last 20 years despite large periods of dominance from his biggest rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Many records that Nadal owns till date belong either solely to him or he shares it with some of the legends of the game.
Starting out as a clay court specialist from Spain, a country which hadn’t seen many Grand Slam winners before Nadal, he was able to answer critics in style by adapting his game to different courts. There is one particular feat on hard courts which the 22-time Grand Slam champion was the last to achieve, which was way back in 2013. And this feat has ‘not’ been achieved till date by the retired Federer or the very much in form Djokovic.
When the Spanish superstar completed tennis’ ‘SummerSlam’ in 2013
Rafael Nadal endured a difficult 2012 since he opted out completely for the second half of the season due to tendinitis in his knee, which was largely career-threatening. Coming to 2013, although he won the French Open as usual, he suffered a major setback by losing in the first round for the first time ever in a Grand Slam, which was at Wimbledon to World No.135, Steve Darcis.
As a result, many started doubting Nadal’s prowess and ability to compete on the Tour. To make amends for that loss, Nadal decided to participate in the Toronto Masters and Cincinnati Masters to prepare extensively for the US Open.
Delighting fans in the North American swing, the Spaniard pulled off a stunning victory in the semi-final in Toronto. He defeated the overwhelming favourite Djokovic to deny him a chance to win a hat-trick of Rogers Cup titles, in a tense 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 win. Moving to the final, Nadal beat Canada’s Milo Raonic in straight sets to win the third Toronto Masters title of his career.
Finding some much needed momentum, Nadal headed to Cincinnati. Although in that tournament, he had a much tougher draw and was challenged first by Grigor Dimitrov, taking 3 sets to win against him in the Round of 16. In a blockbuster quarterfinal, the 22-time Grand Slam champion beat Roger Federer after being a set down. It gave Rafa the confidence to beat Tomas Berdych in two tightly contested sets in the semi-final.
Come the finals and Nadal went on to lift the title for the first and only time in his career, beating American John Isner in two close sets in the final. This was huge since Isner had knocked out Djokovic in the quarterfinal, being in full form.
In the US Open, Nadal was only slightly challenged by Germany’s Phillip Kohlschreiber in the Round of 16, losing the first set. But he bounced back to win the next 3 and make it to the quarterfinals. After remarkably easy wins against Tommy Robredo and Richard Gasquet, Nadal took on Djokovic once again in the finals in New York City. It proved to be one of the best hard court finals the Spaniard has ever played, having an answer to every question Djokovic posed. Nadal won 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, winning his second US Open title.
With that victory, Nadal ended up with 3 championships in the American swing, which fetched him a record $3.6 million from the USTA, who decided to honour his achievement. Co-incidentally, he replicated Andy Roddick’s achievement, who had also won in Toronto, Cincinnati and the US Open exactly 10 years prior to that, in 2003.
Rafael Nadal ranking and injury update
The current Rafael Nadal ranking on the ATP Tour is 139 as he attempts to recover from his hip injury that he sustained at the Australian Open earlier this year. According to his uncle and former coach Toni, he is well on track and ready to come back at the start of the 2024 season. At present, the tennis superstar is vacationing with wife Maria and son Rafael Jr. in Greece.
Nadal turned 37 in June this year and recently grabbed headlines by being named the ITF World Champion of the year for the fifth time in his career. This is due to his stellar 2022 season which saw him become the first in the men’s singles game to breach the 21 and 22 Grand Slam wins fortresses respectively due to his Australian and French Open titles at the start of the year.
