Rafael Nadal is the name in everybody’s lips in the tennis world. He is former Number 1 but, as of April 2012, was ranked number 2 by the Association of Tennis professional. He is still considered to be one of the top players of all times, and is particularly effective on clay.
To date Nadal has won ten grand slam single titles including a record six French open titles. He also won the 2008 Olympics Gold medal, and has won a record 19 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments. When he won the 2010 U.S Open he was only the seventh player in the history of then game to win all four grand slam events.
From 2008 to around mid 2009 he was considered world number one, before which he was number 2 before Roger Federer. But on July 3, 2011, Novak Djokovic replaced Rafael Nadal and became the number one tennis player, pushing Nadal into the second spot. Consequently Nadal has held the number two ranking of the ATP for a record of 231 weeks.
Nadal remains a favourite for the Grand Slam events, according to the latest tennis odds, and will expect to be in the runnings for the French Open, on a clay court.