Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is ranked No. 3 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals, has been ranked No. 1 in the ATP rankings for 209 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 five times.

 

Bio
Full Name	Rafael Nadal Parera
Nickname	Rafa
Profession	Tennis Player
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 185 cm in meters- 1.85 m in feet- 6' 1"
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	Dark Brown
Tennis
International Debut	Turned pro in 2001
Coach/Mentor	Toni Nadal
Nature on field	Aggressive
Favourite Shot	Forehand
Achievements (main ones)	• 14 Grand Slam titles. • 69 singles career titles. • 4 consecutive Rolland Garros titles. • Achieved the highest ranking of No.1 in August 2008. • He has won 792 games in his career while losing only 167.
Career Turning Point	Defeating Roger Federer at the 2008 Wimbledon final.
Personal Life
Date of Birth	3 June 1986
Age (as of 2020)	34 Years
Birthplace	Manacor, Balearic Islands, Spain
Zodiac sign	Gemini
Nationality	Spaniard
Hometown	Manacor, Balearic Islands, Spain
Family	Father- Sebastian Nadal (Spaniard) Mother- Ana Maria Parera (Portuguese)
Religion	Catholic
Ethnicity	Spanish (Catalan)
Hobbies	Football, Video Games, Fishing
Controversies	• Nadal has been constantly accused of doping probably because of his body size and muscles. No allegation ever came true. • Nadal allegedly refused to team up with or play against Nick Kyrgios at a charity event in USA. When asked about this, he dismissed the allegations as rumours. • Nadal once said that playing on hard courts damages the legs, neck and back of players and urged ATP to organize more clay and grass court tournaments. This statement set the whole tennis fraternity on fire and he was criticized for such a statement.
Favourite Things
Tennis Player	Pete Sampras
Food	Fish, Pasta, French Fries, Ice-cream, Chocolate cookies.
Film	Gladiator, Titanic
Singer	Alejandro Sanz, Bryan Adams, Bon Javi
Girls, Family & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	October 2019
Marriage Place	La Fortaleza, a luxury seaside estate in Majorca, Spain
Affairs/Girlfriends	Maria Francisca Perello
Wife	María Francisca (Mery) Perelló Pascual (Xisca Perello)
Style Quotient
Cars Collection	Mercedes Benz SL55, Aston Martin DBS
Money Factor
Net Worth	$120 Million

 

Some Lesser Known Facts About Rafael Nadal

 

• Does Rafael Nadal smoke: No

• Does Rafael Nadal drink alcohol: Yes

• Toni Nadal, Rafa’s coach and Uncle turned him into a left handed player by making him follow a strict left handed practice schedule. His Uncle believed that by doing this, Nadal would always carry an element of surprise over his opponents.

• Nadal has a very peculiar superstition; he crosses the lines of the court with his right foot only and never steps on them.

• After arriving on the court he places his bag on the bench and turns his tournament ID face up.

• An Asteroid, “128036 Rafaelnadal”, has been named after him. This Asteroid is currently located between Mars and Jupiter.

• Nadal is the quickest player to reach 400 wins by playing less than 500 matches.

• Nadal won 24 consecutive matches as a teenager in 2005, the longest winning streak by a teenager in open era.

• Nadal has the longest winning streak on a single surface in the open era. He won 81 back to back matches on clay courts before losing to Roger Federer in the finals of Masters Series Hamburg.

• Nadal has never broken a tennis racket in anger or frustration. He thinks that doing this would be an insult to all the people who have to buy a tennis racket to play the sport.

• Rafael Nadal is the only player to have won atleast one tier-1, tier-2 & tier-3 tournament yearly for 10 straight years from 2005-2014.

• Nadal won two matches which have unbelievably lasted the same length of time of 5 hours and 14 minutes. One match was against Guilermo Coria in 2005 Rome Masters Final and the other was against Fernando Verdasco at the Australian Open 2009.

• Rafael Nadal is the only player to win consecutive Grand Slams on three different surfaces. He achieved this record in 2010.

• He is the only player to win 4 French Open titles in a row.

• Nadal is so afraid of the darkness that he sleeps with the lights on.

• The film “Strokes of Genius” showcases Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal‘s lives with their famed 2008 Wimbledon championship, an epic match in the history of tennis. The film was released on 17 December 2019.