Rafael Nadal has announced his retirement from tennis and he will bow out of the sport with some amazing records to his name, some which might never be broken.
Having made his ATP Tour-level debut in April 2002, Nadal will call it a day after more than two decades at the top having played just over 1,307 matches.
For the record, he has an 82.6% (1080–227) win-loss record which puts him second behind Novak Djokovic 83.5 for best winning percentage. The Spaniard is also second behind Djokovic in terms of most Grand Slams (24 v 22) while he has spent 209 weeks at No 1 in the ATP Rankings (sixth overall).
The Spaniard’s own list of achievements over the years is long and varied.
THAT Roland Garros record
Nadal has won an incredible 14 Grand Slams in the French capital as he lifted titles in 2005 (shortly after turning 19), 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2022.
Djokovic is next best for most trophies won at the same Grand Slam as he is on 10 Australian Open titles.
He also holds the record for most appearances in the final of the same major and incredibly he has won all 14 of them at Roland Garros.
In case you forgot, he will finish with a 112–4 record in Paris.
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Top 10 ranking milestone
He holds the record for most consecutive weeks spent in the top 10 of the ATP Rankings as he once spent 912 weeks – just over 17 years – in a row in the top 10.
Nadal first reached the top 10 in 2005 and he only exited it in March 2023 after missing most of the season due to injury.
Jimmy Connors is next best with 788 weeks with Roger Federer third on 734 weeks.
Clay, clay, clay
Rafael Nadal has won 92 ATP singles titles with 63 of them coming on his beloved clay. Guillermo Vilas sits a distant second with 49. His match record on the surface is 484–51 (90.5%). Of those 92 titles, 90 of them have been outdoors (a record).
Did you know Rafael Nadal once won 81 consecutive matches on clay? Well, now you know as that particular record was set from 2005 until 2007.
He also holds the record for most consecutive sets won on the red dirt as he won 50 sets in a row from 2017 until 2018.
Titles at all levels
Besides holding the record for most titles at Grand Slam level (14 at Roland Garros), he also leads the way at Masters 1000 and ATP 500 events.
He has won 11 Monte Carlos Masters trophies and 12 titles at the Barcelona Open.
Big-match temperament
Nadal holds the record for most wins against world No 1 players as he has beaten the top-ranked player 23 times in his career, beating Federer 13 times and Djokovic 10 times.