Rafa Nadal

Full name is Rafael Nadal Parera and he is a famous Spanish tennis player. Born in Mallorca, Spain on June 3, 1986. Rafa is his nickname for both privately and on the tennis court. He became a professional tennis player in 2001. Rafa Nadal has won a total of over 46 million euros in prize money!

Rafa is currently ranked No. 2 in the world according to the ATP list. He is considered one of the best tennis players ever. Different tournaments also have different surfaces, for example, Roland Garros has gravel where Wimbledon has grass. Rafa Nadal is also called the King of Gravel. This name because of his 7 titles won on this surface. With this, he has surpassed Björn Borg. He is, according to some, the best gravel player ever!!! In total, Rafa Nadal already has 11 Grand Slam titles to his name. Nadal has also won a gold medal in 2008 at the Olympics, won 21 Master Series titles, which is a record number. The Spanish tennis player also plays on the Spanish national team and won the Davis cub with the team in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011. After also winning the title at the US Open in 2010, he became the 7th person in history to receive the Career Slam, Rafael was also the youngest by the way! In 2012, he became the first tennis player in history to win an ATP title 8 times in a row, the Master Series Monte Carlo. Before Rafael Nadal became No. 1 in the world on Aug. 18, 2008, he first spent 160 weeks at No. 2 behind Roger Federer. Rafa remained the No. 1 until July 5, 2009, but on June 7, 2010, he regained the No. 1 position after winning his 5th title at Roland Garros. Since July 4, 2011, Novak Djokovic has been the No. 1 player in the world.

For all his professional tennis career, Rafael Nadal has been in a duel with Roger Federer. Off the court they are friends, but once they face each other in a semifinal or final, it is hard against hard and they give everything! These are therefore always beautiful and especially exciting matches to watch for the fans among us.

Private life

Rafael Nadal's parents are Sabastián and Ana María, also Rafa has a younger sister named María Isabel. Rafa is the nephew of former soccer player Miguel Ángel Nadal and his coach is his other uncle Toni Nadal. Nadal has been dating Maria Francisca Perello since 2005. A hobby Rafa pursues outside of tennis is golf. There is also an autobiography written about Rafael Nadal's life titled "Rafa," which came out in 2011. 

It is safe to say that Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal is among one of the best in the world. Not only now, but also in history he has broken many records. And I believe Rafa will continue that in the coming years now that he is at the top.