It took nearly five hours of gruelling tennis for Rafael Nadal to fend off Grigor Dimitrov and book a dream Australian Open final against Roger Federer but before Melbourne Park the Spaniard endured a season of heartache and doubt.
Federer's pullout from Cincinnati hands number one spot to the Spaniard
Rafael Nadal's return to action came to a shuddering halt on Friday when the Spaniard was beaten by Slovakia's Martin Klizan in a late-night quarter-final duel at the China Open.
Andy Murray's illustrious career finally came to an end as he and doubles partner Dan Evans were beaten 6-2, 6-4 by American pair Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul in the Olympics quarter-finals at Roland Garros on Thursday.
David Ferrer has backed fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal to bounce back to winnings ways, saying the latter will surely be a major contender in all the grand slams next year provided he remains injury-free.
Rafael Nadal began his year in perfect fashion with a three-set victory over Frenchman Gael Monfils in the Qatar Open in Doha on Saturday as he warms up for this month's Australian Open.
Australian Open holder Djokovic will make his ATP Cup debut for Serbia against South Africa in Brisbane on Saturday while Nadal will lead Spain into action against Georgia in Perth on the same day.
Tennis titans Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic met with Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday and visited the site of a deadly Bangkok bomb blast.
Rafael Nadal was reportedly happy to be on the dance floor, not on an actual one but on a tennis court, as the recovering Spaniard played in a new format called Fast4, which has been dubbed as disco tennis by some.
Rafael Nadal is adamant that he will not be discouraged by the memory of recent Wimbledon woes as he prepares to follow up his landmark 10th French Open triumph with a third success on the sport's most storied lawns.
Ferrer, 37, announced earlier in the year he would end his 19-year career at the Madrid Open and prolonged his time on court by a day by beating Roberto Bautista Agut on Tuesday, but was easily overpowered by world number four Zverev.
Rafael Nadal has been left out of Spain's Davis Cup squad for their World Group first-round match against Croatia this weekend due to fatigue.
Rafael Nadal is expected to be released from a clinic in Barcelona on Tuesday after undergoing a successful appendectomy, the world number three's spokesman said.
Top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic rallied to see off Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4 in the Shanghai Open quarter-finals on Friday and world number one Rafa Nadal also booked his place in the last four.
Rafael Nadal is hunting a record-extending and almost unbelievable 12th Roland Garros title is remarkable in itself.
Rafael Nadal continued his brilliant revival at the Australian Open to topple Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6(7), 6-4 on Wednesday and reach his first grand slam semi-final in three years.
Rafael Nadal reached the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-1, 6-0, 7-5 win over Israel's Dudi Sela on Friday, avoiding the fate that befell great rival Roger Federer who had earlier lost to Andreas Seppi.
The World No 4 is unfazed by rankings drop before Madrid tournament and the French Open.
Nadal, is known to have a superior win-loss record over most top players (including Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic), but believe it or not, there are players on the circuit who have an edge over Nadal.
A red hot Rafael Nadal ended a seven-match losing streak against Novak Djokovic in emphatic fashion by thrashing the world number two 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday to reach the final of the Madrid Open and move within a step of a third consecutive clay-court title.
Top seed Rafael Nadal produced a claycourt masterclass on Saturday to demolish German Denis Gremelmayr 6-1, 6-0 to reach the final of the Barcelona Open.
Former champions Stanislas Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal gave Australian Open organisers a massive boost on Tuesday when they both said they were looking forward to next week's season opening Grand Slam after battling long-term injuries.
Nick Kyrgios ended Novak Djokovic's 19-match winning run at Indian Wells by beating the Serb 6-4, 7-6(3) to reach the BNP Paribas Open quarter-finals in Indian Wells on Wednesday, while Roger Federer also advanced with a straight sets win over Rafael Nadal.
Spaniard Nadal was in all sorts of trouble, trailing by a set and 5-4 and with 69th-ranked Rosol serving at 30-0, but his Czech opponent framed a basic backhand volley at 30-15 and blew his chance, Nadal going on to win 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(4).
France showcased its cultural diversity, spirit of revolution, impeccable craftsmanship, and architectural heritage in a riveting opening ceremony for the 33rd Olympic Games.
Rafael Nadal flirted with a shock defeat at the Rome Masters as Novak Djokovic stretched his unbeaten run and Roger Federer eased through on Wednesday.
Fourteen-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal believes his call for all his anti-doping tests throughout his career to be released to the public is the only way to end the scourge of doping accusations in tennis. Nadal filed a lawsuit against former French sports minister Roselyne Bachelot on Monday after she accused him of covering up a failed drugs test. The Spaniard then requested that the International Tennis Federation release the results of his anti-doping tests throughout his career and in the future. "My philosophy is easy to understand. I believe in my sport, that is the most important thing, I believe my rivals are clean, our sport is clean and I believe in our anti-doping programme and it is independent one," Nadal said on Sunday. "The sport should be clean and must look clean. In my opinion it is much better for the transparency of the sport in general to say Rafa Nadal is doing an anti-doping control today, the result will be in two weeks and in two weeks you publish the results, the anti-doping control is negative. "That will be much easier for everybody, it should be much easier for the world of sport and for sure will be easier for you guys (the media).
Novak Djokovic etched his name into Olympic history, capturing the gold medal in a thrilling victory over Carlos Alcaraz.
Top seed Nadal extended his winning streak to 13 matches with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of American Jared Donaldson in the Qi Zhong Stadium before World No 2 Federer, to the delight of his sizeable Chinese fan club, got the better of Argentina's Diego Schwartzman 7-6(4), 6-4.
PHOTOS from the Wimbledon Championships matches played at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Saturday
Andy Murray reached the final of the Madrid Open for the second year running by beating Rafael Nadal in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday.
Serbia's Novak Djokovic beat Italy's Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-2 to reach his first Olympic final on Friday and will bid for gold in a blockbuster clash with Carlos Alcaraz.
Defending champion Rafael Nadal failed to win a single game in the opening set of his US Open quarter-final against Dominic Thiem on Tuesday but fought back to beat the Austrian 0-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5) in match that ended past 2 am in New York.
Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Indian Wells tournament on Saturday with a knee injury, shortly before his eagerly-awaited semi-final clash with great rival Roger Federer.
Rafa Nadal could face world number one Novak Djokovic, defending champion Roger Federer or home favourite Andy Murray as early as the Wimbledon quarter-finals after being announced as fifth seed for the tournament on Wednesday.
Seven-times Grand Slam John McEnroe knows how it feels when a tennis career starts going in the wrong direction.
The women's singles is wide open, Arantxa said, but picked Halep as favourite.
In Sunday's final the Belgian will meet Stefan Koubek, who beat Carlos Moya in the second semi-final at the Chennai Open.
He paid for losing the first two sets 6-3 6-4 and while he hit back impressively to win the next two by the same margin, he was unable to complete what would have been only his fourth recovery from two sets down. 'I played well for moments, but I was a lot of times fighting against the score, too many times in the fifth'
Rafael Nadal saw off Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-1, 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the last 16 of the Barcelona Open, while Andy Murray advanced after opponent Bernard Tomic withdrew.
