Rafa Nadal kept alive his chances of ending his 11 month title drought by taming tenacious Argentine David Nalbandian 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open on Sunday.
Factbox on Rafa Nadal, who won his eighth French Open tennis title on Sunday.
Australian Open champion Rafa Nadal said he would love to finish his career with more Grand Slam titles than rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic but thinks he will have to secure more than 21 to do so.
Rafa Nadal became the first player in the open era to win two tournaments seven times when he fought off tenacious Spanish compatriot David Ferrer 7-6, 7-5 to win a thrilling Barcelona Open final on Sunday.
All the top three's charitable talk of new challengers ready to end their Grand Slam hegemony at the Australian Open has come to nothing and the top two seeds Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal will contest their third consecutive major final on Sunday.
Britain's Andy Murray became overwhelming favourite for an Asian hat-trick as main rival Rafa Nadal was beaten in the third round of the Shanghai Masters on Thursday.
Andy Murray reduced Rafa Nadal's granite-like resistance to rubble as he stunned the Spaniard 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 to capture the Japan Open on Sunday.
Nadal had previously said this year could be his final one on the tour.
Novak Djokovic proved he is the dominant force in men's tennis by outplaying defending champion Rafa Nadal to win Wimbledon for the first time with an emphatic 6-4, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 victory in the final on Sunday.
If there was any doubt before, there is now no question that Rafa Nadal can and most probably will better Roger Federer's record of 16 Grand Slam titles following the Spaniard's French Open success over the Swiss.
World number one Rafael Nadal continued his smooth progress at the ATP event in Indian Wells on Tuesday, easing past Russian Dmitry Tursunov 6-3, 6-3 to reach the fourth round. Champion Novak Djokovic though survived a testing second set to beat German Tommy Haas 6-2, 7-6.
World number one Rafael Nadal survived the longest match in Australian Open history to reach his first Melbourne Park final and earn a chance to deny rival Roger Federer a record-equalling 14th grand slam singles crown.
Rafa Nadal fluffed his lines on the return from five-week break when the Spanish world number two was stunned 1-6, 7-6, 7-6 by unheralded Croatian Ivan Dodig in his opening match of the Montreal Masters on Wednesday.
'He's so important for our game, one of the greatest legends of tennis in the history of the game.'
Andy Murray felt 'gutted' for Rafa Nadal when the Spaniard limped out of the Australian Open with a knee injury but said he deserved his place in the semi-finals after putting on a dazzling display.
Rafa Nadal lost the Wimbledon final on Sunday and will concede the number one ranking to his conqueror Novak Djokovic but the gritty Spaniard has known worse times.
Rafa Nadal avoided a similar fate to beaten World No 1 Novak Djokovic when he dismissed French young gun Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-4 to claim a place in the third round of the Madrid Open on Wednesday.
The mercury was rising at Wimbledon on Saturday as the serial trophy hunters gathered in the last 16 with defending champions Rafa Nadal, Serena Williams and Roger Federer leading the charge.
A battle-scarred Rafa Nadal admitted he got lucky as he moved into the semi-finals of the Australian Open on Wednesday with a 3-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov.
Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer set the stage for a grand finale to the men's season on Saturday when they demonstrated just what seperates them from the bunch to seal a dream final at the ATP World Tour Finals.
Mirra Andreeva became the youngest player to win a WTA 1000 title when the 17-year-old beat Clara Tauson in the Dubai Tennis Championships final
'Heading to dinner with some friends,' Roger captioned a selfie clicked with fellow legends Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, with the London Bridge in the background.
Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer remained on course for their first head-to-head clash this year after easily winning their third round matches at the Sony Ericsson Open on Monday.
Spain's Rafa Nadal charged into his first US Open final after beating Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in Saturday's first semi-final at Flushing Meadows.
Spaniard Rafa Nadal confirmed on Monday he was fit to pursue an eighth consecutive victory at the season's opening clay court tournament in Monte Carlo after recovering from a recurrent knee injury.
Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer each needed three sets to reach the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells ATP tournament on Wednesday while Rafa Nadal advanced with a comfortable victory over Alexandr Dolgopolov.
Fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer was ousted from the Indian Wells ATP tournament on Tuesday as Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer both moved into the fourth round.
Novak Djokovic believes Rafa Nadal may soon displace him as world number one and has plenty of time to break Roger Federer's benchmark 17 major titles after the Spaniard roared to the US Open title at Flushing Meadows on Monday.
Rafa Nadal was forced to pull out of his semi-final against Andy Murray at the Sony Ericsson Open because of a recurrence of a knee injury.
By winning the U.S. Open for the first time and completing his collection of grand slam titles, Rafa Nadal solved one riddle and posed another.
World number one Rafa Nadal battled back to defeat Frenchman Julien Benneteau 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 at the Cincinnati Masters on Thursday and Britain's Andy Murray needed a final set tiebreak to beat Latvia's Ernests Gulbis.
Having achieved the glittering distinction of becoming the only man to win eight singles titles at the same Grand Slam tournament, French Open champion Rafa Nadal was soon dreaming of another priceless thing on Sunday -- to be left alone.
Champion Rafa Nadal has withdrawn from next week's Wimbledon warm-up tournament at Queen's Club with a knee injury, organisers said on Friday. The Wimbledon champion has been struggling with knee problems and has been advised to rest by doctors.
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.
An hour after one of the worst beatings of his career Rafa Nadal refused to be too downhearted on Tuesday and said he was still in contention at the ATP World Tour Finals.
Rafa Nadal was less than his dominant best on the clay at the Barcelona Open on Thursday but was still good enough to secure a 6-2, 6-3 win over Colombian wildcard Robert Farah and set up a quarter-final clash against Janko Tipsarevic.
Rafa Nadal battled to a 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 win over Argentine Martin Alund in Sao Paulo on Saturday to qualify for the Brazil Open final.
Rafa Nadal dispelled any concerns over his fitness and form at the Australian Open with an impressive second-round win over Slovakia's Lukas Lacko on Wednesday.
'My big farewell would be a joy of winning with everyone'
The instant surge of ecstasy Rafa Nadal felt after his epic Australian Open semi-final against Fernando Verdasco in the early hours of Saturday did not last long. The world number one was all smiles as he threw his arms around his fellow Spaniard after beating Verdasco 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 in the longest match ever played at the Australian Open.
