Rafael Nadal is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is ranked world number two (for 156 consecutive weeks)[citation needed], is a four-time singles French Open champion (2005-2008), and a two-time singles runner-up at Wimbledon (2006-07). He is also known as Rafa; short for Rafael. Nadal is undefeated at the French Open, having won all 28 matches played at that tournament. He has a storied rivalry with Roger Federer most notably for defeating the world number one at the French Open in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, so far denying Federer career any calender year Grand Slams. From April 2005 to May 2007, Nadal won a record 81 consecutive clay court matches before being defeated by Federer in the 2007 Hamburg Masters final. This is the longest winning streak of any male player on a single surface in the open era. These achievements have led many to regard Nadal as the greatest clay-court player in the history of the sport.

Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, Mallorca to Sebastián Nadal and Ana María Parera; he has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel, is a retired professional football player, having played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team.Nadal remains an avid supporter of RCD Mallorca, as well as Real Madrid. His other uncle, Toni- a profesional tennis player himself, introduced him to tennis at a young age and has been coaching him ever since.

Although Nadal plays left-handed, he is naturally right-handed. When he was younger, his coach, Toni Nadal aka Uncle Toni, decided that his two-handed backhand would benefit from a strong right arm, so he taught Rafael to play with his left. It was not until Nadal was 12 that he decided to pursue a career in tennis instead of soccer. In May 2001, when Nadal was 14 years old, tennis great Pat Cash played a clay-court exhibition match against him. Cash, who was originally scheduled to play Boris Becker, was reluctant to play against Nadal, taking offense to this last minute change of opponent. Cash lost the match by a close margin. Nadal also trained at Nick Bollettieri's tennis camp in Florida for a short time during two summers in his early teens.

Nadal's playing style is best tailored for clay courts; although currently his tennis is suited to all courts. In past years Rafa has been called a clay court specialist. But he has suited his game for grass and hard courts in the last 2 years. Playing with a strong two-handed backhand, well-angled topspin heavy strokes, fast mobility on the court, excellent defense and a preference to play from the deep court, he has developed into one of the best clay court players in the history of the game, if not the single, greatest, clay player to have ever lived.