The career of Rafael Nadal in stats
Rafael Nadal has an almost unbelievable incredible set of career stats to his name. Join Tennishead for a closer look at his records.
5. Masters 1000 titles – 36
While Novak Djokovic boasts more Masters 1000 titles with 38, Nadal has dominated the clay events at 1000 level over his career.
The Spaniard has won Monte Carlo 11 times, Rome 10 times and Madrid five times for a total of 26 Masters titles on clay.
He further has three Indian Wells titles, five Canadian Open titles, a Cincinnati Masters and a Shanghai Masters.
Nadal has never won Miami but has reached the final there five times and has never won the Paris Masters, reaching the final once, in 2007.
4. Record against Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic – 52-46
Nadal has taken on the other members of the ‘Big Three’ 98 times over his career. His first meeting with one of the two came against Federer in Miami in 2004.
Against Federer, Nadal has a 24-16 win-loss record, including 10-4 at Slam level and 6-3 in Slam finals.
Versus Djokovic, the tie is closer and in favour of the Serb in what is the most storied rivalry in modern men’s tennis with 58 meetings.
Djokovic leads 30-28, but Nadal does lead their rivalry at Majors 10-6. Of those 10 wins, seven came at Roland Garros.
In Slam finals also Nadal is ahead, this time 5-4, three of which were at Roland Garros.
3. Career Golden Slam Champion
This is a category where Nadal has something over Federer and Djokovic. While all three men boast the Career Grand Slam, only Nadal can claim a Career Golden Slam among the three.
The Career Golden Slam consists of winning the Career Grand slam plus Olympic gold in singles.
Nadal won the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medal, defeating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in the gold medal match.
Federer claimed a silver medal at London 2012, while Djokovic has a bronze from Beijing 2008.
2. Most titles of any player ever at a single Slam – 14
Nadal’s record at Roland Garros is totally unprecedented. Since his debut in 2005, the Spaniard has gone 105-3 at the event, a win percentage of 97.2%.
Nadal has won 14 of the 18 Roland Garros events he has contested, has never lost a Roland Garros final and has only ever lost to two men there.
They are Robin Soderling, who beat Nadal in the fourth round in 2009, and Novak Djokovic, who defeated the Spaniard in the quarter-finals in 2015 and the semi-finals in 2021.
Nadal defeated Mariano Puerta in the 2005 final, Federer in the final in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2011, Soderling in the 2010 final, Djokovic in 2012, 2014 and 2020, David Ferrer in 2013, Stan Wawrinka in 2017 and Dominic Thiem in 2018 and 2019.
The next best record at a single Slam is held by Margaret Court, who won the Australian Open singles 11 times in total, four of which came in the Open Era.
1. Slam titles – 22
As discussed, 14 of Nadal’s 22 Major titles have come on the clay in Paris. Nonetheless, again as mentioned, he can claim the Career Grand Slam.
After reaching two finals in 2006 and 2007, Nadal finally won his first Wimbledon in 2008 in what some consider to be the greatest tennis match ever, defeating Federer in an epic five-set final.
He first won the Australian Open the following season in 2009, and has not won the event since despite reaching the final in 2012, 2014, 2017 and 2019.
Nadal then completed the Career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open, adding three more New York titles in 2013, 2017 and 2019.
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