Page 3 - Rafael Nadal

WATCH: Messi vs Ronaldo - Rafael Nadal picks the best footballer in world

Nadal has been spending quality with his family after announcing that he would not play any competitive tennis in 2023 ahead of the French Open tournament early this year.

Wimbledon: Nadal lauds Alcaraz after victory over Novak Djokovic in final

The 20-year-old Spaniard snapped Djokovic's 34-match winning streak at Wimbledon with his four-hour, 42-minute victory in a most incredible fashion

23rd Grand Slam wins the GOAT debate for Djokovic, at least statistically

23 Grand Slam titles (most), most weeks at number one (388), 38 ATP Masters 1000 titles (most), and six ATP World Tour final titles (joint most). Djokovic is clearly the GOAT, statistically

Djokovic breaks tie with Nadal by reaching 17th French Open quarterfinals

Novak Djokovic broke a tie with rival Rafael Nadal by reaching the French Open quarterfinals for the record 17th time, never truly in trouble during a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Juan Pablo Varillas on Sunday. Djokovic is closing on bettering Nadal in a more prestigious category: Grand Slam singles championships. Both currently sit at 22. For Djokovic, that total includes two at Roland Garros, in 2016 and 2021, and he can become the first man to own at least three trophies from each major tournament. Nadal is a 14-time champion in Paris but is missing this time because of a hip injury; he had arthroscopic surgery Friday night. Against the 94th-ranked Varillas, who had never won a Slam match until this event and then took three in a row in five sets, Djokovic was, not surprisingly, at his dominant best at Court Philippe Chatrier on a warm, sunny day. The 36-year-old from Serbia finished with more than twice as many winners, 35-15, and fewer unforced errors. He went 15 for 17 on trips

Rafael Nadal is expected to miss 5 more months after having hip surgery

Rafael Nadal is expected to need about five months to recover from arthroscopic surgery on his left hip, a timeline that likely would keep him out for the rest of this season. Nadal's spokesman, Benito Perez-Barbadillo, said on Saturday the 22-time Grand Slam champion's 37th birthday that two procedures were performed Friday night by a trio of doctors at a clinic in Barcelona. One portion of the operation was for a tendon, the other for an old labrum injury. When Nadal announced last month that he would be missing the French Open because of the hip problem that has sidelined him since January, he said he hoped to be able to return at some point in 2023 but that he expected next year to be the last of his career.

Nadal has arthroscopic surgery for injury that took him out of French Open

Rafael Nadal had arthroscopic surgery on Friday night for the injured left hip flexor that forced him to sit out the French Open for the first time since he won the first of his record 14 titles there in his 2005 tournament debut. Nadal's spokesman, Benito Perez-Barbadillo, said three doctors were involved in the procedure, which was taking place in Barcelona. Perez-Barbadillo said he expected to be able to pass along information about the operation on Saturday, which is Nadal's 37th birthday. The Spaniard hasn't competed anywhere since he lost to Mackenzie McDonald in the second round of the Australian Open on Jan. 18. Nadal's movement clearly was restricted for much of that match and he ended up with his earliest exit at any Grand Slam tournament since 2016. An MRI exam the next day revealed the extent of the injury, and Perez-Barbadillo said at the time that Nadal was expected to need up to two months to fully recover. He initially aimed to enter the Monte Carlo Masters in March

French Open 2023: First time since 2004, Nadal won't play at Roland Garros

The King of Clay has also hinted that if he is able to get fit for the next Roland Garros in 2024, it would be his last

Rafael Nadal aims to make comeback from hip injury at Monte Carlo

Rafael Nadal is aiming to make his comeback from a hip injury at the clay-court Monte Carlo Masters next month, organizers said Wednesday. The 22-time Grand Slam champion has been sidelined with a left hip flexor injury since the Australian Open, and pulled out of hard-court tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami. The Monte Carlo Masters begins on April 8 and tournament director David Massey is optimistic Nadal will play. Rafa was the first (player) to be registered," Massey said in statement. He really wants to play at the Monte Carlo Masters and is giving himself every chance to take part in the tournament he's so fond of. Nadal has won the tournament a record 11 times, including an Open Era record streak of eight consecutive titles from 2005 to 2012. The 36-year-old Spaniard uses the event as a key part of his preparations for the French Open, which takes place May 28-June 11. Nadal has won 14 of his major titles on clay at Roland Garros, including last year while dealing with

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal can only meet in final at Australian Open

Rivals Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were placed on opposite halves of the Australian Open bracket in the draw Thursday, meaning the owners of a combined 43 Grand Slam singles titles could only meet in the final at Melbourne Park. Djokovic, a nine-time champion in Australia, returns to the hard-court tournament after missing it last year when his visa was revoked and he was deported from the country because he isn't vaccinated against COVID-19. He also couldn't compete at the 2022 U.S. Open. Fourth-seeded Djokovic will open his bid for a 10th Australian Open title against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the tournament which begins Monday. Iga Swiatek, the women's No. 1-ranked player, takes on German Jule Niemeier, who is ranked No.68, in the opening round. The Polish player was a semifinalist at Melbourne Park in 2022, a year in which she won the French and U.S. Open titles. But the main first-round focus will be on Nadal, who faces a potentially challenging match against ...

Rafael Nadal loses in three sets to Britain's Norrie at United Cup

Rafael Nadal has ended an up-and-down 2022 with a 3-6 6-3 6-4 loss to Britain's Cameron Norrie at the United Cup mixed teams tournament on Saturday. Nadal won the Australian Open and French Open to take his career Grand Slam si ngles total to a leading 22. But foot, rib and abdomen injuries meant he played only four events after Wimbledon in July. Norrie's win gave Britain a 1-0 lead over Spain. Norrie failed to win a set in his four previous matches against Nadal. "It was pretty crazy. I was thinking I'd never won a set before, so I wanted to come out and firstly do that," Norrie said. "It was a super physical match and I enjoyed it. It's a great way to end 2022 for me." In other matches, Top-ranked Iga Swiatek gave Poland an early lead over Kazakhstan when she beat Yulia Putintseva 6-1 6-3 at Brisbane. "First matches of the season are always kind of rusty, so I'm happy that in the important moments I was really composed," Swiatek said. At Perth, Bulgaria and Belgium were leve

From Commonwealth Games to Fifa WC, 2022 was a year of reset for sports

2022 was about one sporting great finally realising his dream and another bowing out after having done it all

New dad Rafael Nadal doesn't care about playing for the No. 1 rank

Rafael Nadal is a different man. He's losing sleep over his newborn baby and not so much the No. 1 ranking. Even with all of his absences, Nadal has a shot at finishing the season as the world No. 1. He has racked up 5,820 points, trailing only the top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who has 6,650. But Nadal made clear on Tuesday what his priorities were when he was peppered with questions about fighting for the year-end No. 1 spot. There will be no fight. Nadal has achieved the coveted year-end No. 1 ranking five times, tied with Roger Federer, and trailing only Novak Djokovic (7) and Pete Sampras (6). I don't fight to be No. 1, Nadal said at a Paris Masters news conference. Something that I said since long time ago: I will not fight anymore to be No. 1. I did in the past. I achieved that goal a couple of times in my career that I have been very, very happy and proud about. But I am in a moment of my tennis career that I don't fight to be No. 1. For now, he wants to be a No. 1 dad. He's

Federer, Nadal, Djokovic set new bar of Tennis for next generations

Here is one way to look at what Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and the now-retired Roger Federer accomplished: The group known as the Big Three of men's tennis accumulated so many Grand Slam titles 63 in all that it seems unlikely anyone will reach the standards they set. Not anytime soon, certainly. Here was another way to think about things as the professional level of the sport began its post-Federer life on Saturday, following the last match of his career: What he and the other two members of that distinguished trio, along with Serena Williams, managed to do was demonstrate that it is possible to dominate for decades, not merely years, at a time. And the 41-year-old Federer, for one, thinks up-and-coming players can learn from the way he and the others of his era went about it, from their self-belief and attitudes about setting goals to their training, nutrition and other methods of ensuring longevity. He laughed when relaying a conversation with Bjorn Borg, who is the captain

Roger Federer's trophy-laden career ends in defeat at London's O2 Arena

It was surely unthinkable that Roger Federer's trophy-laden career would end with a defeat but that is what transpired as the 41-year-old Swiss maestro lost alongside Rafa Nadal on an emotional night

Federer to team up in doubles at Laver Cup in his last match with Nadal

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will team up in doubles at the Laver Cup on Friday in what Federer has announced will the final match of his long and illustrious career. Federer, owner of 20 Grand Slam titles, and his longtime rival Nadal, owner of a men's-record 22 major championships. will pair up for Team Europe against the Team World duo of U.S. Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe and Jack Sock. The lineup for Day 1 at the competition founded by Federer's management company was announced Thursday. The singles matches will be two-time Grand Slam runner-up Casper Ruud against Sock, and 2021 French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas against Diego Schwartzman during the day session, and three-time major champion Andy Murray against Alex de Minaur at night, before the Federer-Nadal doubles match.

Tennis legend Roger Federer's goodbye will be in doubles, maybe with Nadal

Federer said he is now at peace with the decision to walk away, and he wants this farewell to be a celebration.

'I wish this day would have never come': Nadal on Federer's retirement

After Roger Federer's announcement that next week's Laver Cup will be his final ATP event, his friend and rival Rafael Nadal said that it's a sad day for him personally and for sports around the world

US Open: Tiafoe continues magical run, top seed Swiatek reaches semifinals

The 21-year-old will then face Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the semifinals after the sixth seed's 6-1, 7-6(4) dismissal of 2016 US Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova earlier on Wednesday

As Serena leaves, Nadal loses, Federer and Djokovic absent, is era over?

Serena Williams, you might have heard, played what's expected to be her last match at the U.S. Open. Rafael Nadal lost in the fourth round. Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer (more on them later) weren't even in the tournament. Those four players dominated, and were the main draws, in tennis for decades, collecting a total of 86 Grand Slam singles titles, each with at least 20. And so, as the quarterfinals began at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday without any member of that quartet present, it made sense to ask: Is this the end of an era? The 36-year-old Nadal sounded a philosophical note about the topic after he was bounced by 24-year-old American Frances Tiafoe 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Monday. "Some depart, others come and the world keeps going. It's a natural cycle," said Nadal, who noted that his wife is pregnant with their first child and so he isn't sure when he will play next. "It's always the same. The same one have been up there several years; others are coming and we will be leavin

Frances Tiafoe stuns No 2 seed Rafael Nadal, enters US Open quarterfinals

Frances Tiafoe of America stunned four-time champion Rafael Nadal on Monday at the US Open to reach his second Grand Slam quarterfinals