Let us forget tennis for a while and take a look at Nadal's grand birthday cakes at the Roland Garros over the years. It is a tradition which cannot be interrupted!
The draw for the first Grand Slam of the season was made on Thursday and the top seeds could face some early tests of their credentials when play gets underway in Melbourne on Monday.
Change might be afoot though, according to American great John McEnroe
Czech defending champion Katerina Siniakova fended off Maria Sharapova in a fiercely contested match at the Shenzhen Open on Friday to set up a final with world number one Simona Halep.
World No 1 Novak Djokovic and fourth-seeded Andy Murray each had to contend with different degrees of adversity before they advanced.
Roger Federer registers his 1,000 ATP career win.
IMAGES from the matches played on Day 2 of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on Tuesday.
Australian Open organisers have tweaked their 'Extreme Heat Policy' for next year's tournament after being accused of forcing players to perform in "inhuman" conditions during a heatwave in January.
It is the first time the final match of the season will decide who is ranked number one.
Two-time champion Novak Djokovic thumped Spain's David Ferrer 6-4, 6-2 to march into the last four of the Shanghai Masters on Friday and set up a semi-final showdown with third seed Roger Federer.
List of US Open men's singles champions since the Open Era began in 1968:
Djokovic, the ninth seed, was originally scheduled to play Australian Open semi-finalist Chung Hyeon but the 22-year-old South Korean withdrew with a back injury about an hour before the match was due to start.
Grigor Dimitrov reached his first grand slam quarter-final in over two years on Monday by defeating an injury-hampered Denis Istomin 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-1 to end the Uzbek wildcard's fairytale run at the Australian Open.
A rampaging Roger Federer delivered a stunning reminder of his class at the Australian Open on Friday with a crushing 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 win over Tomas Berdych to storm into the fourth round.
It was a case of down but definitely not out as a Rafael Nadal kept picking himself off a slippery and dusty Centre Court surface to storm into the Wimbledon semi-finals with a pulsating 7-5, 6-7(7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 over Juan Martin del Potro.
Andy Murray is undefeated since September, has won 24 matches in succession and his win-loss record since losing to Novak Djokovic in the French Open final is 53-3.
The Swiss squandered seven set points in the opener and although he took the second on a tiebreak he capitulated in the decider after dropping serve at 1-2, losing 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-1.
World number five Juan Martin del Potro began his 2014 season with a win, albeit a scrappy one over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut to advance to the quarter-finals of the Sydney International on Wednesday.
A refreshed Roger Federer's clinical demolition of Jarkko Nieminen in his first match of 2014 suggested he could be a factor in the first major of the year.
Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams face challenging early tests at the US Open following Friday's draws for the year's last Grand Slam starting on Monday.
Britain's Andy Murray enjoyed a routine win over Argentina's Juan Monaco to ease into the third round of the tennis tournament at the Rio Games on Tuesday, while Spain's world number nine David Ferrer was knocked out.
The 36-year-old Swiss master needs only to reach the semi-finals at the ABN Amro tennis event to overtake Rafael Nadal at the top of the ATP rankings and become world number one for the first time since November 2012.
Factbox on Serbia's Novak Djokovic who won his sixth Australian Open men's singles title on Sunday.
Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic made a strong return to competition on Friday by beating Viktor Troicki 6-3, 7-5 to reach the third round of the Miami Open.
Rafael Nadal swept into the quarter-finals of the Italian Open on Thursday with a ruthless 6-4, 6-1 victory over Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov. The top seed, who will reclaim the world number one ranking from Roger Federer if he wins his eighth title in Rome, turned in a near-flawless performance, losing only five service points as he honed in on victory in an hour and 22 minutes.
Take a look at six of the up-and-comers who could upset the top names at the year's first Grand Slam.
All the results from the matches played in the BNP Paribas Paris Masters on Tuesday
List of US Open men's singles champions since the open era began in 1968:
With the physical demands of modern-day tennis taking its toll the tournament will start without four of the top 11 in the ATP rankings including defending champion Stan Wawrinka who ended his season early with a knee injury.
Images from Day 1 at the Australian Open.
Novak Djokovic had to fight back from a set down to beat Thomaz Bellucci and reach the Italian Open quarter-finals.
As Real Madrid star striker Cristiano Ronaldo watched, the World No 4 Nadal went past Italian Bolelli to set up a quarter-final clash against 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
The 16-year-old backed his aggressive backhand throughout the contest and went on to win 17 of his 23 points at the net to seal victory in 61 minutes.
Four-time Wimbledon semi-finalist Tim Henman of Great Britain has his money on Novak Djokovic as the favourite to win the Australian Open while Roger Federer's best chance to add to his kitty of 17 Grand Slams is at the Wimbledon, this year.
apanese casual wear designer Uniqlo has signed the 36-year-old Swiss as a global brand ambassador in a deal reported to be worth around $30 million a year.
Rediff.com brings you the second instalment of the Best Sports Photos of the Year!
Raucous home support for holders Argentina did not make up for the absence of Juan Martin del Potro and Federico Delbonis on Friday as they fell 2-0 behind to Italy in the first round of the Davis Cup.
Andy Murray's dream of winning a maiden Australian Open title was left in tatters on Sunday after the top seed and world number one was knocked out in the fourth round by Mischa Zverev.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer notched up contrasting victories to reach the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals on Thursday while David Ferrer fought back from a set down to knock out Andy Murray.
The match ended in 52 minutes as Williams played her forehand into the net.
