“Will make things really difficult for Carlos Alcaraz” – Rafael Nadal’s uncle Toni on Jannik Sinner being “unstoppable” after US Open triump

Rafael Nadal, popularly called the King of Clay, is the greatest single-surface expert that tennis has ever seen, and one of the greatest players overall.

With 17 Grand Slams to his name, Nadal is second only to Roger Federer in the list of all-time Slam leaders. More strikingly though, Nadal has won a staggering 11 French Open titles, making him by far the most successful player ever at a single Major.

While he started out as a nemesis to arch-rival Federer, regularly defeating the Swiss ace on all surfaces, Nadal has over the years developed into an all-court great in his own right.

Best finish at each of the four Grand Slams:

Australian Open: Champion (2009)

French Open: 12-time Champion (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018,2019)

Wimbledon: 2-time Champion (2008, 2010)

US Open: 4-time Champion (2010, 2013, 2017,2019)

Highest Ranking: No. 1 ( 18 August 2008 )

No. of weeks at No. 1: 200

Style of play, strengths and weaknesses

In his younger days Nadal was purely a defensive counterpuncher, relying on his patience, speed and endurance to outlast his opponents. For that reason, most of his early success came on clay – which rewards defense more than offense.

In recent times though, Nadal has become a more offensive player, standing closer to the baseline and taking the initiative in points as soon as possible. That has made him a significantly bigger threat on non-clay surfaces, and has helped him win big titles on grass and hardcourts too.

Nadal’s forehand is a legendary shot and is his single biggest weapon, giving nightmares to all his rivals – most notably Federer. The Spaniard uses an extreme western grip on the forehand, which enables him to impart tremendous topspin and get the ball bouncing up to the shoulders of his opponents. Since he is a left-hander, his stock shot – the crosscourt forehand – goes into the backhand corner of right-handed players, and that makes it difficult for them to do much with the reply. The Nadal forehand is particularly difficult to deal with for players with single-handed backhands.

His backhand is very solid too. While he used that wing mainly as a rally shot early on, in recent times he has started flattening it out, turning it into another lethal weapon. His crosscourt backhand is one of the best in the world, and many attribute that to the fact that he is ambidextrous; he can hit equally hard off both sides.

Nadal’s foot speed and court coverage rank among the best in the history of the sport. Players often blast missile groundstrokes into the corners, thinking they have earned a winner, only for Nadal to come sprinting out of nowhere and make an astonishing get. By forcing his opponents to keep hitting one extra shot, he elicits numerous errors out of them, which is especially useful on clay.