On Thursday Rafael Nadal announced he will be retiring from tennis at the end of the year.
The decision brings an end to one of the most successful careers in the history of tennis. Since making his ATP debut at the 2002 Mallorca Open, Nadal has become one of the most recognizable faces in sport with a social media following of 21.7M on Instagram and 15.5M on X. Among his various achievements, the Spaniard is the first player to have ever completed a career Grand Slam twice and win two Olympic gold medals.
Here is a look at the figures behind Nadal’s record-breaking career.
5 Davis Cup titles – Nadal will end his career at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga later this year. It is a team event where he has enjoyed numerous successes and has played a part in his country winning the title on five occasions – 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2019.
11 doubles trophies won – this includes the 2016 Olympic Games and three Masters 1000 events. He played doubles at Grand Slams just five times between 2003 and 2005, reaching the semi-finals of the 2004 US Open.
15 Grand slams missed – this was due to injury or illness.
16 times qualified for the ATP Finals – unfortunately, this was one of the events he never won.
53 – the combined number of wins Nadal recorded over Novak Djokovic (29) and Roger Federer (24).
92 titles won – Nadal won at least one ATP title every year between 2004 and 2022. 22 of his titles were at Grand Slam events with 14 of them taking place at the French Open. He also won 36 Masters 1000 titles, 23 ATP 500’s/International series, 10 ATP 250’s/international series, and one Olympic gold in singles.
His most successful season in terms of titles won was in 2005 when he claimed a stunning 11 trophies.
97.4 win rate at Roland Garros – Nadal is the first player to win 100 matches at the Grand Slam. Overall he won 112 out of 116 games played with Djokovic being the only player to have beaten him multiple times.
186 wins over top 10 players – Overall, he played a top 10 player 291 times on the Tour which puts his win rate at 63.92%.
209 weeks as world No.1 – he is one of only six players to have spent 200 or more weeks in the top spot since the ranking system was created. Nadal was year-end No.1 on five separate occasions and his longest consecutive streak in top spot was 56 weeks.
912 consecutive weeks in the top 10 – the longest streak by a male player in the Open Era. The reign started in April 2005 and ended in March 2023.
1080 matches won – only three men in the Open Era have claimed more victories than Nadal on the ATP Tour. 518 of his wins were on hardcourts, 484 on clay, 76 on grass and two on Carpet.
$134,946,100 in prize money won – only Djokovic has earned more than him in the sport’s history. The earnings also include his doubles matches.
This figure doesn’t include Nadal’s other earnings such as endorsements and business deals. Forbes estimates that Nadal made $23M in off-court earnings between 2023 and 2024.
