Rafael Nadal Parera was born in Manacor, Mallorca, Spain on June 3, 1986 to Sebastian, a restaurant owner and businessman and Ana Maria. He stands at 6 feet 1 inch and weighs 189 pounds. He plays tennis with a left hand but is actually right handed off the court.

Known as simply Rafael Nadal or Rafa, this young man has ranked consistently as the number two tennis player in the world since July, 2005 next only to the great Roger Federer. Nadal started his interest in tennis at a very tender age. He played his very first tennis championship tournament at the age of 8 in Baleares.

Nadal became a tennis professional in 2001 when he was just 15 years old, winning his first ATP match and becoming the ninth player to have done so before reaching 16 years old. In 2003, when Nadal was only 16, he ranked among the top 100 singles player of the world. He was the second-youngest tennis player to have ever done so. At 17, Nadal’s debut at the Wimbledon earned him the honor of being the youngest male player to have reached the third round since 1984 after the 16-year old Boris Becker.

2005 was definitely Nadal’s year as he won two ATP Masters Series events in Rome and Monte Carlo. It was also in this year that Nadal won 24 consecutive games, breaking the record of Andre Agassi in winning 23 matches in a row in 1988. In May, 2005, Nadal had reached the top 5 ranking in the world making him the youngest player to enter the top 10 since Andrei Medvedev in 1993.

On his 19th birthday Nadal defeated Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the French Open. Two days later Nadal championed the French Open, garnering the title of being the fourth youngest tennis player to have done so. He also won his first Grand Slam event and was only the seventh player to have triumphed in their first attempt. Nadal also holds the honor of being one of the only two players in the world to have won at Roland Garros in their first try. Nadal was the first teenager to have a Grand Slam singles title since the 19-year old Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open. Since the win of Agassi in 1988, Nadal was the first teenager to have triumphed in at least six titles in the same year.

In May of 2006, Nadal crushed Federer in the Rome Masters giving him the record of winning 53 games in a row on clay. It was also in this year that Nadal went on to again conquer Federer in the 2006 French Open. He was ecstatic with his victory saying “Federer is the best player in history - no other player has ever had such quality.”

By April of 2007, Nadal won the Monte Carlo Masters against Federer but Federer took revenge by winning the Hamburg Masters title against Nadal. However, in June, 2007 Nadal won his third consecutive French Open title against Roger Federer in the finals.