Rafael Nadal
Rafael aka “Rafa” Nadal Parera is a legendary tennis player from Spain who is currently ranked No. 3 in the world. He is recognized as “The King of Clay” because he is largely recognized as the greatest clay-court player in history. His transformation into an all-court menace has cemented his place as one of tennis’ best all-rounders, with some even considering him the greatest player of all time.
Nadal has won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, a record 27 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and a record 15 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments. In 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2011, he was a member of the winning Spain Davis Cup team. In 2010, he became the seventh player in history to complete the Career Grand Slam and the youngest of four in the Open Era. After Andre Agassi, he became the second male player to accomplish the singles Career Golden Slam. Nadal was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2011.
Only two male players in history, Rafael Nadal and Mats Wilander have obtained at least two Grand Slam titles on three separate surfaces: hard court, grass, and clay. By winning the 2014 French Open, Nadal became the first and only male player to win a single Grand Slam title nine times, breaking the previous mark of eight years held by Björn Borg, Pete Sampras, and Roger Federer. After winning the Monte-Carlo Masters for the seventh time in a row in 2012, Nadal set the record for most consecutive titles at a single tournament. At least one Masters 1000 and one ATP 500 series tournament has been won by him.
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a professional tennis player from Switzerland who is presently rated No. 2 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Federer is widely regarded as the greatest tennis player of all time by most experts and players. Since October 2002, he has been in the top ten, and since April 2001, he has been in the top twenty.
Federer owns a number of Open Era records, including being world No. 1 for 302 weeks (including 237 consecutive weeks), winning 17 Grand Slam singles championships, reaching each Grand Slam Final at least five times (an all-time high), and reaching the Wimbledon final nine times. He is one of only seven men (and four in the Open Era) to win a Grand Slam in his career. Federer also holds the Open Era record for most titles won in the Australian Open (4), Wimbledon (7), and the US Open (7), which he shares with Andre Agassi and Novak Djokovic (5).
From the 2005 Wimbledon Championships until the 2010 Australian Open, Federer reached 25 men’s singles Grand Slam finals, including 10 in a row, and 18 of 19 finals, both records. He reached the semifinals of 23 Grand Slam tournaments in a row from the 2004 Wimbledon Championships to the 2010 Australian Open. At the 2014 US Open, he reached a record 43rd Grand Slam quarter-final and a record 36th Grand Slam semi-final, marking his 60th Grand Slam appearance. In the 2013 French Open, Federer had reached his 36th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final. Federer holds the record for most Grand Slam wins (281) and is the first player to win 60 or more.
