A VERY SAD AND BRUTAL NEWS: NADAL MAY NOT PLAY DUE TO BRUTAL.....

As Rafael Nadal winds down his historic tennis career, we ask: just how historic was it?

The answer: Very.

It’s one of a kind, in a variety of ways. (All statistics as of May 17, 2024.)

Major Milestones
One of the first metrics that comes up when discussing all-time greatness is Grand Slam titles, and Nadal is second all-time in men’s history with 22. He was the all-time leader for about six months, winning his 21st and 22nd majors at the Australian Open and Roland Garros in 2022, which broke a three-way tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. But since then, Djokovic has won four more Slams to take the outright lead with 24.

Roland Garros
Nadal has become synonymous with Roland Garros, and with 14 career titles in Paris, he’s the only tennis player in history to have won the same major more than 11 times. He conquered on the terre battue four times in a row from 2005 to 2008, five times in a row from 2010 to 2014, another four times in a row from 2017 to 2020 and then—for good measure—again in 2022.

But has won all the other majors outside of Paris, too. In fact, he’s the only Spanish man to win any major outside of Paris multiple times. And he’s done it at all of them: the Australian Open twice (2009 and 2022), Wimbledon twice (2008 and 2010) and the US Open four times (2010, 2013, 2017 and 2019).