Men's Tennis: 5 Lesser known records of Rafael Nadal

The Spaniard from Mallorca, Rafael Nadal has been a mainstay of men's tennis for over close to a decade and a half now and the man with the second highest Grand Slam tally of all-time is not done yet.

We all know what a remarkable player Rafa is and his clay court record in general and French Open accolades, in particular, are much known. But wouldn't it surprise one if one is told that Rafael Nadal has won more matches outdoors than any other athlete in the Open Era?

What makes Rafa so special is that he was able to shed the image of being a dominant player on only one surface long ago. He is, in fact, the youngest player to have completed a Career Slam - he achieved this at the US Open of 2010.

We take a look at 5 unique records of Rafael Nadal that most people may not be aware of:

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#1 Winning at least 1 Grand Slam for 10 years

Rafael Nadal is one of only two men in the Open Era along with Pete Sampras to have won Grand Slams in teenage, 20s and 30s. In fact, Rafael Nadal is the only athlete to have won at least one Grand Slam trophy for 10 consecutive years. Since winning his very first French Open title in 2005, Nadal has won at least one Grand Slam in every year from 2005 to 2014 inclusive. The streak finally came to an end in 2015.

The two players who came closest to this record are Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer who won at least one Grand Slam for 8 consecutive years. Gone are the days when teenagers used to win Grand Slam titles at least in the men's game. Considering that men in today's game peak a bit late, it is impossible to envision someone emulating Nadal's benchmark.

#2 Most singles titles won in a single year as a teenager

Rafael Nadal poses with his first French Open trophy along with the legendary Zinedine Zidane, 2005

2005 was a momentous year in Rafael Nadal's career. Athletes take years to lift the 'Coupe des Mousquetaires' at the French Open but Nadal achieved this in his first appearance at Roland Garros defeating Mariano Puerta in the final.

His tally of 11 titles that year included the Brazilian Open, Mexico Open, Barcelona Open, Monte Carlo Masters, Rome Masters, the French Open, Sweden Open, Mercedes Cup, Beijing Open, Rogers Cup and the Madrid Masters. He broke Mats Wilander's record of 9 titles won in a single calendar year as a teenager.

Nadal won 24 consecutive matches as a teenager beating the record earlier held by Andre Agassi. In 2005, Nadal rose from 51 in the ATP rankings at the start to World Number 2 at the end of the season.

#3 Least number of majors taken to complete a career Grand Slam

Rafael Nadal completed the Career Slam at the U.S. Open of 2010 aged just 24

When Rafael Nadal won the French Open in 2005, he followed it up by retaining his trophy in Paris the following year. But his performance in the other Grand Slams in 2005 and 2006 was below-par. Critics were harsh in pointing out that he may well be a one-court specialist.

But Nadal being the fighter that he has always been proved them wrong just like he has probably proven every single critic of his on this planet wrong numerous times. Nadal made the finals of Wimbledon losing to Federer in 2007 but 2008 was an altogether different game.

Nadal won his first Grand Slam title outside Paris as he beat Federer in the greatest match ever played at the Wimbledon final of 2008. With his win, Nadal erased all misconceptions of him being uncomfortable on grass.

The following year he again beat his great rival Roger Federer in the final of the Australian Open and now Nadal was the Number 1 ranked player and only the US Open remained to be conquered.

He achieved a lifelong dream in 2010 in New York as he became the youngest ever athlete to complete the Career Slam at the age of just 24. Nadal completed his career Slam in just his 26th Grand Slam appearance while Andre Agassi and Roger Federer achieved it in 41 and 46 Slam appearances respectively.

#4 Winner of 'Clay Slam'

Rafael Nadal has won an astounding 11 titles at Monte Carlo including on 8 consecutive occasions between 2005 and 2012.

If at all any male tennis athlete owns the unique clay court record of winning the 'Clay Slam' , that athlete fittingly deserves to rightfully be the greatest clay court player of all time across Eras - Rafael Nadal.

Winning the 'Clay Slam' encompasses winning the troika of the 3 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments played on clay (Rome Masters, Monte Carlo Masters and Madrid Masters) plus the French Open all in the same year.

This unique feat in tennis history dubbed the 'Clay Slam' was achieved by Rafael Nadal in 2010 - the same year in which he won 3 of the 4 Grand Slam tournaments and became the youngest ever player to complete the Career Slam. It is also noteworthy to mention that between 2005 to the final in 2013, Nadal was unbeaten at the Monte Carlo Masters winning 46 matches in a row.

#5 Only man to have regained the year-end No. 1 ranking three times

Rafael Nadal with the Year End World Number 1 ranking trophy in 2017

Rafael Nadal from 2005 to August 2008 was ranked World Number 2 for 160 consecutive weeks (all-time record) behind his arch-rival Roger Federer.

Since finally ascending to the top post his Wimbledon exploits in 2008, Nadal has achieved a season-ending ranking of World Number 1 on 4 different occasions, the latest being in 2017. His 9 year-gap between first finishing the year as Number 1 and last finishing the year as Number 1 in 2017 is an all-time record.

Nadal regained the year-end World Number 1 ranking from Roger Federer in 2008 in 2010. He regained the year end top ranking from Novak Djokovic in 2013 and from Andy Murray in 2017. This makes the only male player across all Eras to have finished the year as World Number 1 on 4 non-consecutive years.