Career of Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal began his tennis career in earnest with achievements in junior tournaments, winning the Spanish junior championships in 1997 and 1998 and the U12 Junior Masters in Stuttgart in 1998. By 1999, Nadal was competing in the U14 circuit, winning titles like Tim Essonne and Les Petits As. His early success continued into 2000, culminating in his victory at the U14 Spanish championships and his contribution to Spain's triumph in the ITF World Junior Championship for U14s. Despite offers to train in Barcelona, Nadal's family opted to keep him in Mallorca, where he continued to develop under the mentorship of his uncle Toni and Carlos Moyá.

In 2001, Nadal turned professional at 14, competing primarily in ITF junior events and making his mark on the ATP Tour. He reached the semi-finals of the junior singles event at Wimbledon in 2002 and won his first ATP match in Mallorca. By 2003, Nadal was ascending the ranks, winning his first Challenger title and breaking into the Top 100. He captured his first ATP title in Sopot in 2004 and played a pivotal role in Spain's Davis Cup victory. In 2005, Nadal's career skyrocketed as he won 11 singles titles, including his first French Open, defeating Roger Federer in the semi-finals. This victory established him as a dominant force on clay, earning him the nickname "King of Clay."

Nadal continued his dominance on clay, winning multiple French Open titles, and became known for his intense rivalry with Federer. In 2008, he claimed his first Wimbledon title in an epic final against Federer, widely regarded as one of the greatest matches in tennis history. That year, Nadal also won Olympic gold in singles and secured the No. 1 ranking for the first time. He added his first Australian Open title in 2009, completing a career Grand Slam with his US Open victory in 2010. Despite struggles with injuries, Nadal remained a formidable competitor, winning titles, including his record-extending French Open championships.

Nadal's resilience was evident as he overcame injuries and returned to top form, winning his 10th French Open in 2017 and his 20th Grand Slam title at the 2020 French Open, tying Federer's record. He continued to compete at a high level, capturing his 21st Grand Slam title at the 2022 Australian Open and his 14th French Open title that same year, setting a new record. Nadal's career has been marked by his tenacity, sportsmanship, and ability to perform under pressure. Despite facing challenges, he maintained a position among elite players, achieving a milestone by finishing 2022 as the oldest year-end No. 2 player. In 2023, Nadal's career was marred by injuries, leading to his withdrawal from major tournaments and ending his record 912-week streak in the Top 10. He announced plans to return to the ATP tour in 2024, starting with the Brisbane International, where he made a comeback before an injury forced him to miss the Australian Open.

1997–2000: Juniors

Nadal won the Spanish junior championships in 1997 and 1998, beating Ricardo Villacorta and Marcel Granollers respectively. In 1998 he completed the double as a junior, winning the Spanish championship in doubles with his great friend Tomeu Salvá, beating Diáz and Granollers in the final. Nadal then reached the final of the U14 Spanish championship at the age of 12, a feat that remains unmatched, losing to Juan Sanchez de Luna in straight sets. In late 1998, Nadal won the season-ending U12 Junior Masters at Stuttgart, beating future world No. 5 Kevin Anderson in the final.

In February 1998, Nadal won the Open Super 12, an unofficial world championship for U12 players held in Auray. It was the first time that Nadal competed outside of Spain and he beat the 1997 winner Jamie Murray in the final. At the time, Nadal was still hesitating between football and tennis, partly because his uncle Miguel Ángel was preparing to compete in the 1998 FIFA World Cup with Spain, but in the end it was Auray who decided it. In a letter in French that he sent to the organizers in 2010, Nadal stated that winning this tournament helped him make the decision to "opt for tennis and try an international career". Latter in 1998, when Nadal was runner-up in the U14 event Spanish championship, he was still playing football. Nadal's father told him he had to choose between football and tennis so that his schoolwork would not deteriorate entirely. Nadal said: "I chose tennis. Football had to stop straight away."

In 1999, the 12-year-old Nadal was already playing in the U14 circuit of the ETA Junior Tour, currently known as the Tennis Europe Junior Tour, winning the prestigious Tim Essonne, and finishing the year at No. 69. Nadal then dominated the U14 circuit in 2000, collecting two of the most prestigious trophies of the year at Les Petits As in Tarbes, beating home favourite Julien Gely in the final, and the European Junior Masters in Prato. On the same day he turned 14, Nadal won the Sport Goofy Trophy, held in Getxo, beating Granollers in the final. In July, Nadal finally won the U14 Spanish championships, beating his friend and training partner Tomeu Salvá in the final. He broke a finger on his left hand during the first round, but still won the tournament anyways despite gripping the racquet with his four good fingers, his pinkie dangling. As a member of the Spanish national team, Nadal won the 2000 ITF World Junior Championship for players under 14, winning his matches in both singles and doubles (paired with Marcel Granollers) in a 3–0 win over Russia. Nadal ended 2000 at No. 5 of the ETA rankings for U14s.

By the time Nadal was 14, he had made a name for himself in the Spanish junior circuit by winning multiple age group titles. Those achievements earned him a tennis scholarship in Barcelona, and the Spanish tennis federation requested that Nadal leave Mallorca and move to Barcelona to continue his tennis training. His family turned down this request, partly because they feared his education would suffer, but also because Toni said, "I don't want to believe that you have to go to America or other places to be a good athlete. You can do it from your home." Furthermore, Nadal already was by then practicing three times a week at Palma with his childhood idol and fellow Majorcan, the former World No. 1 Carlos Moyá, who later became Nadal's mentor and confidant, and whom Nadal beat in 2000, at the time still a Top-10 player, in an exhibition match. The decision to stay home meant less financial support from the federation; instead, Nadal's father covered the costs.

Rafael Nadal singles-ranking history chart through January 2020

Singles ranking composite history chart through January 2020 (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic)

2001–2002: Start of professional career

Nadal turned professional at the beginning of 2001, at the age of 14. While most of his contemporaries were making their first steps on the ITF Junior Circuit, Nadal took a different approach and played just two events on the ITF junior Tour, both after turning 16 in 2002, reaching the semi-finals of the junior singles event at Wimbledon, and then helping Spain defeat the US in the final of the Junior Davis Cup in his second and final appearance on the ITF Junior Circuit. He thus posted a 9–1 career junior record in singles, 4–1 on grass and 5–0 on clay. He had a career-high juniors singles ranking of world No. 145, attained on 30 December 2002.

In early 2001, at age 14, Nadal began playing the qualifying draws of professional tournaments. Although he managed to win some matches, he failed to qualify for the main draws in any of the 10 Spanish Futures he played between January and September. He also competed in the qualifying round of the ATP 250 event at home in Mallorca, but failed to qualify. In May 2001, he defeated former Grand Slam tournament champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match. Nadal finally made his pro debut in the main draws at the Futures in Madrid on 11 September 2001, wasting no less than 13 match points against Guillermo Platel-Varas in the opening round. A week later he received a wild card into the main draw of the Challenger in Seville, his first Challenger tournament, and he ousted world No. 751 Israel Matos Gil 6–4 6–4 to claim his first pro win and earn the first five ATP points of his career to become world No. 1002. At age 15, Nadal ended 2001 as the world No. 811.

In 2002, Nadal, then ranked No. 762, received a wild card to the ATP 250 event on his home island of Mallorca, where on 29 April, at 15 years and 10 months of age, Nadal won his first ATP match by defeating No. 81 Ramón Delgado, and became the ninth player in the Open Era to do so before the age of 16. He proceeded not to compete for two months as he had to study for school exams, which was a very important thing for his family, thus missing the junior French Open in June. He made his return to the tour in the aforementioned Wimbledon junior event, where he was the only non-English speaking player to receive a wildcard and reaching the semi-finals after winning four matches against rivals with much more experience on grass, such as second seed Brian Dabul in the first round and eight seed Philipp Petzschner, who was also two years older than him, in the quarterfinals, before being eliminated by Lamine Ouahab. Nadal then won six of the nine Futures events he entered from July until December, including 5 on clay and 1 on hard courts, but he did not reach any doubles finals. Nadal finished 2002 with a Futures record of 40–9 in singles and 10–9 in doubles. In October, Nadal achieved his first victory over a top-100 by defeating No. 76 Albert Montañés in the quarterfinals of a Challenger at Barcelona, before losing to Albert Portas in the semi-finals. Nadal ended 2002 as the world No. 199.

2003: First ATP title and ascending to the top 50

Nadal continued his incredible ascent in early 2003, reaching the finals of Challengers at Hamburg, Cherbourg and Cagliari, and winning at Barletta. He scored a total of 19 Challenger wins in the first three months of the season to find himself inside the Top 150. He then qualified for his second career ATP event, the Monte Carlo Masters, where in the second round he beat the 2002 French Open champion Albert Costa, then ranked No. 7, thus getting his first top 10 career win and entering the world's top 100. In his next ATP event, the Torneo Godó in Barcelona, Nadal scored his first ATP bagel in a first round win over Juan Antonio Marín. Nadal then reached his fifth Challenger final of the year in Aix-en-Provence, which he lost to Mariano Puerta. In May, the 16-year-old Nadal entered his second Masters event at Hamburg, where he upset No. 4 Carlos Moyá before losing to future French Open Champion Gaston Gaudio in the third round. Nadal was then forced to postpone his French Open debut after injuring his elbow in a fall while training. He then qualified directly to Wimbledon, thus having never contested in a major qualifying event before. In his major main draw debut in Wimbledon, Nadal defeated Mario Ančić, who at the time was the most recent player to defeat Roger Federer on grass, and then reached the third round to became the youngest man to do so since Boris Becker in 1984.

In July, Nadal reached the first national final of his career at the Spanish Championship in Majadahonda, where he beat the champion and finalist of the previous edition, Tommy Robredo and Fernando Verdasco, en route to the final, which he lost to Feliciano López. Nadal then participated at Umag, where he lost to Moyá in the semi-finals. This remained Nadal's only loss at a clay-court semi-final for the next 12 years, as he then began a streak of 52 consecutive wins in semi-final matches on clay that only ended at the 2015 Rio Open. Nadal also competed in seven doubles tournaments in 2003, and won his first ATP title (doubles or singles) at Umag, partnering Álex López Morón to defeat Todd Perry and Thomas Shimada in the final. Nadal won his second Challenger title of the year in August at Segovia, thus entering the top 50 and winning the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award.

At the US Open, Nadal won the first round to became one of the youngest players with a victory at the US Open, but then lost in the second round to Younes El Aynaoui. In September, Nadal entered the final Challenger event of his career, on hard courts in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, retiring with an injury against Richard Gasquet, who never defeated Nadal again. Nadal then reached another national final in the Albacete Tournament after overcoming three match points and a headache in the semi-finals against Ferrán Ventura to set up another final with López, this time winning comfortably. Nadal finished the year ranked as the world No. 49.

2004: Davis Cup title

2004 started with a doubles title alongside Tommy Robredo at the Chennai Open, defeating Israeli pair Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the final; Nadal's second doubles title and first on hard courts. In singles, however, Nadal piled up his 5th consecutive loss after a first round exit to Thierry Ascione; this remains the worst losing streak of his career. He bounced back in the very next tournament in Auckland as he reached the first ATP final of his career, which he lost to Dominik Hrbatý. Nadal then reached the third round of the Australian Open, where he lost in straight sets to former world No. 1 and Australian native Lleyton Hewitt. Later that year, Nadal, then ranked No. 34, played the first match of his historic rivalry with Roger Federer, then ranked No. 1, in the third round of the Miami Open, winning in straight sets before a loss to Fernando González in the fourth round.

In the first tournament of the clay court season at Estoril, Nadal suffered a stress fracture in his left ankle during his round of 16 victory over Richard Gasquet, causing him to miss 3 months of play and 2 majors, the French Open and Wimbledon. On his return in July, he struggled to regain his form, and although he won his first ATP singles title at the Prokom Open by defeating No. 105 José Acasuso in the final, Nadal won hardly any other match on the tour. At the US Open, Nadal lost to defending champion Andy Roddick in the second round, but he also entered the tournament's doubles event partnering Robredo, where they upset the No. 4 seed in the third round and reached the semi-finals; Nadal's best performance in a grand slam doubles event.

In the 2004 Davis Cup final, the 18-year-old Nadal beat world No. 2 Andy Roddick on clay in Spain to help his nation clinch the title over the United States, and in doing so at 18 years and six months of age, he became the youngest player to register a singles victory in a Davis Cup final for a winning nation. Nadal finished the year ranked as the world No. 51, two places worse than the prior year, mainly because he missed most of the clay court season.

2005: First major title

Main article: 2005 Rafael Nadal tennis season

2005 started with a doubles title alongside Albert Costa at the Qatar Open, defeating pair Andrei Pavel and Mikhail Youzhny in the final. At the 2005 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt. Two months later, he reached the final of the 2005 Miami Masters, and despite being two points from a straight-sets victory, he was defeated in five sets by No. 1 Roger Federer. Both performances were considered breakthroughs for Nadal.

He then dominated the spring clay-court season. He won 24 consecutive singles matches, breaking Andre Agassi's Open Era record of consecutive match wins for a male teenager. Nadal won the Torneo Conde de Godó in Barcelona after defeating the former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final; a triumph that propelled him into the top 10 for the first time in his career. He then beat 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria in the finals of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters and the 2005 Italian Open. These victories raised his ranking to world No. 5 and made him one of the favorites at his career-first French Open. On his 19th birthday, Nadal defeated Federer in the French Open semi-finals, being one of only four players to defeat him that year (along with Marat Safin, Richard Gasquet, and David Nalbandian). Two days later he defeated Mariano Puerta in the final, becoming the second man, after Mats Wilander in 1982, to win the French Open on his first attempt. He also became the first male teenager to win a major singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19. Winning improved his ranking to No. 3.

Three days after his victory in Paris, Nadal's 24-match winning streak was snapped in the first round of the grass court Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, where he lost to No. 147 Alexander Waske, the second lowest-ranked defeat of his career. He then lost in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon to No. 69 Gilles Müller of Luxembourg. Nadal then played at the Copa del Rey de Tenis in Huelva, the oldest tournament in Spain on clay, beating Carlos Moyá in the final. Following his Wimbledon loss, Nadal won 16 consecutive matches and three consecutive tournaments, the Swedish Open, Stuttgart Open, and the Canada Masters, defeating Agassi in the final of the latter to win the first hardcourt title of his career and to bring his ranking to No. 2 on 25 July 2005, where he remained for the next three years behind Roger Federer. His winning streak ended in the first round of the Cincinnati Open at the hands of Tomáš Berdych. Nadal was seeded second at the 2005 US Open, but was upset in the third round by No. 49 James Blake in four sets.

In September, he defeated Coria in the final of the China Open in Beijing and won both of his Davis Cup matches against Italy. In October, he won his fourth Masters title of the year, coming back from two sets down to prevail against Ivan Ljubičić in the final of the 2005 Madrid Masters, his biggest indoor title to this day. He then suffered a foot injury that prevented him from competing in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup.

Both Nadal and Federer won eleven singles titles and four Masters titles in 2005. Nadal broke Mats Wilander's previous teenage record of nine in 1983. Eight of Nadal's titles were on clay, and the remainder were on hard courts. Nadal won 79 matches, second only to Federer's 81. Also, he earned the highest year-end ranking ever by a Spaniard and the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award.

2006: Second French Open title

Main article: 2006 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal missed the Australian Open because of a foot injury. In February, he lost in the semi-finals of the first tournament he played, the Open 13 tournament in Marseille. Two weeks later, he handed Roger Federer his first loss of the year in the final of the Dubai Open (in 2006, Nadal and Andy Murray were the only two men who defeated Federer), thus ending Federer's 56-match winning streak on hard courts. Nadal was then upset in both the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Open by James Blake, and in the second round of the Miami Masters by Carlos Moyá, who thus ended Nadal's 22-match win streak over fellow Spaniard players.

Nadal with the Coupe des Mousquetaires after winning the French Open in 2006.

On European clay, Nadal won all four tournaments he entered and 24 consecutive matches. He defeated Federer in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters in four sets. The following week, he defeated Tommy Robredo in the final of the Torneo Godó tournament in Barcelona. After a one-week break, Nadal won Italian Open title defeating Federer in a fifth-set tiebreaker in the final, after saving two match points and equaling Björn Borg's tally of 16 ATP titles won as a teenager. At five hours and five minutes, this is the longest match Federer and Nadal have ever contested and it is considered to be where the Federer–Nadal rivalry began in earnest, with The New York Times comparing it to the Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier rivalry in boxing on the following day. Nadal then broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas's 29-year male record of 53 consecutive clay-court match victories by beating Robin Söderling in the first round of the French Open. Vilas presented Nadal with a trophy, but commented later that Nadal's feat was less impressive than his own because Nadal's winning streak covered two years and was accomplished by adding easy tournaments to his schedule. Nadal went on to face Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, the first-ever meeting of their historic rivalry, which Nadal won via a retirement from Djokovic after Nadal took the first two sets. He then beat Ivan Ljubičić to set up a final against Federer. The first two sets of the match were hardly competitive, as the rivals traded 6–1 sets. Nadal won the third set easily and won the fourth in a tiebreaker to become the first player to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam tournament final.

Nadal injured his shoulder during a quarterfinal match against Lleyton Hewitt at the Artois Championships, played on grass at the Queen's Club in London. Nadal was unable to complete the match, which ended his 26-match winning streak. Nadal was seeded second at Wimbledon, and was two points from defeat against American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the second round before coming back to win in five sets. In the third round, Nadal defeated No. 20 Andre Agassi in straight sets in Agassi's last career match at Wimbledon. Nadal also won his next three matches in straight sets, which set up his first Wimbledon final, which was against Federer, who had won this tournament the three previous years. Nadal was the first Spanish man since Manuel Santana in 1966, to reach the Wimbledon final, but Federer won the match in four sets to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.

During the lead up to the US Open, Nadal played the two Masters tournaments in North America. He was upset in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto and in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Open by Juan Carlos Ferrero. Nadal was seeded second at the US Open, but lost in the quarterfinals to No. 54 Mikhail Youzhny in four sets.

Nadal played only three tournaments for the remainder of the year. Joachim Johansson, ranked No. 690, upset Nadal in the second round of the Stockholm Open. The following week, Nadal lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters. During the round-robin stage of the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, Nadal lost to James Blake but defeated Nikolay Davydenko and Robredo. Because of those two victories, Nadal qualified for the semi-finals, where he lost to Federer. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer.

Nadal went on to become the first player since Andre Agassi in 1994–95 to finish the year ranked No. 2 in consecutive years.

2007: Third French Open title

Main article: 2007 Rafael Nadal tennis season

At the Australian Open, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Fernando González. After another quarterfinal loss at the Dubai Tennis Championships, he won the Indian Wells Open after beating Novak Djokovic in the final, before losing to Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Miami Masters.

He had comparatively more success after returning to Europe to play five clay-court tournaments. He won the titles at the Monte-Carlo Masters, the Torneo Godó in Barcelona, and the Italian Open, before losing to Roger Federer in the final of the Hamburg Masters. This defeat ended his 81-match winning streak on clay, which is the male Open Era record for consecutive wins on a single surface. He bounced back quickly in the French Open, not dropping a set en route to the final where he faced Federer once again, this time winning in four sets to join Björn Borg as the only man to win three French Open titles in a row since Anthony Wilding in 1914. Between the tournaments in Barcelona and Rome, Nadal defeated Federer in the "Battle of Surfaces" exhibition match in Mallorca, with the tennis court being half grass and half clay.

Nadal was upset in the quarterfinals of the Artois Championships at the Queen's Club in London for the second consecutive year. Nadal then won consecutive five-set matches during the third and fourth rounds of Wimbledon before being beaten by Federer in the five-set final. This was Federer's first five-set match at Wimbledon since 2001. In July, Nadal beat the unseeded Stan Wawrinka in the final of the clay-court Stuttgart Open, which proved to be his last title of the year. In the North American summer hard court season, Nadal was a semi-finalist at the Canadian Masters in Montreal before losing his first match at the Cincinnati Open. He was the second-seeded player at the US Open, but was defeated in the fourth round by David Ferrer.

After a month-long break, Nadal played Madrid Masters and Paris Masters, but David Nalbandian beat him in straight sets in the quarterfinals and final of those tournaments. To end the year, Nadal won two of his three-round robin matches to advance to the semi-finals of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, where Federer defeated him in straight sets.

During the second half of the year, Nadal battled a knee injury suffered during the Wimbledon final. In addition, there were rumors at the end of the year that the foot injury he suffered during 2005, caused long-term damage, which were given credence by coach Toni Nadal's claim that the problem was "serious". Nadal and his spokesman strongly denied this, however, with Nadal himself calling the story "totally false".

2008: Two majors, Olympic singles gold, and world No. 1

Main article: 2008 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships.

Nadal began the year in India, where he was comprehensively beaten by Mikhail Youzhny in the final of the Chennai Open. Nadal then reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the first time; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated him in the semi-finals in straight sets. Nadal also reached the final of the Miami Masters for the second time, which he lost to Nikolay Davydenko.

During the spring clay-court season, Nadal won four singles titles and defeated Roger Federer in three finals. At the Monte Carlo Masters, he beat Federer in the final for the third year in a row to become the first player to win four consecutive titles there since Anthony Wilding in 1914. Furthermore, he also won the tournament's doubles event paired with Tommy Robredo, thus becoming the first player since Jim Courier in 1991 to win the singles and doubles titles at a Masters Series event. Nadal then won his fourth consecutive title at the Open Sabadell Atlántico tournament in Barcelona. A few weeks later, Nadal won his first Masters Hamburg title defeating Federer in a three-set final, thus becoming only the third player to have won all three clay-court Masters Series titles, in Rome, Monte Carlo and Hamburg. He then won the French Open, becoming the fifth man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles title without losing a set. He defeated Federer in the final for the third straight year, but this was the most lopsided of all their matches, as Nadal only lost four games and gave Federer his first bagel since 1999. This was Nadal's fourth consecutive French title, tying Björn Borg's all-time record. Nadal became the fourth male player during Open era to win the same Grand Slam singles tournament for four consecutive years (the others being Borg, Pete Sampras, and Federer).

Nadal then played Federer in the final of Wimbledon for the third consecutive year, in the most anticipated match of their rivalry. Nadal entered the final on a 23-match winning streak, including his first career grass-court title at the Stella Artois Championships staged at the Queen's Club in London prior to Wimbledon, while Federer had won his record fifth grass-court title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, and then reached the Wimbledon final without losing a set. Unlike their previous two Wimbledon finals, though, Federer was not the prohibitive favorite, and many analysts picked Nadal to win. At 4 hours and 48 minutes, they played the longest (in terms of time on court, not in terms of numbers of games) final in Wimbledon history, and because of rain delays, Nadal won the fifth set 9–7 in near-darkness (The 2019 final later broke the record for the longest Wimbledon final). The match was widely lauded as the greatest Wimbledon final ever, with some tennis critics even calling it the greatest match in tennis history.

By winning his first Wimbledon title, Nadal became the third man in the open era to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, after Rod Laver in 1969, and Borg in 1978–1980, as well as the second Spaniard to win Wimbledon after Manolo Santana in 1966. He also ended Federer's record streak of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and 65 straight wins on grass courts. This was also the first time that Nadal won two Grand Slam tournaments back-to-back.

After Wimbledon, Nadal extended his winning streak to a career-best 32 matches by winning his second Canada Masters title in Toronto, thus becoming the third youngest player to accumulate 30 titles behind Borg and Jimmy Connors, and then reaching the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open, in which his winning streak was snapped by Djokovic. Nadal then played at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he defeated Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals and Chile's Fernando González in the final to win the gold medal. With the win, Nadal finally clinched the world No. 1 ranking on 18 August, ending Federer's record four-and-a-half-year reign at the top.

At the US Open, Nadal was the top-seeded player for the first time at a major. He did not lose a set during his first three matches, but lost in the semi-finals to Andy Murray. Later in the year in Madrid, Nadal helped Spain defeat the United States in the Davis Cup semi-finals. At the Madrid Masters, Nadal lost in the semi-finals to Gilles Simon. However, his performance at the event guaranteed him the year-end No. 1 ranking, making him the first Spaniard to finish a season as such in the Open Era. Two weeks later at the Paris Masters, Nadal reached the quarterfinals, where he withdrew because of a knee injury. The following week, Nadal announced his withdrawal from the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, citing tendinitis of the knee. On 10 November, Nadal withdrew from Spain's Davis Cup final against Argentina, as his knee injury had not healed completely.

2009: Australian Open and Davis Cup titles

Main article: 2009 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal's first ATP Tour event for the season was the Qatar Open, where he lost in the quarterfinals to Gaël Monfils. Nadal also entered and won the tournament's doubles event partnering Marc López, where they defeated the No. 1-ranked doubles team of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić in the final. At the Australian Open, Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set, before defeating Fernando Verdasco in the semi-finals in the fifth-longest match in Australian Open history at 5 hours and 14 minutes. This set up a championship match with Roger Federer, their first meeting in a hard-court major. Nadal defeated Federer in a five-set final to earn his first hard-court major singles title, and become the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open.

Nadal at the 2009 Australian Open.

At the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Nadal sustained a knee injury during the final, which he lost to Andy Murray. Although this knee problem was not associated with Nadal's right-knee tendonitis, it was serious enough to cause him to withdraw from the Dubai Championships a week later. In March, Nadal defeated Janko Tipsarević and Novak Djokovic to help Spain beat Serbia in a Davis Cup World Group first-round tie on clay in Benidorm, Spain. At the Indian Wells Open, Nadal won his 13th Masters tournament after saving five match points in the fourth round to beat David Nalbandian for the first time, and then beating three top-10 players in a row, Juan Martín del Potro, Andy Roddick, and Murray in the final, all in straight set victories. At the Miami Masters, Nadal again faced del Potro in the quarterfinals, this time losing the match.

Nadal began his European clay court season at the Monte Carlo Masters, where he defeated Djokovic in the final to win a record fifth consecutive singles title there. He then won back to back titles in Barcelona and Italian Open, defeating Ferrer and Djokovic respectively. In the semi-finals of the Madrid Open, Nadal saved three match points to defeat Djokovic in a deciding set tiebreaker to take his career record over Djokovic to 14–4 as well as his clay record since 2005 to an impressive 150–4. The match, at 4 hours and 3 minutes, was at the time the longest three-set singles match on the ATP Tour in the Open Era, and was voted as the best match in the history of the Madrid Open in 2022. Despite this, his exhaustion from his clash with Djokovic led Nadal to then surprisingly lose the final to Roger Federer. This was Nadal's first defeat on clay in 33 matches and ended his hopes of being the first man to take all three clay Masters events in the same season. This was also the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer since the semi-finals of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup.

By beating Marcos Daniel in the first round of the French Open, Nadal broke Björn Borg's 28-year male record of 28 consecutive victories at the French Open, and he then broke Chris Evert's overall record of 29 by beating Teymuraz Gabashvili in the second round. This run came to an end on 31 May 2009, when Nadal was upset by the eventual runner-up, Robin Söderling in the 4th round. This was Nadal's first and, until 2015, only loss at the French Open. The former three-time French Open champion Mats Wilander stated after the match that "Everybody's in a state of shock, I would think. At some point, Nadal was going to lose. But nobody expected it to happen today, and maybe not this year." Nadal then withdrew from the AEGON Championships. It was then confirmed that he was suffering from tendinitis in both of his knees. On 19 June, Nadal withdrew from Wimbledon, citing his recurring knee injury. Roger Federer went on to win the title, and Nadal consequently dropped back to No. 2 on 6 July 2009.

Nadal returned to the tour at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, where he lost in the quarterfinals to del Potro. With this loss, he relinquished the No. 2 spot to Andy Murray on 17 August 2009, ranking outside the top two for the first time since 25 July 2005. Nadal then reached the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open, which he lost to Djokovic in straight sets. At the US Open Nadal fell in the semi-finals, losing to eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro. At the ATP Finals, Nadal lost all three of his matches against Robin Söderling, Nikolay Davydenko, and Djokovic respectively without winning a set. In December, Nadal participated in the second Davis Cup final of his career, defeating Tomáš Berdych in his first singles rubber to give the Spanish Davis Cup Team their first point in the tie. After Spain had secured its fourth Davis Cup victory, Nadal defeated Jan Hájek in the first Davis Cup dead rubber of his career.

Nadal finished the year as No. 2 for the fourth time in five years.

2010: Majors on all three surfaces, year-end No. 1, and Career Golden Slam

Main article: 2010 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal began the year by participating in the Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, an exhibition event, where he defeated Robin Söderling in the final in straight sets. In his first competitive tournament of the year, Nadal reached the final of the Qatar Open, which he lost to Nikolay Davydenko. In the Australian Open, Nadal reached the quarterfinals, where he had to pull out at 3–0 down in the third set against Andy Murray. After examining Nadal's knees, doctors told him that he should take two weeks of rest, and then two weeks of rehabilitation.

Nadal then reached the semi-finals of both the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Masters, where on both occasions he was defeated by the eventual champion in three sets, Ivan Ljubičić and Andy Roddick respectively. Nadal then won the Monte-Carlo Masters, beating Fernando Verdasco in the final, 6–0, 6–1. It was his first title in 11 months, and he lost only 14 games and no sets en route to the title. With this win, Nadal became the first player in the Open Era to win the same tournament for six straight years. Nadal next chose to skip the Barcelona tournament, and his next tournament was the Italian Open, where he defeated David Ferrer in the final for his fifth title at Rome. At the Madrid Masters, Nadal reached the final where he faced the defending champion Roger Federer in a rematch of the previous year's final, this time winning in straight sets to become the first man to complete a clean sweep of the three clay-court Masters 1000 titles. The win gave him his 18th Masters title, breaking Andre Agassi's all-time record and moving two Masters titles ahead of Federer. Nadal moved back to No. 2 the following day.

At the French Open, Nadal advanced to the final where he faced Söderling, the man who beat him the previous year. He avenged that defeat by beating Söderling in straight sets to win his fifth French Open championship. This marked the second time that Nadal won the title without dropping a set. By winning the title, Nadal regained the world No. 1 ranking from Federer, who was in contention to break Pete Sampras' all-time record of 286 weeks spent at No. 1.

Nadal then entered the Aegon Championships, where his 24-match winning streak was snapped by compatriot Feliciano López in the quarterfinals. In Wimbledon, Nadal needed five sets to defeat Philipp Petzschner in the third round. During the match Nadal was warned twice for allegedly receiving coaching from his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, resulting in a $2,000 fine by Wimbledon officials. He then defeated Andy Murray in the semi-finals and Tomáš Berdych in the final to win his second Wimbledon title and his eighth career major title.

In Canada, Nadal lost in the semi-finals to Murray. Nadal also competed in the doubles with Djokovic in a one-time, high-profile partnership. This had not happened since 1976, when Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe as No. 1 and No. 2 paired together as a doubles team. The pair lost in the first round to Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil. The next week, Nadal was the top seed at the Cincinnati Open, losing in the quarterfinals to Marcos Baghdatis. At the 2010 US Open, Nadal reached his first final without dropping a set. In the final, he defeated Novak Djokovic in four sets to complete his first Career Grand Slam while also becoming the second male after Andre Agassi to complete a Career Golden Slam. Nadal's US Open victory meant that he also became the first man to win majors on clay, grass, and hard courts in the same year, and the first to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in the same year since Rod Laver in 1969. Nadal's victory also clinched him the year-end No. 1 ranking for 2010.

Nadal began his Asian tour at the 2010 PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok where he was upset by compatriot Guillermo García-López in the semi-finals despite creating 26 break points. Nadal then won the Japan Open in Tokyo after surviving two match points against Viktor Troicki in the semi-finals and then defeating Gaël Monfils in the final for his seventh title of the season. Nadal next played in the Shanghai Masters, where he lost to Jürgen Melzer in the third round. On 5 November, Nadal announced that he was pulling out of the Paris Masters owing to tendinitis in his left shoulder. On 21 November 2010, in London, Nadal won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the first time. At the 2010 ATP Finals in London, Nadal won all of his round-robin matches for the first time in his career. In the semi-finals, he defeated Murray in three sets, before losing to Roger Federer in the final.

Nadal has called 2010 his best year as a professional tennis player. Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who lost to Nadal in the 2010 US Open final, stated that Nadal had "the capabilities already to become the best player ever", and added that "he has the game now for each surface, and he has won each major. He has proven to the world that he is the best in this moment".

2011: Sixth French Open title and Davis Cup crown

Main article: 2011 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal started 2011 by participating in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, an exhibition event, where he defeated Roger Federer in the final. At the Qatar Open, he fell in straight sets to Nikolay Davydenko in the semi-finals. He also entered and won the tournament's doubles event partnering López, defeating Daniele Bracciali and Andreas Seppi in the final. In the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, Nadal suffered a hamstring injury against David Ferrer early in the pair's quarterfinal match and ultimately lost in straight sets, thus ending his effort to win four major tournaments in a row.

Nadal at the 2011 Australian Open.

In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Belgium in a 2011 Davis Cup World Group first-round tie in the Spiroudome in Charleroi, Belgium. Nadal defeated Ruben Bemelmans and Olivier Rochus. At both the Indian Wells Open and the Miami Masters, Nadal reached the final and lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets. This was the first time Nadal reached the finals of Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.

Nadal began his clay-court season by winning the Monte-Carlo Masters with the loss of just one set. In the final, he avenged his defeat by David Ferrer in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Just a week later, Nadal won his sixth Barcelona Open crown, again defeating Ferrer in straight sets. This was also the 31st clay court title of his career, thus breaking a tie that he jointly held with Björn Borg and Manuel Orantes for the third most clay titles in the Open era. He then lost to Novak Djokovic in the finals of the Italian Open and Madrid Open, which ended his 37-match winning streak on clay. However, Nadal retained his No. 1 ranking during the clay-court season and won his sixth French Open title by defeating Roger Federer.

At Wimbledon, Nadal won three four-set matches to set up a final against No. 2 Novak Djokovic, whose victory in the semi-finals meant that he was going to replace Nadal as the world No. 1 at the end of the tournament, regardless of the result at the final, which Nadal lost in four sets. This was Nadal's first defeat in Wimbledon since the 2007 final and ended his 20-match winning streak there. After resting for a month from a foot injury sustained during Wimbledon, he contested the Canadian Open, where he loses a deciding set tiebreaker to No. 41 Ivan Dodig in the quarterfinals. He next played in the Cincinnati Open, where he defeated Fernando Verdasco in a third round clash that lasted three hours and 38 minutes with three tiebreaks. This was the fifth time that Nadal played in a three tiebreak game, winning on all five occasions. In the quarterfinals, Nadal was hampered by burns to his right hand after an accident at a Japanese restaurant and lost to Mardy Fish in straight sets.

At the 2011 US Open, Nadal made headlines when after defeating David Nalbandian in the fourth round, he collapsed in his post-match press conference because of severe cramps. Nadal then played Djokovic in their second successive major final, losing the match in four sets. After the US Open, Nadal reached the final of the Japan Open, where he was defeated by Andy Murray. At the Shanghai Masters, he was upset in the third round by No. 23 ranked Florian Mayer. At the ATP Finals, Nadal was defeated by Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round-robin stage, and was subsequently eliminated from the tournament. In the Davis Cup final in December, he helped Spain win the title with victories over Juan Mónaco and Juan Martín del Potro.

2012: Seventh French Open title

Main article: 2012 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal began his ATP Tour season at the Qatar Open, where he lost to Gaël Monfils in the semi-finals. In the Australian Open, Nadal won his semi-final match against Roger Federer to set up a third successive major final against Novak Djokovic, which he lost in a five-set epic that lasted 5 hours and 53 minutes, the longest Grand Slam final match (by duration) in history. It is considered to be one of the greatest tennis matches of all time. It remains the longest match of both Nadal and Djokovic's careers, and it also remains the only time that Nadal has lost a major final after winning the first set. Nadal called it "the toughest loss in his career", but also "the best match he ever played".

Nadal then reached the semi-finals of both the Indian Wells Open, where he was beaten by Federer, and the Miami Masters, where he withdrew because of knee problems to risk no further injury given the Olympic-tightened 2012 schedule and the upcoming clay swing. At the Monte-Carlo Masters, Nadal did not lose a single set en route to the title to become the first man in the Open Era to win the same tournament eight consecutive times. In the final, he defeated No. 1 Novak Djokovic to end a streak of seven straight final losses to him, but unexpectedly, this was the most lopsided of all their matches, as Nadal only lost four games in a 6–3, 6–1 win. Nadal then beat compatriot David Ferrer in a three-set final to clinch his seventh title in eight years at the Barcelona Open. At the Madrid Open, Nadal surprisingly lost to Fernando Verdasco, whom he held a 13–0 record against. He heavily criticized the new blue-colored clay and threatened not to attend in the future if the surface was not changed back to red clay. Several other players such as Novak Djokovic voiced similar criticism. His tremendous record on clay continued as he defeated Djokovic in a tight straight-set final at the Italian Open. This was his second victory over Novak Djokovic in 2012 and his third title of the season, as well as his 6th Rome title overall.

At the French Open, Nadal won his semi-final match against Ferrer to set up another final against Novak Djokovic. This marked only the second time in tennis history (after Serena and Venus Williams between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open), two opposing tennis players played four consecutive major finals against each other. This was a match of historic proportions as either Nadal would break Björn Borg's record of six French Open titles, or Djokovic would become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win four majors in a row. Nadal eventually emerged victorious in four sets after multiple rain delays that forced the final to be concluded on the following afternoon. With this victory, Nadal became the most successful male player at the French Open, winning seven French Open titles. Nadal lost a total of only three sets in the 2012 clay court season.

As a warm-up ahead of Wimbledon, Nadal played in Halle, losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon, Nadal was upset in the second round by Lukáš Rosol in a close five-set match. This was the first time since the 2005 Wimbledon championships that Nadal had failed to progress past the second round of a Grand Slam tournament.

In July 2012, Nadal withdrew from the 2012 Olympics owing to tendinitis in his knee, which subsequently led to him pulling out of both the Canadian Masters and the Cincinnati Open. He later withdrew from the rest of the 2012 season, as he felt he still was not healthy enough to compete. Nadal ended 2012 ranked No. 4 in the world, the first time in eight years that he has not been ranked 1st or 2nd at the end of the year.

2013: Two majors and return to No. 1

Main article: 2013 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Two weeks prior to the Australian Open, Nadal officially withdrew from the tournament citing a stomach virus. Nadal's withdrawal saw him drop out of the ATP's Top Four for the first time since 2005. Playing in his first tournaments in South America since 2005, Nadal made his comeback at the VTR Open in Chile, where he was upset by Argentine No. 73 Horacio Zeballos in the final. At the Brasil Open, Nadal reached the final, where he defeated David Nalbandian. In the title match of the Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, Nadal defeated David Ferrer, losing just two games in the match.

Nadal serving at the Indian Wells Open in 2013.

Nadal then returned to the American hard courts, playing the Indian Wells Open as the fifth seed. He lost only one set en route to the title, defeating No. 2 Roger Federer and No. 6 Tomáš Berdych before beating Juan Martín del Potro in the final. After withdrawing from Miami, Nadal attempted to defend his title at the Monte-Carlo Masters, but was beaten by Djokovic in straight sets to end his eight-year reign at the tournament. He then won his eighth title at the Barcelona Open after beating Nicolás Almagro in the final. Nadal went on to win the Madrid Open, beating Stan Wawrinka in the final. This was the 40th clay court title of his career, equal second in the Open era with Thomas Muster. Nadal then overtook him when he defeated Federer for his 7th title at the Italian Open. These victories raised his ranking to No. 4.

Nadal won the French Open after beating Novak Djokovic in the semi-final and David Ferrer in the final, breaking the record for the most match wins in the tournament in the process with his 59th match victory, surpassing the previous record held by Guillermo Vilas and Roger Federer (who equaled Vilas' record with his fourth round win but lost in the quarterfinals). Nadal also became the first man in history to win any major eight times, and tied Roy Emerson for the third-most major titles in history. He also equaled Max Decugis, who won eight titles at this event when it was only open to French club members. His semi-final match with Djokovic is widely considered one of the greatest clay court matches ever played, as Nadal came back from down a break in the fifth set to take out a hard-fought 4-hour, 37-minute victory. This was only the second time Nadal had been pushed to five sets at the French Open (the first being against John Isner in the first round of the 2011 French Open). This victory meant that since returning from seven months out due to a left knee injury, Nadal had reached eight consecutive finals, won 7 titles, and compiled a 43–2 record in 2013. However, Nadal then lost his first-round match at Wimbledon in straight sets to unseeded Belgian Steve Darcis (ranked No. 135), the first time he had ever lost in the first round of a major. At the time, he was the lowest-ranked player ever to beat Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament.

In August, Nadal won a close semi-final match in Montreal, denying Djokovic his fourth Canadian Open title. Nadal proceeded to win the title after beating Milos Raonic in the final in straight sets. He then won his 26th Masters title in Cincinnati after beating John Isner in the final. Nadal concluded a brilliant North American hard court season with his 4th hard court title of the year, defeating Djokovic at the 2013 US Open final in four sets to achieve the Summer Slam and clinch the US Open Series. He became only the third player in history, after Patrick Rafter and Andy Roddick, to win all three events in succession. This granted him $3.6 million in prize money, the most money earned by a male tennis player at a single tournament.

Later in September, Nadal helped Spain secure their Davis Cup World Group Playoff spot for 2014, with a victory against Sergiy Stakhovsky and a doubles win with Marc Lopez. In October, he reached the final of the China Open, helping him regain the No. 1 ranking. In the final, he was beaten by Djokovic in straight sets. At the Shanghai Masters, he reached the semi-finals but was defeated by Del Potro. In November, Nadal played his final event of the season in London at the ATP Finals where he secured the year-end No. 1 spot. He beat David Ferrer, Stan Wawrinka, and Tomáš Berdych in the round-robin stage to set up a semi-final victory over Roger Federer before losing in straight sets to Djokovic in the final.

2014: Ninth French Open title and sustained injuries

Main article: 2014 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Rafael Nadal began his 2014 season at the Qatar Open in Doha, defeating Lukáš Rosol in the first round and he won the title after defeating Gaël Monfils in the final.

At the Australian Open, he defeated Roger Federer to reach his third Australian Open final. This marked Nadal's 11th consecutive victory in a major semi-final, second only to Borg's all-time record of 14. In the final, he faced Stanislas Wawrinka, against whom he entered the match with a 12–0 record. However, Nadal suffered a back injury during the warm-up, which progressively worsened as the match wore on. Nadal lost the first two sets, and although he won the third set, he ultimately lost the match in four sets. The first tournament he played after that was the inaugural Rio Open which he won after defeating Alexandr Dolgopolov in the final. However, at the Indian Wells Open, Dolgopolov would avenge his loss, defeating Nadal in three sets in the third round. He reached the final of the Miami Masters, falling to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.

Nadal began his clay court season with a quarterfinal loss to David Ferrer in the Monte-Carlo Masters. He was stunned by Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open. Nadal then won his 27th masters title at the Madrid Open after Kei Nishikori retired in the third set of the final. On 8 June 2014, Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic in the Men's Singles French Open final to win his 9th French Open title and a 5th straight win. Nadal equaled Pete Sampras' total of 14 Grand Slam wins. Nadal then lost in the second round of the Halle Open to Dustin Brown the following week.

Nadal entered the Wimbledon Championships in a bid to win the tournament for the third time. In the fourth round he was upset by Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios in four sets. Nadal withdrew from the American swing owing to a wrist injury. He made his return at the 2014 China Open but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Martin Klizan in three sets. At the 2014 Shanghai Rolex Masters, he was suffering from appendicitis. He lost his opening match to Feliciano Lopez in straight sets. Later, he was upset by Borna Ćorić at the quarterfinals of the 2014 Swiss Indoors. After the loss, he announced that he would skip the rest of the season to undergo surgery for his appendix.

2015: Continued struggles and rankings drop

Main article: 2015 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal began the year as the defending Champion at the Qatar Open, but suffered a shocking three set defeat to Michael Berrer in the first round. He won the doubles title with Juan Mónaco. At the Australian Open, Nadal lost in straight sets to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinal, thus ending a 17-match winning streak against the seventh-seeded Czech.

In February, Nadal lost in the semi-finals to Fabio Fognini at the Rio Open, before going on to win his 46th career clay-court title against Juan Mónaco at the Argentina Open. Nadal then participated at the Indian Wells and Miami Open but suffered early defeats to Milos Raonic and Fernando Verdasco, in the quarterfinals and third round respectively. Nadal then began his spring clay season at the Monte Carlo Masters and reached the semi-finals where he lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets. After losing to Fognini again at the Barcelona Open quarterfinals, Nadal entered the Madrid Open as the two-time defending champion but lost in the final to Andy Murray in straight sets, resulting in his dropping out of the top five for the first time since 2005. He then lost in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open to Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.

Nadal lost to eventual runner-up Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the French Open, ending his winning streak of 39 consecutive victories in Paris since his defeat by Robin Söderling in 2009. Nadal went on to win the 2015 Mercedes Cup against Serbian Viktor Troicki, his first grass court title since he won at Wimbledon in 2010. He was unable to continue his good form on grass as he lost in the first round of the Aegon Championships to Alexandr Dolgopolov in three sets. Nadal's struggles continued when he lost in the second round of Wimbledon to Dustin Brown.

In the third round of the 2015 US Open, Nadal once again lost to Fognini, despite having won the first two sets. This early exit ended Nadal's record 10-year streak of winning at least one major.

2016: Olympic doubles gold medal

Main article: 2016 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal started the year winning the Mubadala Title defeating Milos Raonic in straight sets. After that, he entered the Doha, Qatar, where he reached the finals, losing to Djokovic in straight sets. This was their 47th match, after which Djokovic led their head-to-head rivalry with 24 matches won. At the Australian Open, Nadal was defeated in five sets by compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the first round. The defeat marked his first opening round exit at the Australian Open.

Nadal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

In April he won his 28th Masters title in Monte Carlo. He went on to win his 17th ATP 500 in Barcelona, winning the trophy for the ninth time in his career. He continued the clay court season in Madrid, falling to Murray in the semi-final.

The following week, Nadal played in Italian Open where he reached the quarterfinal. Nadal was again defeated by Djokovic in straight sets, although he had a break advantage in both sets and served to win the second.

Following Federer's withdrawal due to injury, Nadal was named the fourth seed at the French Open. On 26 May, he became the eighth male player in tennis history to record 200 Grand Slam match wins, as he defeated Facundo Bagnis in straight sets in the second round of the Slam. Following the victory, however, Nadal had to withdraw from competition owing to a left wrist injury initially suffered during the Madrid Open, handing Marcel Granollers a walkover into the fourth round. On 9 June, Nadal announced that the same wrist injury that forced him to withdraw from the French Open needed more time to heal, and that he would not play at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships. At the Rio 2016 Olympics, Nadal achieved 800 career wins with his quarterfinal victory over the Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci. Partnering Marc López, he won the gold medal in men's doubles event for Spain by defeating Romania's Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau in the finals. This made Nadal the second man in the Open Era to have won gold medals in both singles and doubles. Nadal also advanced to the bronze medal match in the men's singles but was defeated by Kei Nishikori.

At the US Open Nadal was seeded 4th and advanced to the fourth round but was defeated by 24th seed Lucas Pouille in 5 sets. The defeat meant that 2016 was the first year since 2004 in which Nadal had failed to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final. He played the Shanghai Masters and was upset in the second round by Viktor Troicki. He subsequently ended his 2016 season to let his wrist recover.

2017: La Décima, third US Open title, and year-end No. 1

Main article: 2017 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal opened his season by playing at the Brisbane International for the first time, where he reached the quarterfinals before losing to Milos Raonic in three sets. In the second round of the tournament, he defeated Mischa Zverev for the loss of just two games; Nadal began the Australian Open with straight-set wins over Florian Mayer and Marcos Baghdatis, before more difficult wins over Alexander Zverev and Gaël Monfils, which set up his first quarterfinal berth at a Grand Slam since the 2015 French Open. Nadal defeated Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinal and semi-final, respectively (the latter lasting for five sets over five hours), to set up a final against Roger Federer, his first Grand Slam final since he won the 2014 French Open. Nadal went on to lose to Federer in five sets; this was the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer in a Grand Slam since the final of the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.

Nadal made it to the final of Acapulco without dropping a set, but was defeated by big-serving Sam Querrey. In a rematch of the Australian Open final Nadal took on Roger Federer in the fourth round at Indian Wells but again lost to his old rival, this time in straight sets; it was their earliest meeting in a tournament in over a decade. In the Miami Masters, Nadal reached the final to again play Federer, and was once again defeated in straight sets. Nadal then won his 29th Masters title in Monte Carlo; it was his tenth victory in the principality, the most wins by any player at a single tournament in the Open era. Nadal won his 18th ATP 500 title in Barcelona without dropping a set, also marking his tenth victory in Barcelona. Nadal next played in the Madrid Open, where he defeated Dominic Thiem to tie Novak Djokovic's all-time Masters record of 30 titles.

Nadal went on to beat Stan Wawrinka in straight sets and win a record tenth French Open title. This marked his first Grand Slam title since 2014, ending his three-year drought in Grand Slams. Nadal won every set that he played in the tournament, dropping a total of only 35 games in seven matches, which is the second-fewest by any male player (second only to Björn Borg's 32 dropped games at the 1978 French Open) en route to a major title in the Open Era. The title "La Décima" ("the tenth" in Spanish) was used to proclaim Nadal's achievement in becoming the first player, male or female, to win 10 titles at a single major in the Open Era, following similar feats at Monte Carlo and Barcelona. Nadal also climbed to second on the all-time major singles titles list, with 15, placing him one ahead of Pete Sampras.

Nadal lost in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, 13–15 in the fifth set, to Gilles Müller. He returned to competition in Montreal. He won his first match against Coric in straight sets but fell in the Round of 16 to Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov.

By 21 August, he retook the ATP No. 1 ranking from Andy Murray. Nadal earned his third US Open title against first-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson, winning the final in straight sets. This marked the first time that Nadal had captured two Grand Slam tournaments in a year since 2013, and the second time since 2010. Nadal extended his winning streak by winning the China Open, winning the final against Nick Kyrgios in straight sets. On 11 September 2017, Nadal and Garbiñe Muguruza made Spain the first country since the United States 14 years ago to simultaneously top both the ATP and the WTA rankings, with Muguruza making her debut in the No. 1 spot.

After defeating Hyeon Chung in the second round of the Paris Masters Nadal secured the year-end No. 1. He became year-end No. 1 for the fourth time in his career, tying him for fourth all-time with Novak Djokovic, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe, behind Pete Sampras (6), and Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors (5). By securing the year-end no. 1 ranking, Nadal became the first player aged over 30 to finish as year-end No. 1 and the first to finish in the top spot four years since he last achieved the feat; he also broke a number of other historical records, all of which he broke again in 2019.

2018: 11th French Open and Monte Carlo titles

Main article: 2018 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal began his 2018 season at the Kooyong Classic, where he lost to Richard Gasquet in the first round. He then played at the Tie Break Tens exhibition tournament in Melbourne, losing in the final to Tomáš Berdych. At the Australian Open, Nadal recorded straight-sets wins in the first three rounds, before notching a tougher four-set win against Diego Schwartzman in the fourth round. He faced Marin Čilić in the quarterfinal, but retired in the fifth set due to a hip injury.

Nadal serving at the 2018 US Open.

On 16 February, Nadal dropped to the No. 2 ranking after 26 weeks at the top when his rival Roger Federer overtook him in points. Nadal withdrew from the Mexican Open, Indian Wells Open, and Miami Open due to an injury. Despite his absence in Miami, he regained the No. 1 ranking on 2 April due to Federer's second-round loss. After recovering from injury, Nadal helped secure the Spanish Davis Cup team a victory over Germany in the quarterfinal of the World Group. He beat Philipp Kohlschreiber and Alexander Zverev in straight sets.

At the Monte Carlo Masters, Nadal successfully defended his title and won a then-record-breaking 31st Masters title, thus becoming the player with the most Masters titles in tennis history. It also marked his 11th title in Monte Carlo, as well as the 76th title in his career. Because he defended the points won the previous year, he kept his No. 1 ranking and began his 171st week as the world No. 1. Nadal won in Monte Carlo without dropping a set, beating Kei Nishikori in the final. Nadal went on to win his 11th title in Barcelona, defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, becoming the first player in the open era to win 400 matches on both clay and hard. The win marked his 20th ATP 500 series title, which put him back atop the list of most ATP 500 titles, tied with Roger Federer. It also marked his 14th consecutive season with at least one ATP 500 title.

Fresh after achieving the "Undecima" at Monte Carlo and Barcelona, Nadal had to defend yet another title at Madrid. He reached the quarterfinals, defeating Gaël Monfils and Diego Schwartzman in straight sets, to extend his record to 50 consecutive sets won on clay, starting from the 2017 French Open. His win over Schwartzman broke John McEnroe's record of 49 straight sets won on a single surface. McEnroe had previously achieved the record on carpet in 1984. In a surprise, Nadal lost in straight sets to Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals, ending his 21-match and record 50-set winning streaks on clay. He also relinquished his world No. 1 ranking to Federer in the process.

At the Italian Open, Nadal captured his 8th title in the Italian capital as well as his 78th career title, defeating Alexander Zverev in three sets, thus overtaking John McEnroe in the fourth place on the list of most titles won in the Open Era. It was Nadal's 32nd Masters title – most of any player in the Open Era. With his victory in Rome, Nadal also regained the No. 1 spot from Federer.

Then at the French Open, Nadal won his 17th Grand Slam title. This tied Margaret Court's record for singles titles at a Grand Slam event (Court won 11 Australian Opens, but seven came when it was the Australian Championships, an amateur event). En route to the title, Nadal dropped only one set, beating Dominic Thiem in the final in three sets. Nadal became just the fourth man in the Open Era to win three or more major titles after turning 30.

Going into Wimbledon, Nadal was ranked world number one, but was seeded second due to Wimbledon's seeding algorithm. He made it to the quarterfinals without dropping set. He then faced No. 5 seed Juan Martín del Potro, who he defeated in five sets. In the semi-finals he faced long-time rival Novak Djokovic, who was aiming to reach his first major final since the 2016 US Open. This match lasted 5 hours and 17 minutes, spread over two days, becoming the second-longest Wimbledon semi-final in history, second only to the match between Kevin Anderson and John Isner held earlier on the same day. Djokovic defeated Nadal in five sets with the fifth set being 10–8. This was Nadal's first defeat in the semi-finals of a major since the 2009 US Open, and his first-ever defeat in the semi-finals of Wimbledon. Despite this, Nadal achieved his best results at Wimbledon since 2011. This performance, combined with Roger Federer's unsuccessful title defence, ensured that Nadal retained the world number one ranking after the grass season.

He then won the Rogers Cup, a record-extending 33rd Masters title. This was Nadal's first Masters title win on hard court since 2013. He then withdrew from the Cincinnati Open to prepare for the US Open. Nadal was the top seed during his title defence at the US Open. He first faced David Ferrer in Ferrer's last Grand Slam match, who retired due to injury during the second set. In his semi-final matchup against Juan Martin del Potro, Nadal retired after losing the second set 6–2 due to knee pain. On 31 October, he announced his withdrawal from the Paris Masters due to an abdominal injury and as a result Novak Djokovic replaced him as world No. 1.

2019: Fourth French-US title double, Davis Cup, and year-end No. 1

Main article: 2019 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal was due to start his season at the Brisbane International, but withdrew shortly before due to an injury. He was seeded second at the 2019 Australian Open, where he progressed to his fifth Australian Open final, and did so without losing a set. Nadal then lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic, winning only eight games for the match and marking Nadal's first straight-sets defeat in a major final. Nadal next played at the Mexico Open, where he lost to Nick Kyrgios in the second round despite holding three match points. He withdrew from both Indian Wells and Miami due to a right hip injury.

Rafael Nadal began the clay season at the Monte Carlo Masters, reaching the semi-finals, where he was upset by Fabio Fognini in straight sets. He then competed in Barcelona, reaching the semi-finals where he lost to Dominic Thiem in straight sets. In Madrid, he reached his third clay-court semi-final of the year, but lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets. He won his first tournament of the year in Rome, with a three-set win over Djokovic in the final.

Nadal at the 2019 ATP Finals in London.

At the 2019 French Open, Nadal defeated Kei Nishikori and Roger Federer (their first meeting at the tournament since 2011) en route to the final, dropping only one set en route. In a rematch of the previous year's final, Nadal prevailed in four sets against Thiem to claim his record-extending twelfth French Open title. In doing so, he broke Margaret Court's all-time record of singles titles won at the same major.

Nadal next played at Wimbledon and, like the previous year, reached the semi-finals, where he faced Federer for the first time at Wimbledon since the 2008 final. Nadal lost the match in four sets. At the Rogers Cup, Nadal was the defending champion and top seed. By defeating Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinals, he surpassed Roger Federer's record of 378 victories at Masters tournaments. In the final, Nadal yielded just three games to Daniil Medvedev, winning in straight sets. This victory marked the first time he defended a title on a surface other than clay. At the US Open, Nadal lost only one set (against Marin Čilić) en route to the final, where he won against Medvedev in five sets. In doing so, Nadal claimed his fourth US Open title and 19th major title overall (placing him only one behind Roger Federer in overall standings), and completed his second-best season in terms of Grand Slam singles results. At the Paris Masters, Nadal reached the semi-finals, but withdrew due to an abdominal injury.

At the ATP Finals, Nadal defeated Tsitsipas and Medvedev in the round-robin stage, but failed to progress to the semi-finals. Despite his elimination, Nadal secured the year-end No. 1 ranking when Djokovic was also eliminated in the round-robin stage. This was Nadal's fifth time as the year-end No. 1 player, drawing level with Jimmy Connors, Federer and Djokovic behind Pete Sampras (six), and in doing so, he surpassed a number of the records he set in 2017, becoming (at the time) the oldest person to finish as the year-end No. 1 player, and creating a record eleven-year gap between his first and last year-end No. 1 seasons (2008 and 2019, respectively).

At the 2019 Davis Cup Finals, Nadal helped Spain win its sixth Davis Cup title, defeating Canada in the final. Nadal won all eight of his matches in singles and doubles, extending his winning streak in Davis Cup singles matches to 29 (29–1 record overall), without dropping a set or having his serve broken; he also won the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.

2020: 13th French Open title

Main article: 2020 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Nadal began his 2020 season by playing at the inaugural 2020 ATP Cup and helped Spain reach the final where they lost to Serbia, with Nadal losing to Djokovic in straight sets. Nadal then played at the 2020 Australian Open and won his first three matches in straight sets against Hugo Dellien, Federico Delbonis and Pablo Carreño Busta. In the fourth round, he defeated Nick Kyrgios in four sets and reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to eventual runner-up Dominic Thiem in four sets. Afterwards, Nadal went on to win his third Mexican Open title, defeating Taylor Fritz in straights sets in the final.

Nadal lost in the quarter-final of the Italian Open after Diego Schwartzman beat him in straight sets.

Nadal won his 13th French Open title, beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the tournament's final, only losing seven games. In doing so, he won his 20th Grand Slam title, equalling Roger Federer's record as the man with the most Grand Slam titles. It also marked his 100th win at the tournament, losing only twice in 16 years. His straight-sets victory over Djokovic marked also the 4th time that he won a Grand Slam without losing a set, all at the French Open, doing it also in 2008, 2010 and 2017.

At the Paris Masters, Nadal defeated compatriot Feliciano López in the second round to get his 1,000 victory in the ATP Tour, becoming the fourth man in the Open Era to achieve that milestone. He then reached the semi-finals where he lost to Alexander Zverev in straight sets.

On 9 November 2020, Nadal reached his 790th back to back week as one of the ten highest placed players on the ATP rankings and surpassed the record held by Jimmy Connors.

At the 2020 ATP Finals, Nadal played in the London 2020 group. He defeated Rublev and defending champion Tsitsipas progressing to the semi-finals and securing ending the year as no. 2. It was the first time since 2015 that Nadal reached the semi-finals. Nadal then lost his semi-final match to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev in three sets. This was the seventh time that Nadal had finished Year-end No. 2 and now leads the "Big Three" with 12 Top 2 finishes.

2021: 12th Barcelona Open and 10th Italian Open titles, and injury-shortened season

Main article: 2021 Rafael Nadal tennis season

At the 2021 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, despite being two sets to love up. This marked only the second time Nadal had lost a Grand Slam match after being two sets up. Nadal next played at the Monte Carlo Masters and defeated Federico Delbonis and Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals, where he lost to Andrey Rublev in three sets. On 25 April, Nadal won a record-extending twelfth Barcelona Open trophy with a three-set victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final, saving a championship point in the third set. At 3 hours and 38 minutes, this was the longest best-of-three-set ATP Tour final since statistics started being tracked in 1991. He followed up in May by making the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open and winning his record-extending tenth Italian Open title. In the latter, he saved two match points against Denis Shapovalov and defeated Novak Djokovic in the final.

At the French Open, Nadal entered as the heavy favorite seeking to become the first man to win 21 majors. He reached the semi-finals after wins over Jannik Sinner and Diego Schwartzman, where he encountered Novak Djokovic in a rematch of the previous year's final. There, Nadal was upset by eventual champion Djokovic in four sets, in only his third-ever loss at the French Open and his first loss in the semi-finals. Following his loss, Nadal withdrew from both Wimbledon and the Olympics, citing schedule reasons.

Nadal returned to action at the 2021 Citi Open, revealing that his recent withdrawals were actually due to a recurring left foot injury that returned at the 2021 French Open. He defeated home favorite Jack Sock in a tight 3 set match before being upset by 50th ranked Lloyd Harris in the 3rd round. He was then set to defend his title at the National Bank Open, but withdrew from the tournament before his first match, citing the same foot injury. He also withdrew from the Cincinnati Open.

On 20 August 2021, just 10 days out from the US Open, Nadal announced that would be ending his 2021 season due to the left foot issue that had been troubling him for most of the year. Therefore, his ranking fell to No.6, due to his injury.

Nadal returned to the court on 17 December 2021, in an exhibition match at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi. Receiving a bye in the quarterfinals, Nadal lost to Andy Murray in the semi-finals in straight sets. In the third place play-off, he lost to Denis Shapovalov in three sets.

2022: 21st and 22nd majors, and double Career Grand Slam

Main article: 2022 Rafael Nadal tennis season

In January, Nadal won his 89th ATP singles title at Melbourne Summer Set 1, defeating first time finalist Maxime Cressy in the final. Following wins over Karen Khachanov, Denis Shapovalov, and Matteo Berrettini, Nadal won his second Australian Open title and a 21st major title overall by defeating Daniil Medvedev in a five-set final, coming back from two sets down. With the win, Nadal surpassed a tie held with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer for the most men's singles major titles of all time. Nadal also became the second man in the Open Era, after Djokovic, to complete the double Career Grand Slam.

At the Mexican Open, Nadal won the title without dropping a set, which included a win over Medvedev, who that week had clinched the world No. 1 ranking. He also extended his winning streak to 15 matches, his best start to a season in his career. Nadal next entered the 2022 Indian Wells Open as the fourth seed. After seeing off a final set tie-break from Sebastian Korda in the second round, Nadal beat Dan Evans, Reilly Opelka, Nick Kyrgios, and Carlos Alcaraz to reach his fourth final of the season and extend his winning streak to 20 matches. Nadal was beaten by Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the final, ending his winning streak. On 22 March, it was reported that Nadal will be unable to play for between four and six weeks, due to a rib stress fracture that occurred during Indian Wells.

Nadal returned at the Madrid Open, where he defeated Miomir Kecmanović, David Goffin in the second and third rounds respectively. He then lost to Carlos Alcaraz in a rematch of their Indian Wells semi-final. Nadal then entered Rome, where he was the defending champion. He defeated John Isner in straight sets, but then lost to Denis Shapovalov in three sets despite leading by a set and a break.

At the French Open, Nadal recorded his 106th win defeating Jordan Thompson in the first round. With a 106–3 record at the French Open, he became the player with the most wins at a single major. He recorded his 300th career major win by defeating Corentin Moutet in the second round. He defeated Botic van de Zandschulp in the third round and faced Felix Auger Aliassime (coached by Nadal's uncle Toni) in the fourth round, winning the encounter after being taken to five sets for only the third time in his career at the French Open. Nadal met Djokovic for a record-extending 59th time in the quarterfinals – the first singles match in tennis history to feature two players each holding at least 20 Grand Slam titles and 1000 career match wins. Nadal emerged victorious in four sets to advance to his 15th French Open semi-final. He faced Alexander Zverev in a grueling battle lasting over three hours with only two sets played, and ended with Zverev's retirement due to an ankle injury. As a result, Nadal advanced to his record-extending 14th French Open final. There, he defeated Casper Ruud in three dominant sets to win his 14th French Open title and 22nd major title overall. In doing so, he became the then-oldest French Open champion ever, and the third man to earn four Top-10 wins en route to a major title since the ATP rankings started in 1973, after Mats Wilander (1982 French Open) and Roger Federer (2017 Australian Open). He ascended to world No. 4 on 6 June 2022.

After treating his foot injury, Nadal returned to Wimbledon for the first time in three years, however he tore an abdominal muscle during the tournament. Following wins over Francisco Cerúndolo, Ričardas Berankis, Lorenzo Sonego, and Botic van de Zandschulp, he faced Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinal, which aggravated his abdominal injury. Despite winning the encounter, Nadal withdrew from the tournament the following day.

After a six-week layoff following Wimbledon, Nadal lost in the opening round at the Cincinnati Open to eventual champion Borna Ćorić. Despite this setback, Nadal was the first to qualify for the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals. Nadal returned to the US Open after three years, where he won the tournament the last time he competed. He defeated Rinky Hijikata, Fabio Fognini and Richard Gasquet, before losing to American Frances Tiafoe. His fourth round loss to Tiafoe became his first and only loss at a major in 2022, and also resulted in his earliest major defeat since the 2017 Wimbledon Championships.

At the Laver Cup, Nadal competed for Team Europe alongside his fellow Big Four members Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. He played one match on Day 1, where he partnered in doubles with long-time rival Federer, for Federer's final professional match. They lost to Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe. Nadal withdrew from the tournament the following day, citing "personal reasons".

At the 2022 ATP Finals, Nadal won his last match of the year against Casper Ruud after losing his first two matches against Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger Aliassime. Nadal finished the 2022 season with a year-end ranking of world No. 2, becoming the oldest year-end top-2 player in the history of the ATP rankings.

2023: Injury struggles and exit from top 100 after 20 consecutive years

Nadal was the defending champion at the 2023 Australian Open, but lost in straight sets to Mackenzie McDonald in the second round. During the match, Nadal was severely hampered by a hip injury for which he received treatment. In late February, Nadal officially announced his withdrawal from the Indian Wells and Miami Masters to recuperate from the injury he sustained at the Australian Open. As a result, he exited the Top 10 for the first time since 25 April 2005 (after 18 years, 912 consecutive weeks) on 20 March 2023, ending the longest Top-10 streak in ATP rankings history. According to tournament organizers, Nadal was aiming to make a comeback despite the injury at the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters but withdrew in April. He later declined to enter the French Open as well, meaning he missed the entire clay court season. Nadal's withdrawal from the French Open meant he dropped out of the top 100 for the first time since 2003. He did not return for the grass-court season, including Wimbledon, nor the American hard-court season, including the US Open. As a result, he failed to qualify for the world tour finals. In September, he hinted he would like to return in 2024 and that next year might be his last year in professional tennis.

2024: Return to the ATP tour

Nadal began his season at the 2024 Brisbane International, after defeating former 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem 7–5, 6–1. He went on to defeat reigning 2023 Australian Open doubles champion Jason Kubler 6–1, 6–2. His run would be cut short in the quarterfinals after being defeated by Australian Jordan Thompson, who saved three match points against Nadal. During the match, he sustained a muscle injury, which forced him to miss the Australian Open. Nadal played Carlos Alcaraz in the Netflix Slam, a televised exhibition match on March 3, 2024, in Las Vegas.

On May 27, 2024, Nadal would be eliminated from the 2024 French Open after suffering his first ever first round loss to Alexander Zverev.