Rafael Nadal

Nadal won the Spanish junior championships in 1997 and 1998, beating Ricardo Villacorta and Marcel Granollers respectively. In 1998 Nadal reached the final of the U14 Spanish championship at the age of 12, a feat that remains unmatched, losing to Juan Sanchez de Luna in straight sets. In late 1998, Nadal won the season-ending U12 Junior Masters at Stuttgart, beating future world No. 5 Kevin Anderson in the final.

In February 1998, Nadal competed outside Spain for the first time and won the Open Super 12, an unofficial world championship for U12 players in Auray. He beat 1997 winner Jamie Murray in the final. At the time, Nadal was torn between football and tennis, partly because his uncle Miguel Ángel was preparing to compete in the 1998 FIFA World Cup with Spain. Nadal said winning the Auray tournament helped him make the decision to "opt for tennis and try an international career". In 1998, when Nadal was runner-up in the U14 event Spanish championship, he was still playing football. Nadal's father insisted he choose between football and tennis to so his schoolwork wouldn't suffer, leading Nadal to quit football.

In 1999, the 12-year-old Nadal was playing in the U14 circuit of the ETA Junior Tour (now the Tennis Europe Junior Tour), winning the Tim Essonne, and finishing the year at No. 69. In 2000, Nadal dominated the U14 circuit, winning Les Petits As in Tarbes, beating Julien Gely in the final, and the European Junior Masters in Prato. On the day he turned 14, Nadal won the Sport Goofy Trophy in Getxo, beating Granollers in the final. In July, Nadal won the U14 Spanish championships, beating his friend and training partner Tomeu Salvá in the final, despite breaking a finger on his left hand during the first round. As a member of the Spanish national team, Nadal won the 2000 ITF World Junior Championship for players under 14, winning his matches in both singles and doubles (paired with Marcel Granollers) in a 3–0 win over Russia. Nadal ended 2000 at No. 5 of the ETA rankings for U14s.

His junior results secured Nadal a tennis scholarship in Barcelona, and the Spanish tennis federation requested that Nadal move to Barcelona to continue his tennis training. His family turned down this request, partly because they feared his education would suffer, but also because Toni said, "I don't want to believe that you have to go to America or other places to be a good athlete. You can do it from your home." Nadal already was by then practicing three times a week at Palma with former World No. 1 Carlos Moyá, who later became Nadal's mentor and confidant, and whom Nadal beat in 2000, at the time still a Top-10 player, in an exhibition match. The decision to stay home meant less financial support from the federation; instead, Nadal's father covered the costs.

Nadal turned professional at the beginning of 2001, at the age of 14. He reached the semi-finals of the junior singles event at Wimbledon and helped Spain defeat the US in the final of the Junior Davis Cup.

In early 2001, aged 14, Nadal began playing the qualifying draws of professional tournaments. In May 2001, he defeated former Grand Slam tournament champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match. Nadal made his pro debut in the main draw at the Futures in Madrid on 11 September 2001, wasting 13 match points against Guillermo Platel-Varas in the opening round. He received a wild card into the main draw of the Challenger in Seville, his first Challenger tournament, and beat world No. 751 Israel Matos Gil 6–4 6–4 to claim his first pro win and earn the first five ATP points of his career to become world No. 1002. At age 15, Nadal ended 2001 as the world No. 811.

In 2002, Nadal, then ranked No. 762, received a wild card to the ATP 250 event on his home island of Mallorca, where on 29 April, Nadal won his first ATP match by defeating No. 81 Ramón Delgado, and became the ninth player in the Open Era to do so before the age of 16. He did not compete for two months as he studied for school exams and missed the junior French Open in June. At junior Wimbledon, he reached the semi-finals before losing to Lamine Ouahab. Nadal then won six of the nine Futures events he entered from July until December, including 5 on clay and 1 on hard courts. Nadal finished 2002 with a Futures record of 40–9 in singles and 10–9 in doubles. In October, Nadal defeated No. 76 Albert Montañés in the quarterfinals of a Challenger at Barcelona, before losing to Albert Portas in the semi-finals. Nadal ended 2002 as the world No. 199.

Nadal continued his ascent in early 2003, reaching the finals of Challengers at Hamburg, Cherbourg and Cagliari, and winning at Barletta. He scored a total of 19 Challenger wins in the first three months of the season to find himself inside the Top 150. He then qualified for his second career ATP event, the Monte Carlo Masters, where in the second round he beat the 2002 French Open champion Albert Costa, then ranked No. 7 (his first top 10 career win) and he entered the world's top 100. Nadal reached his fifth Challenger final of the year in Aix-en-Provence, which he lost to Mariano Puerta. In May, 16-year-old Nadal entered his second Masters event at Hamburg, where he upset No. 4 Carlos Moyá before losing to future French Open Champion Gaston Gaudio in round three. Nadal postponed his French Open debut after injuring his elbow in a fall while training. He then qualified directly to Wimbledon, having never contested in a major qualifying event before. In his major main draw debut in Wimbledon, Nadal defeated Mario Ančić, and reached the third round to became the youngest man to do so since Boris Becker in 1984.

At Umag, Nadal lost to Moyá in the semi-finals. This was Nadal's only loss at a clay-court semi-final for the next 12 years, as he then began a streak of 52 consecutive wins in semi-final matches on clay that ended at the 2015 Rio Open. Nadal won his first ATP title (doubles or singles) at Umag, partnering Álex López Morón to beat Todd Perry and Thomas Shimada in the final. Nadal won his second Challenger title of the year in August at Segovia, thus entering the top 50 and winning the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award.

At the US Open, Nadal lost in round two to Younes El Aynaoui. In September, Nadal entered the final Challenger event of his career, on hard courts in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, retiring with an injury against Richard Gasquet, who never defeated Nadal again. Nadal finished the year ranked as the world No. 49.

Nadal won Chennai Open doubles, with Tommy Robredo defeating Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the final; Nadal's second doubles title and first on hard courts. In singles, Nadal had his 5th consecutive loss after a first round exit to Thierry Ascione; this remains the worst losing streak of his career. At Auckland he reached the first ATP final of his career, which he lost to Dominik Hrbatý. Nadal reached the third round of the Australian Open, where he lost in straight sets to former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt. Ranked No. 34, Nadal faced No. 1 Roger Federer for the first time in the third round of the Miami Open, winning in straight sets before losing to Fernando González in the fourth round.

At Estoril, Nadal suffered a stress fracture in his left ankle during his round of 16 victory over Richard Gasquet, causing him to miss 3 months of play, the French Open, and Wimbledon. He won his first ATP singles title at the Prokom Open by defeating No. 105 José Acasuso in the final, but won hardly any other match on the tour. At the US Open, Nadal lost to defending champion Andy Roddick in the second round. In the doubles he and Robredo upset the No. 4 seeds in the third round and reached the semi-finals; Nadal's best performance in a grand slam doubles event.

In the 2004 Davis Cup final, 18-year-old Nadal beat world No. 2 Andy Roddick on clay in Spain to help his nation clinch the title over the United States. In doing so at 18 years and six months of age, he became the youngest player to register a singles victory in a Davis Cup final for a winning nation. Nadal finished the year ranked No. 51, mainly because he missed most of the clay court season.

2005 started with a doubles title alongside Albert Costa at the Qatar Open, defeating Andrei Pavel and Mikhail Youzhny in the final. At the 2005 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt. Two months later, he reached the final of the 2005 Miami Masters, but was defeated by No. 1 Roger Federer.

He dominated the spring clay-court season. He won 24 consecutive singles matches, breaking Andre Agassi's Open Era record of consecutive match wins for a male teenager. Nadal won the Torneo Conde de Godó in Barcelona defeating the former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero in the final; which meant he was ranked in the top 10 for the first time in his career. He then beat 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria in the finals of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters and the 2005 Italian Open. These victories raised his ranking to world No. 5 and made him one of the favorites at his career-first French Open. On his 19th birthday, Nadal defeated Federer in the French Open semi-finals, being one of only four players to defeat him that year. Then he defeated Mariano Puerta in the final, becoming the second man to win the French Open on his first attempt. He also became the first male teenager to win a major singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19. His ranking rose to No. 3.

Three days later, Nadal's 24-match winning streak was snapped in the first round on grass at Halle, Germany, where he lost to No. 147 Alexander Waske. He then lost in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon to No. 69 Gilles Müller. Following his Wimbledon loss, Nadal won 16 consecutive matches and three consecutive tournaments, the Swedish Open, Stuttgart Open, and the Canada Masters, defeating Agassi in the final of the latter to win the first hardcourt title of his career and to bring his ranking to No. 2 on 25 July 2005, where he remained for the next three years behind Roger Federer. His winning streak ended in the first round of the Cincinnati Open at the hands of Tomáš Berdych. Nadal was seeded second at the 2005 US Open, but was upset in the third round by No. 49 James Blake.

In September, he defeated Coria in the final of the China Open in Beijing and won both of his Davis Cup matches against Italy. In October, he won his fourth Masters title of the year, against Ivan Ljubičić at the 2005 Madrid Masters, his biggest indoor title to this day. A foot injury prevented him from competing in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup.

Nadal (with 11 titles) broke Mats Wilander's previous teenage season record of nine in 1983. Nadal was awarded ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award.

Nadal missed the Australian Open because of a foot injury. In February, he lost in the semi-finals of Marseille. Two weeks later, he handed Roger Federer his first loss of the year in the final of the Dubai Open, ending Federer's 56-match hard court winning streak. Nadal was then upset in the semi-finals of Indian Wells by James Blake, and in the second round of Miami by Carlos Moyá.

Nadal beat Federer in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters and Tommy Robredo in the Barcelona final. He won the Italian Open beating Federer in a fifth-set tiebreak in the final, after saving two match points, and equaled Björn Borg's tally of 16 ATP titles won as a teenager. At five hours and five minutes, this was the longest match Federer and Nadal ever contested and it is considered to be where their rivalry began in earnest. The New York Times compared it to the Muhammad Ali–Joe Frazier rivalry in boxing. Nadal then broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas's 29-year male record of 53 consecutive clay-court match victories by beating Robin Söderling in the first round of the French Open. Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, the first-ever meeting of their historic rivalry. He won the final over Federer to become the first player to beat Federer in a major final.

At Wimbledon, Nadal beat No. 20 Andre Agassi in Agassi's last ever match at Wimbledon. Nadal won his next three matches to reach his first Wimbledon final (the first Spanish man since Manuel Santana in 1966 to reach the Wimbledon final). Federer won the final and his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.

Nadal was upset in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto and in the quarterfinals of Cincinnati by Juan Carlos Ferrero. At the US Open he lost in the quarterfinals to No. 54 Mikhail Youzhny.

Nadal played only three tournaments for the remainder of the year. Joachim Johansson, ranked No. 690, upset Nadal in the second round of the Stockholm Open and he lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Masters. During the round-robin stage of the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, Nadal lost to James Blake but defeated Nikolay Davydenko and Robredo. Nadal qualified for the semi-finals, where he lost to Federer. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer.

Nadal went on to become the first player since Andre Agassi in 1994–95 to finish the year ranked No. 2 in consecutive years.

At the Australian Open, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Fernando González. After another quarterfinal loss at Dubai, he won Indian Wells after beating Novak Djokovic in the final, before losing to Djokovic in the quarterfinals of Miami.

He won the titles at the Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome, before losing to Roger Federer in the final of Hamburg. This defeat ended his 81-match winning streak on clay, which is the male Open Era record for consecutive wins on a single surface. He bounced back quickly in the French Open, not dropping a set en route to the final where he faced Federer once again, this time winning in four sets to join Björn Borg as the only men to win three French Open titles in a row. Between Barcelona and Rome, Nadal beat Federer in the "Battle of Surfaces" exhibition match in Mallorca, with the court being half grass and half clay.

Nadal was upset in the quarterfinals at Queen's. Nadal then won consecutive five-set matches during the third and fourth rounds of Wimbledon before being beaten by Federer in a five-set final. This was Federer's first five-set match at Wimbledon since 2001. In July, Nadal beat Stan Wawrinka in the final of the clay-court Stuttgart Open. Nadal was a semi-finalist in Montreal before losing his first match at the Cincinnati Open. At 2007 US Open, he was defeated in the fourth round by David Ferrer, and spent the tournament dealing with a knee injury.

At Madrid and Paris, David Nalbandian beat Nadal in straight sets in the quarterfinals and final. Nadal won two of his three-round robin matches to advance to the semi-finals of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, where Federer defeated him in straight sets.

Nadal reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the first time, losing in straight sets to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He lost to Nikolay Davydenko in the Miami final.

At Monte Carlo, Nadal beat Federer in the final for the third year in a row to become the first player to win four consecutive titles there since Anthony Wilding in 1914. He also won the doubles event with Tommy Robredo, becoming the first player since Jim Courier in 1991 to win the singles and doubles titles at a Masters Series event. Nadal won his fourth consecutive title at Barcelona. Nadal won his first Masters Hamburg title, defeating Federer, to become the third player to have won all three clay-court Masters Series titles, in Rome, Monte Carlo and Hamburg. He then won the French Open, becoming the fifth man in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles title without losing a set. He beat Federer in the final for the third straight year, losing only four games, and gave Federer his first bagel since 1999. This was Nadal's fourth consecutive French title, tying Borg's all-time record. Nadal became the fourth male player during Open Era to win the same Grand Slam singles tournament for four consecutive years.

Nadal faced Federer in the final of Wimbledon for the third consecutive year, in the most anticipated match of their rivalry. Nadal entered the final on a 23-match winning streak, including his first career grass-court title at Queen's. Unlike their previous two Wimbledon finals, Federer was not the prohibitive favorite, and many analysts picked Nadal to win. At 4 hours and 48 minutes, they played the longest final (in terms of time on court, surpassed in 2019) in Wimbledon history, and because of rain delays, Nadal won the fifth set 9–7 in near-darkness. The match was widely lauded as the greatest Wimbledon final ever, with many tennis critics calling it the greatest match in tennis history.

By winning Wimbledon, Nadal became the third man in the Open Era to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, as well as the second Spaniard to win Wimbledon. He also ended Federer's streak of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and 65 straight wins on grass courts.

Nadal extended his winning streak to a career-best 32 matches by winning his second Canada Masters title in Toronto, and reaching the semi-finals at Cincinnati, where he lost to Djokovic. At the Beijing Olympics, he beat Fernando González in the final to win gold. With the win, Nadal clinched the world No. 1 ranking on 18 August, ending Federer's record four-and-a-half-year reign.

At the US Open, Nadal was the top seed for the first time at a major. He lost in the semi-finals to Andy Murray. Nadal helped Spain defeat the United States in the Davis Cup semi-finals. At the Madrid Masters, Nadal lost in the semi-finals to Gilles Simon. He ended the year-end No. 1, making him the first Spaniard to finish the year No. 1 in the Open Era. At the Paris Masters, Nadal withdrew from his quarterfinal because of a knee injury and ended his season.

At Qatar Open, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to Gaël Monfils. He won the doubles with Marc López, beating No. 1-ranked Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić in the final. At the Australian Open, Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set, before beating Fernando Verdasco in the semis in the fifth-longest match in Australian Open history (5 hours 14 minutes). Nadal beat Federer in a five-set final (their first meeting in a hard-court major) to win his first hard-court major singles title, and was the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open.

At Rotterdam, Nadal sustained a knee injury during the final, which he lost to Andy Murray. In March, Nadal beat Janko Tipsarević and Novak Djokovic to help Spain beat Serbia in Davis Cup round one. At Indian Wells, Nadal won his 13th Masters tournament, beating Andy Murray in the final. At the Miami Masters, Nadal lost to del Potro in the quarterfinals.

At Monte Carlo, Nadal beat Djokovic in the final to win a record fifth consecutive singles title. He won Barcelona and Italian Open, defeating Ferrer and Djokovic respectively. In the semi-finals of the Madrid Open, Nadal saved three match points to defeat Djokovic in a deciding set tiebreaker to take his career record over Djokovic to 14–4 and his clay record since 2005 to 150–4. At 4 hours 3 minutes, it was at the time the longest three-set singles match on the ATP Tour, and was voted the best match ever at the Madrid Open in 2022. Exhausted, Nadal lost the final to Roger Federer. This was Nadal's first defeat on clay in 33 matches and his first loss to Federer since the semi-finals of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup.

By beating Marcos Daniel in the first round of the French Open, Nadal broke Björn Borg's 28-year male record of 28 consecutive victories at the French Open, and he then broke Chris Evert's overall record of 29 by beating Teymuraz Gabashvili in round two. This run came to an end on 31 May 2009, when Nadal was upset by the eventual runner-up, Robin Söderling in the 4th round. This was Nadal's first loss at the French Open. Former champion Mats Wilander stated after the match that "Everybody's in a state of shock, I would think. At some point, Nadal was going to lose. But nobody expected it to happen today, and maybe not this year." Nadal withdrew from Queen's and Wimbledon due to suffering from tendinitis in both knees. Nadal dropped back to No. 2 behind Federer on 6 July 2009.

At the Montreal, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to del Potro, meaning he dropped outside the top two for the first time since July 2005. He lost in the semi-finals of Cincinnati to Djokovic in straight sets. At the US Open Nadal lost in the semi-finals to eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro. At the ATP Finals, Nadal lost all three of his matches to Robin Söderling, Nikolay Davydenko, and Djokovic without winning a set. In December, Nadal beat Tomáš Berdych in the Davis Cup final. Spain secured its fourth Davis Cup victory.

Nadal finished the year as No. 2 for the fourth time in five years.

In his first ATP tournament of the year, Nadal reached the final of the Qatar Open, losing to Nikolay Davydenko. At the Australian Open, Nadal reached the quarterfinals, where he retired at 3–0 down in the third set against Andy Murray.

Nadal reached the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Open and Miami Masters, losing to the eventual champions. Nadal won Monte Carlo, beating Fernando Verdasco in the final. It was his first title in 11 months, having lost only 14 games en route to become the first player in the Open Era to win the same tournament for six straight years. At Italian Open, he defeated David Ferrer in the final for his fifth title. At Madrid, Nadal beat Federer in straight sets to become the first man to complete a clean sweep of the three clay-court Masters 1000 titles and was his 18th Masters title, breaking Andre Agassi's all-time record. He moved back to No. 2 in the rankings.

At the French Open, Nadal beat Söderling in the final in straight sets to win his fifth French Open championship. This marked the second time that Nadal won the title without dropping a set. Nadal regained the world No. 1 ranking from Federer.

At Queen's, his 24-match winning streak was snapped by Feliciano López in the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon, Nadal needed five sets to defeat Philipp Petzschner in the third round, receiving warnings and a $2,000 fine for coaching during the match. He beat Tomáš Berdych in the final to win his second Wimbledon title and his eighth major title.

In Canada, Nadal lost in the semi-finals to Murray. He also played doubles with Djokovic in a one-time partnership, losing in the first round. At Cincinnati, he lost in the quarterfinals to Marcos Baghdatis. At the US Open, Nadal reached his first final without dropping a set and then beat Novak Djokovic to complete his first Career Grand Slam while also becoming the second male after Andre Agassi to complete a Career Golden Slam. He also became the first man to win majors on clay, grass, and hard courts in the same year, and the first to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in the same year since Rod Laver in 1969. Nadal's victory also clinched him the year-end No. 1 ranking for 2010.

In Bangkok he was upset by Guillermo García-López in the semi-finals despite creating 26 break points. Nadal won the Japan Open after saving two match points against Viktor Troicki in the semi-finals and then beating Gaël Monfils in the final for his seventh title of the season. At Shanghai, he lost to Jürgen Melzer in the third round. Nadal won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the first time. At the ATP Finals in London, Nadal won all of his round-robin matches for the first time in his career. In the semi-finals, he defeated Murray in three sets, before losing to Roger Federer in the final.

Nadal called 2010 his best year. Djokovic said that Nadal had "the capabilities already to become the best player ever", and that "he has the game now for each surface, and he has won each major. He has proven to the world that he is the best in this moment".

At Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi, Nafal beat Roger Federer in the final. At the Qatar Open, Nadal lost in straight sets to Nikolay Davydenko in the semi-finals but went on to win the doubles title alongside Marc López. At the Australian Open, Nadal suffered a hamstring injury against David Ferrer early in his quarterfinal match and lost in straight sets, thus ending his attempt to win four major tournaments in a row.

In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Belgium in a 2011 Davis Cup World Group first-round tie in the Spiroudome in Charleroi, Belgium. He beat Ruben Bemelmans and Olivier Rochus. Nadal reached the finals at Indian Wells and Miami, losing to Novak Djokovic in three sets.

Nadal won Monte Carlo with the loss of one set. In the final he beat Ferrer. Nadal won his sixth Barcelona crown, again defeating Ferrer in straight sets. This was the 31st clay court title of his career, thus breaking a tie that he jointly held with Björn Borg and Manuel Orantes for the third most clay titles in the Open Era. He then lost to Novak Djokovic in the finals of the Italian Open and Madrid Open, which ended his 37-match winning streak on clay. However, Nadal retained his No. 1 ranking during the clay-court season and won his sixth French Open title by defeating Roger Federer.

At Wimbledon, Nadal faced Novak Djokovic in the final. Djokovic's victory in the semi-finals meant that he was going to replace Nadal as the world No. 1 at the end of the tournament, regardless of the result at the final, which Nadal lost in four sets. This was Nadal's first defeat at Wimbledon since the 2007 final and ended his 20-match winning streak there. After resting for a month from a foot injury sustained during Wimbledon, he entered the Canadian Open and lost a deciding set tiebreaker to No. 41 Ivan Dodig in the quarterfinals. At Cincinnati, he defeated Fernando Verdasco in a third round clash that lasted three hours and 38 minutes with three tiebreaks. This was the fifth time that Nadal played in a three tiebreak match, winning all five. In the quarterfinals, Nadal was hampered by burns to his right hand after an accident at a Japanese restaurant and lost to Mardy Fish in straight sets.

After defeating David Nalbandian in the fourth round of the US Open, Nadal collapsed in his post-match press conference due to severe cramps. Nadal then played Djokovic in their second successive major final, losing the match in four sets. Nadal reached the final of the Japan Open, where he was defeated by Andy Murray. At Shanghai, he was upset in the third round by No. 23 ranked Florian Mayer. At the ATP Finals, Nadal was defeated by Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round-robin stage, and was eliminated from the tournament. In the Davis Cup final in December, he helped Spain win the title with victories over Juan Mónaco and Juan Martín del Potro.

At Qatar Open, Nadal lost to Gaël Monfils in the semi-finals. At the Australian Open, Nadal won his semi-final match against Roger Federer to set up a third successive major final against Novak Djokovic, which he lost in a five-set epic that lasted 5 hours and 53 minutes, the longest Grand Slam final match (by duration) in history. It is considered to be one of the greatest tennis matches of all time. It was the longest match of both Nadal and Djokovic's careers, and was the only time that Nadal lost a major final after winning the first set. Nadal called it "one of the toughest moments in my career".

Nadal then reached the semi-finals of both the Indian Wells, where he was beaten by Federer, and Miami, where he withdrew because of knee problems. At Monte Carlo, Nadal did not lose a set en route to the title to become the first man in the Open Era to win the same tournament eight consecutive times. In the final, he defeated No. 1 Novak Djokovic to end a streak of seven straight final losses to him. This was the most lopsided of all their matches, as Nadal only lost four games. Nadal then beat David Ferrer in a three-set final to clinch his seventh title in eight years at Barcelona. At Madrid, Nadal lost to Fernando Verdasco, whom he held a 13–0 record against. He criticized the new blue clay and threatened to skip future events if the surface wasn't changed back to red clay, a sentiment echoed by several players, including Novak Djokovic. He beat Djokovic in a tight straight-set final at the Italian Open.

At the French Open, Nadal won his semi-final match against Ferrer to set up another final against Novak Djokovic. This marked only the second time in tennis history (after Serena and Venus Williams between the 2002 French Open and the 2003 Australian Open), two players played four consecutive major singles finals against each other. After rain delays pushed the conclusion of the final into a second day, Nadal emerged victorious in four sets. Nadal became the most successful male player at the French Open (overtaking Borg) with seven titles. Nadal lost a total of only three sets in the 2012 clay court season.

As a warm-up ahead of Wimbledon, Nadal played in Halle, losing to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon, Nadal was upset in the second round by Lukáš Rosol in five sets. This was the first time since the 2005 Wimbledon championships that Nadal failed to pass the second round of a Grand Slam.

Nadal then ended his season early due to tendinitis in his knee. Nadal ended 2012 ranked No. 4, the first time in eight years that he was not ranked 1st or 2nd at the end of the year.

Nadal withdrew from Australian Open with a stomach virus and dropped out of the ATP Top 4 for the first time since 2005. He returned at the VTR Open in Chile, where he was upset by Argentine No. 73 Horacio Zeballos in the final. At the Brasil Open, Nadal beat David Nalbandian in the final. In the final in Acapulco, Nadal defeated David Ferrer, losing just two games.

At the Indian Wells, he lost only one set en route to the title, defeating Roger Federer, Tomáš Berdych and Juan Martín del Potro in the final. Nadal was beaten by Djokovic in straight sets in Monte Carlo to end his eight-year reign at the tournament. He then won his eighth title at Barcelona beating Nicolás Almagro in the final. Nadal went on to win Madrid, beating Stan Wawrinka in the final. This was the 40th clay court title of his career, equal second in the Open Era with Thomas Muster. Nadal then overtook him when he beat Federer for his 7th title at the Italian Open. These victories raised his ranking to No. 4.

Nadal won the French Open beating Novak Djokovic in the semi-final and David Ferrer in the final, breaking the record for the most match wins in the tournament with his 59th victory, surpassing the previous record held by Guillermo Vilas and Roger Federer. Nadal also became the first man in history to win any major eight times, and tied Roy Emerson for the third-most major titles in history. His semi-final match against Djokovic has been called one of the greatest clay court matches ever, with Nadal rallying from a break down in the fifth set to win after 4 hours and 37 minutes. This was only the second time Nadal had been pushed to five sets at the French Open (the first was against John Isner in the first round in 2011). This victory meant that since returning from seven months out due to injury, Nadal had reached eight consecutive finals, won 7 titles, and compiled a 43–2 record in 2013. However, Nadal then lost his first-round match at Wimbledon in straight sets to Steve Darcis, his first loss in the first round of a major. At the time, he was the lowest-ranked player ever to beat Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament.

In August, Nadal won a close semi-final match in Montreal against Djokovic and won the final over Milos Raonic in straight sets. He won his 26th Masters title in Cincinnati beating John Isner in the final. He won his 4th hard court title of the year, defeating Djokovic in the US Open final in four sets to achieve the Summer Slam and clinch the US Open Series. He became only the third player in history, after Patrick Rafter and Andy Roddick, to win all three events in succession. This granted him $3.6 million in prize money, the most money earned by a male tennis player at a single tournament.

Nadal helped Spain secure a Davis Cup World Group place for 2014, beating Sergiy Stakhovsky and winning a doubles win with Marc Lopez. In October, he reached the final of the China Open and regained the No. 1 ranking. In the final, he was beaten by Djokovic in straight sets. He lost in the Shanghai semis to Del Potro. In November, at the ATP Finals in London, he secured the year-end No. 1. He beat David Ferrer, Stan Wawrinka, and Tomáš Berdych in the round-robin and Roger Federer in the semis before losing in straight sets to Djokovic in the final.

At the Qatar Open, Nadal won the title beating Gaël Monfils in the final. At the Australian Open, he defeated Roger Federer to reach his third Australian Open final. In the final, he faced Stanislas Wawrinka, against whom he entered the match with a 12–0 record. However, Nadal suffered a back injury during the warm-up, which progressively worsened as the match wore on. Nadal lost the first two sets, and although he won the third set, he lost the match in four sets. At the inaugural Rio Open he beat Alexandr Dolgopolov in the final. However, at the Indian Wells Open, Dolgopolov would avenge his loss, defeating Nadal in three sets in the third round. He reached the final of the Miami Masters, losing to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.

Nadal began his clay court season with a quarterfinal loss to David Ferrer at Monte Carlo. He was stunned by Nicolas Almagro in the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Open. Nadal then won his 27th masters title at Madrid after Kei Nishikori retired in the third set of the final. Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic in the Men's Singles French Open final to win his 9th French Open title and a 5th straight win. Nadal equaled Pete Sampras' total of 14 Grand Slam wins. Nadal then lost in the second round of Halle to Dustin Brown.

At the Wimbledon Championships he was upset by Australian teenager Nick Kyrgios in four sets in the fourth round. Nadal withdrew from the American swing owing to a wrist injury. He made his return at the 2014 China Open but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Martin Klizan in three sets. At Shanghai, he was suffering from appendicitis and lost his first match to Feliciano Lopez in straight sets. He was upset by Borna Ćorić at the quarterfinals of the 2014 Swiss Indoors. He skipped the rest of the season to undergo surgery for his appendix.

At Qatar Open, Nadal lost in three set to Michael Berrer in round one. He won the doubles title with Juan Mónaco. At the Australian Open, Nadal lost in straight sets to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinal, ending a 17-match winning streak against the seventh-seeded Czech.

In February, Nadal lost in the semi-finals to Fabio Fognini at the Rio Open, before winning his 46th career clay-court title against Juan Mónaco at the Argentina Open. At Indian Wells and Miami he suffered early defeats to Milos Raonic and Fernando Verdasco, in the quarterfinals and third round respectively. At Monte Carlo he lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the semi finals, at Barcelona he lost to Fognini in the quarterfinals and at Madrid he lost the final to Andy Murray in straight sets, resulting in his dropping out of the top five for the first time since 2005. He lost in the quarterfinals of Rome to Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.

Nadal lost to Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the French Open, ending his winning streak of 39 consecutive victories in Paris since his 2009 defeat by Robin Söderling. Nadal went on to win the 2015 Mercedes Cup against Serbian Viktor Troicki, his first grass court title since he won at Wimbledon in 2010. He lost in the first round of the Aegon Championships to Alexandr Dolgopolov in three sets. He lost in the second round of Wimbledon to Dustin Brown.

In the third round of the 2015 US Open, Nadal again lost to Fognini, despite an early two set lead. This early exit ended Nadal's record 10-year streak of winning at least one Grand Slam.

Nadal lost to Djokovic in straight sets in the final in Doha. This was their 47th match, after which Djokovic led their head-to-head with 24 matches won. At the Australian Open, Nadal lost in five sets to Fernando Verdasco in round one (his first opening round exit at the Australian Open).

In April he won his 28th Masters title in Monte Carlo. He won his 17th ATP 500 in Barcelona, winning the trophy for the ninth time in his career. At Madrid, he lost to Murray in the semi-final. At Italian Open he lost in the quarterfinals to Djokovic in straight sets.

At the French Open, he became the eighth male player in tennis history to record 200 Grand Slam match wins when he won his second round match. Following the victory, Nadal had to withdraw from competition owing to a left wrist injury initially suffered during the Madrid Open, handing Marcel Granollers a walkover into the fourth round. The same wrist injury forced him to withdraw from the 2016 Wimbledon Championships. At the Rio 2016 Olympics, Nadal achieved 800 career wins with his quarterfinal victory over the Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci. Partnering Marc López, he won the gold medal in men's doubles event for Spain by defeating Romania's Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau in the final. This made Nadal the second man in the Open Era to have won gold medals in both singles and doubles. Nadal lost the bronze medal match in men's singles to Kei Nishikori.

At the US Open Nadal advanced to the fourth round but was defeated by 24th seed Lucas Pouille in 5 sets. The defeat meant that 2016 was the first year since 2004 in which Nadal had failed to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final. After losing in the second round of the Shanghai Masters, he ended his 2016 season.

At Brisbane International Nadal lost to Milos Raonic in three sets in the quarterfinals. Nadal began the Australian Open with straight-set wins over Florian Mayer and Marcos Baghdatis, before more difficult wins over Alexander Zverev and Gaël Monfils, to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2015 French Open. Nadal beat Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov (the latter lasting for five sets over five hours), to set up a final against Roger Federer, his first Grand Slam final since he won the 2014 French Open. Nadal lost to Federer in five sets; the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer in a Grand Slam since the final of the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.

At Acapulco lost to Sam Querrey in the final. Nadal lost to Federer in straight sets in the fourth round at Indian Wells and the Miami final. Nadal then won his 29th Masters title in Monte Carlo; his tenth title, the most wins by any player at a single tournament in the Open Era. Nadal won Barcelona without dropping a set (his 10th title). At Madrid, he beat Dominic Thiem to tie Novak Djokovic's all-time Masters record of 30 titles.

Nadal beat Stan Wawrinka in straight sets to win a record tenth French Open title. This marked his first Grand Slam title since 2014. Nadal won every set that he played in the tournament, dropping a total of only 35 games in seven matches, which is the second-fewest by any male player en route to a major title in the Open Era. The title "La Décima" ("the tenth" in Spanish) was used to proclaim Nadal's achievement in becoming the first player to win 10 titles at a single major in the Open Era. Nadal also climbed to second on the all-time major singles titles list, with 15, placing him one ahead of Pete Sampras.

Nadal lost in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, 13–15 in the fifth set, to Gilles Müller.

In August he retook the ATP No. 1 ranking from Andy Murray. Nadal earned his third US Open title against Kevin Anderson, winning the final in straight sets. This marked the first time that Nadal had captured two Grand Slam tournaments in a year since 2013. Nadal extended his winning streak by winning the China Open, beating Nick Kyrgios in straight sets in the final. On 11 September 2017, Nadal and Garbiñe Muguruza made Spain the first country since the United States 14 years earlier to simultaneously top both the ATP and the WTA rankings.

After defeating Hyeon Chung in the second round of the Paris Masters Nadal secured the year-end No. 1. He became year-end No. 1 for the fourth time in his career, tying him for fourth all-time with Novak Djokovic, Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe, behind Pete Sampras (6), and Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors (5). He became the first player aged over 30 to finish as year-end No. 1 and the first to finish in the top spot four years since he last achieved the feat; he also broke a number of other historical records, all of which he broke again in 2019.

At the Australian Open, Nadal retired in the fifth set of his quarterfinal against Marin Čilić due to a hip injury.

On 16 February, Nadal dropped to the No. 2 ranking after 26 weeks at the top when Roger Federer overtook him. Nadal was then sidelined with an injury. He regained the No. 1 ranking on 2 April due to Federer's second-round Miami loss. After recovering from injury, Nadal helped secure the Spain Davis Cup team a victory over Germany in the quarterfinal. He beat Philipp Kohlschreiber and Alexander Zverev.

Nadal won his 11th Monte Carlo title without losing a set (beating Kei Nishikori in the final, a then-record-breaking 31st Masters title). He won his 11th title in Barcelona, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, becoming the first player in the Open Era to win 400 matches on clay and hard. It was his 20th ATP 500 series title (tied at the top with Federer).

At Madrid, he beat Diego Schwartzman in straight sets, to extend his record to 50 consecutive sets won on clay and broke John McEnroe's record of 49 straight sets won on a single surface. Nadal lost in straight sets to Dominic Thiem in the quarters, ending his 21-match and record 50-set winning streaks on clay. Federer overtook him as world No. 1.

At Rome, Nadal won his 8th title beating Alexander Zverev in three sets, to reach fourth place (overtaking McEnroe) on the men's singles titles in the Open Era leaderboard with 78. It was Nadal's record 32nd Masters title and he also regained the No. 1 spot from Federer.

At the French Open, Nadal won his 17th Grand Slam title. This tied Margaret Court's record for singles titles at a Grand Slam event (Court won 11 Australian Opens). Nadal dropped only one set at the event, beating Dominic Thiem in the final in three sets. Nadal became the fourth man in the Open Era to win three or more major titles after turning 30.

At Wimbledon, Nadal beat Juan Martín del Potro in five sets in the quarters. In the semi-finals he faced rival Novak Djokovic. The match lasted 5 hours 17 minutes, spread over two days, the second-longest Wimbledon semi-final ever. Djokovic won in the fifth set 10–8. It was Nadal's first loss in the semis of a major since US Open 2009 and his first Wimbledon semi final since 2011, ensuring Nadal retained his No. 1 ranking.

He won the Rogers Cup, a record-extending 33rd Masters title and his first Masters title on hard court since 2013. At US Open he first beat David Ferrer in Ferrer's last Grand Slam match, who retired due to injury. In his semi-final against Juan Martin del Potro, Nadal retired after losing the second set 6–2 due to knee pain. He withdrew from the Paris Masters due to an abdominal injury. As a result Novak Djokovic replaced him as world No. 1.

At Australian Open, Nadal progressed to his fifth Australian Open final without losing a set, then won only eight games against Novak Djokovic, which was Nadal's first straight-sets defeat in a major final. After losing in the second round of the Mexico Open to Nick Kyrgios, he was sidelined with a right hip injury.

At Monte Carlo, he lost in the semi-finals to Fabio Fognini in straight sets. At Barcelona, he lost to Dominic Thiem in straight sets in the semis. At Madrid, he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets in the semi-finals. He won his first tournament of the year in Rome, with a three-set win over Djokovic in the final.

At the French Open, Nadal beat Kei Nishikori and Roger Federer (their first meeting at the tournament since 2011) en route to the final, dropping only one set en route. Nadal won in four sets against Thiem to claim his record-extending twelfth French Open title. He broke Margaret Court's all-time record of singles titles won at the same major.

At Wimbledon he reached the semi-finals, where he faced Federer for the first time at Wimbledon since the 2008 final and lost in four sets. At the Rogers Cup, by defeating Fabio Fognini in the quarterfinals, he surpassed Roger Federer's record of 378 victories at Masters tournaments. In the final, Nadal lost three games to Daniil Medvedev. This victory marked the first time he defended a title on a surface other than clay. At the US Open, Nadal lost one set (against Marin Čilić) en route to the final, where he beat Medvedev in five sets to win his fourth US Open title and 19th major title overall, and completed his second-best Grand Slam year. At the Paris Masters, Nadal reached the semi-finals, but withdrew due to an abdominal injury.

At the ATP Finals, Nadal beat Tsitsipas and Medvedev in the round-robin stage, but failed to progress to the semi-finals. Nadal secured the year-end No. 1 ranking when Djokovic was also eliminated in the round-robin stage. This was Nadal's fifth time as the year-end No. 1 player, drawing level with Jimmy Connors, Federer and Djokovic behind Pete Sampras (six). He became (at the time) the oldest person to finish as the year-end No. 1 player, and created a record eleven-year gap between his first and last year-end No. 1 seasons (2008 and 2019, respectively).

At the 2019 Davis Cup Finals, Nadal helped Spain win its sixth Davis Cup title, beating Canada. Nadal extended his winning streak in Davis Cup singles matches to 29 (29–1 record overall), without dropping a set or having his serve broken; he also won the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.

At the inaugural ATP Cup Nadal helped Spain reach the final where they lost to Serbia, with Nadal losing to Djokovic in straight sets. At the Australian Open Nadal won his first three matches in straight sets against Hugo Dellien, Federico Delbonis and Pablo Carreño Busta. In the fourth round, he defeated Nick Kyrgios in four sets and lost in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Dominic Thiem in four sets. Nadal won his third Mexican Open title, defeating Taylor Fritz in straights sets in the final.

Nadal won his 13th French Open, beating Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the final, only losing seven games. In doing so, he won his 20th Grand Slam title, equalling Roger Federer's men's singles record. It also marked his 100th win at the tournament, losing only twice in 16 years, and was the 4th time that he won a Grand Slam without losing a set, doing it also at the French Open in 2008, 2010 and 2017.

At the Paris Masters, Nadal defeated Feliciano López in the second round to get his 1,000 victory on the ATP Tour, becoming the fourth man in the Open Era to achieve that milestone. He lost in the semi-finals to Alexander Zverev in straight sets.

On 9 November 2020, Nadal reached his 790th back to back week as one of the ten highest placed players on the ATP rankings and surpassed the record held by Jimmy Connors.

At the ATP Finals, Nadal defeated Rublev and defending champion Tsitsipas progressing to the semi-finals and securing ending the year as No. 2. Nadal lost his semi-final to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev in three sets. This was the seventh time that Nadal had finished Year-end No. 2 and now led the "Big Three" with 12 Top 2 finishes.

At the Australian Open, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas, despite being two sets to love up. Nadal next played at Monte Carlo and reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to Andrey Rublev in three sets. On 25 April, Nadal won a record-extending twelfth Barcelona Open trophy with a three-set victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final, saving a championship point in the third set. At 3 hours and 38 minutes, this was the longest best-of-three-set ATP Tour final since ATP began publishing statistics in 1991. In May he reached the quarterfinals at the Madrid Open. He won a record-extending tenth Italian Open title, saving two match points against Denis Shapovalov before beating Novak Djokovic in the final.

At the French Open, he beat Jannik Sinner and Diego Schwartzman before losing in the semis to eventual champion Djokovic in four sets, in only his third-ever loss at the French Open and his first loss in the semi-finals. After several weeks out with a left foot injury that had flared up at the French Open, Nadal returned to action at the 2021 Citi Open. He beat Jack Sock in a tight three-set match before being upset by 50th ranked Lloyd Harris in the 3rd round. On 20 August 2021, Nadal announced that would be ending his 2021 season due to the left foot issue that had been troubling him for most of the year. His ranking fell to No.6 due to his injury.

In January, Nadal won Melbourne Summer Set 1, beating Maxime Cressy in the final. He won his second Australian Open title, 21st major title and 90th ATP title beating Daniil Medvedev in a five-set final, coming back from two sets down. With the win, Nadal surpassed a tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer for the most men's singles major titles of all time and became the second man in the Open Era, after Djokovic, to complete the double Career Grand Slam.

At the Mexican Open, Nadal won the title without dropping a set, including a win over new world No. 1 Medvedev. He extended his winning streak to 15 matches, his best ever start to a season. At Indian Wells he beat Nick Kyrgios and Carlos Alcaraz to reach his fourth final of the year and extend his winning streak to 20 matches. Nadal had a rib injury and lost to Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the final.

Nadal returned at the Madrid Open, where he beat Miomir Kecmanović and David Goffin and lost to Carlos Alcaraz. At Rome, he beat John Isner in straight sets, but lost to Denis Shapovalov in three sets despite leading by a set and a break.

At the French Open, Nadal recorded his 106th win defeating Jordan Thompson in the first round, becoming the player with most wins at a single major. He beat Corentin Moutet in round two (his 300th win in majors). He beat Felix Auger Aliassime in the fourth round (his third five setter ever at the French Open). Nadal met Djokovic for the 59th time in the quarterfinals and won in four sets to advance to his 15th French Open semi-final. He faced Alexander Zverev and after more than three hours with two sets played, Zverev retired due to an ankle injury. In the final, he defeated Casper Ruud in three sets to win his 14th French Open title and 22nd major title overall and reached world No. 4. He became the then-oldest French Open champion ever, and the third man to earn four Top-10 wins en route to a major title since the ATP rankings started in 1973, after Mats Wilander (1982 French Open) and Federer (2017 Australian Open).

After treating his foot injury, Nadal returned to Wimbledon for the first time in three years. He beat Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinal, but aggravated an abdominal injury, and had to withdraw from the tournament.

Nadal lost in round one at Cincinnati to eventual champion Borna Ćorić. Nadal returned to the US Open for the first time since 2019. He lost in round four to Frances Tiafoe, his only loss at a major in 2022, and his earliest major defeat since the 2017 Wimbledon Championships.

At the Laver Cup, Nadal competed for Team Europe alongside Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray. He played doubles with rival Federer (Roger's final professional match), losing to Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe. At the ATP Finals, Nadal won his last match of the year against Casper Ruud after losing his first two matches. Nadal finished the year ranked No. 2, becoming the oldest year-end top-2 player in the history of the ATP rankings.

Nadal was the defending champion at the 2023 Australian Open, but lost in straight sets to Mackenzie McDonald in the second round. During the match, Nadal was severely hampered by a hip injury. Nadal withdrew from Indian Wells and Miami to recover from his Australian Open injury and didn't play on tour again in 2023. As a result, he exited the Top 10 for the first time since 25 April 2005 on 20 March 2023, ending the longest Top-10 streak in ATP rankings history.

Nadal began his season at the 2024 Brisbane International, defeating Dominic Thiem and Jason Kubler before losing to Jordan Thompson. During the match, he sustained a muscle injury that forced him to miss the Australian Open.

Following a second-round loss to Alex de Minaur at the Barcelona Open, Nadal reached the fourth round at the Madrid Open, defeating de Minaur en route. He lost in round two at the Italian Open. In May, Nadal lost in the first round of the French Open to world No. 4 and eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev. This brought his final Roland-Garros record to 112–4.

At the Swedish Open in July, he reached his last career ATP Tour final with wins over Leo Borg, Cameron Norrie, Mariano Navone in a marathon match lasting four hours, and Duje Ajduković. He lost to Nuno Borges in straight sets.

Nadal then competed in the Summer Olympics, where he served as a torch bearer during the opening ceremony. In singles, he lost in the second round to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in their record 60th professional meeting. In the doubles with Alcaraz, he reached the quarterfinals.

On 10 October 2024, Nadal stated his intention to retire from the sport after playing for Spain in the Davis Cup Finals in Málaga, Spain, in November. Later that month he participated in the exhibition 6 Kings Slam, losing his matches against Alcaraz and Djokovic.

At the Davis Cup Finals in Málaga, Botic van de Zandschulp beat Nadal as Spain lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. After the conclusion of the tie, Nadal gave a speech and a video montage was played of career highlights and personal messages, including from Federer, Djokovic, Serena Williams, Andy Murray, footballer Andrés Iniesta and golfer Sergio García.