
Rafael Nadal is recognized as one of the best tennis players ever, as well as one of the greatest athletes in the history of the sport. With 22 successes out of 30 finals played, he is the most successful tennis player in Grand Slam events in the men's singles: 14 Roland Garros, 4 US Open, 2 Wimbledon and 2 Australian Open. Along with Roy Emerson, Rod Laver and Novak Dokovic, he is one of only four tennis players capable of winning all the Majors at least twice. With 59 successes in the men's singles he is in second position in the ranking of victories of the Big Titles, the most important and prestigious tennis tournaments in the world. In addition to the aforementioned 22 Grand Slams, he won 36 Masters 1000 and 1 Olympics in singles in Beijing 2008. His palmarès also includes 23 ATP 500 and 10 ATP 250, 5 Davis Cups with the Spanish national team and 2 Laver Cups, as well as a another Olympic gold medal, this time in doubles at Rio 2016.
Nadal is considered the strongest player in the history of tennis on clay-courts. He is the only player between men and women to have won the same tournament, the Roland Garros, 14 times, with a balance of 112 victories and only three defeats. Rafa was number one in the ATP world for a total of 209 weeks, finishing 5 seasons in first place in the rankings. He is the only tennis player in history to have reached the No. 1 position in the ATP rankings over the course of three different decades. Furthermore, he is the tennis player who has occupied the second position for the longest time, remaining there for 160 consecutive weeks behind Roger Federer. He is the only player in history to never be relegated from the top 10 of the standings, as well as the absolute record holder for the number of consecutive weeks.