2005 Rafael Nadal tennis season

The 2005 Rafael Nadal tennis season is regarded as one of the greatest seasons of all time by a teenager. Nadal won a career-best 11 singles titles,[3] including then-season-record 4 Masters 1000 titles and his maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open on his first attempt, making him the first teenager since Pete Sampras (1990 US Open) to win a major. He finished the year with 79 calendar match wins, the most by any teenager in ATP Tour history,[4] and the world No. 2 ranking. He was awarded the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award.

2005 Rafael Nadal tennis season
Full nameRafael Nadal Parera
Country Spain
Calendar prize money$3,874,751 (Singles $3,794,327, Doubles $80,424)[1] [2]
Singles
Season record79–10
Calendar titles11
Year-end rankingNo. 2
Ranking change from previous yearIncrease 49
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian Open4R
French OpenW
Wimbledon2R
US Open3R
2004
2006

Australian Open

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At the 2005 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt.

Hard court

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Nadal reached the final of the 2005 Miami Masters, and despite being two points from a straight-sets victory, he was defeated in five sets by Roger Federer.

Clay court

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Nadal dominated the 2005 clay court season. He won 24 consecutive singles matches, which broke Andre Agassi's Open Era record of consecutive match wins for a male teenager.[5] Nadal won the Torneo Conde de Godó in Barcelona and beat 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria in the finals of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters and the 2005 Rome Masters. During the Rome quarterfinals against Radek Štěpánek, Nadal hit what is considered by many as the greatest shot of his career, a no-look, running passing shot near the net.[6] These victories raised his ranking to world No. 5[7] and made him one of the favorites at his career-first French Open. On his 19th birthday, Nadal defeated Federer in the 2005 French Open semifinals,[8] as one of only four players who defeated the world No. 1 that year (along with Marat Safin, Richard Gasquet, and David Nalbandian). Two days later, he defeated Mariano Puerta in the final, becoming the second male player after Mats Wilander to win the French Open on his first attempt. He also became the first male teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19. Winning the French Open improved Nadal's ranking to world No. 3.[7]

Grass court

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Three days after his victory in Paris, Nadal's 24-match winning streak was snapped in the first round of the grass court Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, where he lost to the German Alexander Waske.[9] He then lost in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon to Gilles Müller of Luxembourg.

Summer hard court

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Immediately after Wimbledon, Nadal won 16 consecutive matches and three consecutive tournaments, bringing his ranking to world No. 2 on 25 July 2005. Nadal started his North American summer hard-court season by defeating Agassi in the final of the 2005 Canada Masters, but lost in the first round of the 2005 Cincinnati Masters. Nadal was seeded second at the 2005 US Open, where he was upset in the third round by world No. 49 James Blake in four sets.

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 ATP Masters Series title of the year, defeating Ivan Ljubičić in the final of the 2005 Madrid Masters. He then suffered a foot injury and was diagnosed with Mueller–Weiss syndrome, which prevented him from competing at the Paris Masters and the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup.[10]

Both Nadal and Federer won eleven singles titles and four ATP Masters Series titles in 2005. Nadal broke Mats Wilander's previous teenage record of nine in 1983.[11] Eight of Nadal's titles were on clay, and the remainder were on hard courts. Nadal won 79 matches, second only to Federer's 81.

Singles Matches

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Tournament Match Round Opponent Rank Result Score
Qatar Open
Doha, Qatar
ATP World Tour 250
Hard, outdoor
3–9 January 2005
1 / 75 1R   Mikhail Youzhny 16
Win
6–3, 7–6(7–3)
2 / 76 2R   Fernando Verdasco 36
Win
6–2, 6–4
3 / 77 QF   Ivan Ljubičić 22
Loss
2–6, 7–6(3–7), 3–6
Heineken Open
Auckland, New Zealand
ATP World Tour 250
Hard, outdoor
10–16 January 2005
4 / 78 1R   Dominik Hrbatý 20
Loss
3–6 RET
Australian Open
Melbourne, Australia
Grand Slam
Hard, outdoor
17–30 January 2005
5 / 79 1R   Julien Benneteau 65
Win
6–0, 6–4, 6–2
6 / 80 2R   Mikhail Youzhny 15
Win
6–1, 4–6, 4–6, 7–5, 6–3
7 / 81 3R   Bobby Reynolds 283
Win
6–1, 6–1, 6–3
8 / 82 4R   Lleyton Hewitt 3
Loss
5–7, 6–3, 6–1, 6–7(3–7), 2–6
ATP Buenos Aires
Buenos aires, Argentina
ATP World Tour 250
Clay, outdoor
7–13 February 2005
9 / 83 1R   Agustín Calleri 61
Win
7–6(7–2), 6–3
10 / 84 2R   Potito Starace 66
Win
6–1, 6–3
11 / 85 QF   Gastón Gaudio 8
Loss
6–0, 0–6, 1–6
Brasil Open
São Paulo, Brazil
ATP World Tour 250
Clay, outdoor
15–20 February 2005
12 / 86 1R   José Acasuso 55
Win
7–6(7–1), 6–3
13 / 87 2R   Álex Calatrava 86
Win
6–3, 6–3
14 / 88 QF   Agustín Calleri 60
Win
6–2, 6–7(5–7), 6–4
15 / 89 SF   Ricardo Mello 56
Win
2–6, 6–2, 6–4
16 / 90 W   Alberto Martín 61
Win (1)
6–0, 6–7(2–7), 6–1
Abierto Mexicano Telcel
Acapulco, Mexico
ATP World Tour 500
Clay, outdoor
21–27 February 2005
17 / 91 1R   Álex Calatrava 81
Win
6–4, 6–4
18 / 92 2R   Santiago Ventura 77
Win
7–6, 6–2
19 / 93 QF   Guillermo Cañas 12
Win
7–5, 6–3
20 / 94 SF   Mariano Puerta 74
Win
6–4, 6–1
21 / 95 W   Albert Montañés 95
Win (2)
6–1, 6–0
Miami Open
Key Biscayne, United States
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Hard, outdoor
21 March – 3 April 2005
1R Bye
22 / 96 2R   Rainer Schüttler 39
Win
6–4, 7–6(7–5)
23 / 97 3R   Fernando Verdasco 45
Win
6–2, 6–2
24 / 98 4R   Ivan Ljubičić 14
Win
6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–3
25 / 99 QF   Thomas Johansson 27
Win
6–2, 6–4
26 / 100 SF   David Ferrer 44
Win
6–4, 6–3
27 / 101 F   Roger Federer 1
Loss (1)
6–2, 7–6(7–4), 6–7(5–7), 3–6, 1–6
Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana
Valencia, Spain
ATP World Tour 250
Clay, outdoor
4–10 April 2005
28 / 102 1R   Juan Carlos Ferrero 68
Win
6–2, 6–1
29 / 103 2R   Guillermo García López 80
Win
6–1, 6–4
30 / 104 QF   Igor Andreev 47
Loss
5–7, 2–6
Monte Carlo Masters
Monte Carlo, Monaco
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Clay, outdoor
11–17 April 2005
31 / 105 1R   Gaël Monfils 106
Win
6–3, 6–2
32 / 106 2R   Xavier Malisse 38
Win
6–0, 6–3
33 / 107 3R   Olivier Rochus 42
Win
6–1, 6–2
34 / 108 QF   Gastón Gaudio 6
Win
6–3, 6–0
35 / 109 SF   Richard Gasquet 101
Win
6–7(6–8), 6–4, 6–3
36 / 110 W   Guillermo Coria 9
Win (3)
6–3, 6–1, 0–6, 7–5
Torneo Godo
Barcelona, Spain
ATP World Tour 500
Clay, outdoor
18–24 April 2005
1R Bye
37 / 111 2R   Gilles Müller 64
Win
6–0, 6–2
38 / 112 3R   Dominik Hrbatý 25
Win
6–1, 6–2
39 / 113 QF   Agustín Calleri 99
Win
6–2, 3–0 RET
40 / 114 SF   Radek Štěpánek 22
Win
7–5, 6–2
41 / 115 W   Juan Carlos Ferrero 58
Win (4)
6–1, 7–6(7–4), 6–3
Internazionali BNL d'Italia
Rome, Italy
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Clay, outdoor
2–8 May 2005
42 / 116 1R   Mikhail Youzhny 26
Win
6–0, 6–2
43 / 117 2R   Victor Hănescu 85
Win
6–1, 6–1
44 / 118 3R   Guillermo Cañas 13
Win
6–3, 6–1
45 / 119 QF   Radek Štěpánek 17
Win
5–7, 6–1, 6–1
46 / 120 SF   David Ferrer 25
Win
4–6, 6–4, 7–5
47 / 121 W   Guillermo Coria 11
Win (5)
6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(8–6)
French Open
Paris, France
Grand Slam
Clay, outdoor
23 May – 5 June 2005
48 / 122 1R   Lars Burgsmüller 96
Win
6–1, 7–6(7–4), 6–1
49 / 123 2R   Xavier Malisse 46
Win
6–2, 6–2, 6–4
50 / 124 3R   Richard Gasquet 31
Win
6–4, 6–3, 6–2
51 / 125 4R   Sébastien Grosjean 24
Win
6–4, 3–6, 6–0, 6–3
52 / 126 QF   David Ferrer 21
Win
7–5, 6–2, 6–0
53 / 127 SF   Roger Federer 1
Win
6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3
54 / 128 W   Mariano Puerta 37
Win (6)
6–7(6–8), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5
Gerry Weber Open
Halle, Germany
ATP World Tour 250
Grass, outdoor
6–12 June 2005
55 / 129 1R   Alexander Waske 147
Loss
6–4, 5–7, 3–6
The Championships, Wimbledon
Wimbledon, United Kingdom
Grand Slam
Grass, outdoor
20 June – 3 July 2005
56 / 130 1R   Vincent Spadea 39
Win
6–4, 6–3, 6–2
57 / 131 2R   Gilles Müller 69
Loss
4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Swedish Open
Båstad, Sweden
ATP World Tour 250
Clay, outdoor
4–10 July 2005
58 / 132 1R   Juan Mónaco 66
Win
6–1, 6–1
59 / 133 2R   Alberto Martín 50
Win
6–2, 6–4
60 / 134 QF   Juan Carlos Ferrero 31
Win
6–3, 6–3
61 / 135 SF   Tommy Robredo 20
Win
6–3, 6–3
62 / 136 W   Tomáš Berdych 20
Win (7)
2–6, 6–2, 6–4
Stuttgart Open
Stuttgart, Germany
ATP World Tour 500
Clay, outdoor
18–24 July 2005
1R Bye
63 / 137 2R   Hugo Armando 167
Win
6–1, 6–2
64 / 138 3R   Fernando Verdasco 58
Win
6–3, 6–2
65 / 139 QF   Tomáš Zíb 57
Win
4–6, 6–4, 6–3
66 / 140 SF   Jarkko Nieminen 66
Win
6–2, 7–5
67 / 141 W   Gastón Gaudio 13
Win (8)
6–3, 6–3, 6–4
Rogers Cup
Montreal, Canada
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Hard, outdoor
8–14 August 2005
68 / 142 1R   Carlos Moyá 32
Win
6–3, 6–7, 6–3
69 / 143 2R   Ricardo Mello 56
Win
6–1, 6–2
70 / 144 3R   Sébastien Grosjean 34
Win
6–4, 6–4
71 / 145 QF   Mariano Puerta 11
Win
6–3, 6–1
72 / 146 SF   Paul-Henri Mathieu 63
Win
6–4, 7–5
73 / 147 W   Andre Agassi 7
Win (9)
6–3, 4–6, 6–2
Cincinnati Masters
Ohio, United States
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Hard, outdoor
15–21 August 2005
74 / 148 1R   Tomáš Berdych 36
Loss
7–6(7–4), 2–6, 6–7(3–7)
US Open
Melbourne, Australia
Grand Slam
Hard, outdoor
29 August – 11 September 2005
75 / 149 1R   Bobby Reynolds 132
Win
6–3, 6–3, 6–4
76 / 150 2R   Scoville Jenkins 352
Win
6–4, 7–5, 6–4
77 / 151 3R   James Blake 49
Loss
4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 1–6
China Open
Beijing, China
ATP World Tour 250
Hard, outdoor
12–18 September 2005
78 / 152 1R   Jimmy Wang 100
Win
6–2, 6–4
79 / 153 2R   Justin Gimelstob 95
Win
5–7, 6–4, 6–4
80 / 154 QF   Peter Wessels 115
Win
7–6(7–3), 6–2
81 / 155 SF   Juan Carlos Ferrero 23
Win
6–4, 6–4
82 / 156 W   Guillermo Coria 8
Win (10)
5–7, 6–1, 6–2
Davis Cup, ITA v/s ESP World Group Play Offs
Italy
Davis Cup
Clay, outdoor
19–25 September 2005
83 / 157 RR   Daniele Bracciali 69
Win
6–3, 6–2, 6–1
84 / 158 RR   Andreas Seppi 78
Win
6–1, 6–2, 5–7, 6–4
Madrid Open
Madrid, Spain
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
Hard, indoor
17–23 October 2005
1R Bye
85 / 159 2R   Victor Hănescu 42
Win
7–6(7–5), 6–3
86 / 160 3R   Tommy Robredo 17
Win
6–2, 6–4
87 / 161 QF   Radek Štěpánek 14
Win
7–6(11–9), 6–4
88 / 162 SF   Robby Ginepri 21
Win
7–5, 7–6(7–1)
89 / 163 W   Ivan Ljubičić 7
Win (11)
3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(7–3)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rafael Nadal, Player 2005 activity, Singles". aptworldtour. 2005. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Rafael Nadal, Player 2005 activity, Doubles". aptworldtour. 2005. Archived from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  3. ^ "Rafael Nadal – Titles and Finals". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Rafael Nadal's 5 biggest titles as a teenager". sportskeeda. 6 March 2020. Archived from the original on 12 September 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Teen Nadal gives Spain reign over French Open". USA Today. Associated Press. 5 June 2006. Archived from the original on 22 January 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  6. ^ "13 years ago: Rafael Nadal hits crazy passing shot". Tennis World USA. 20 May 2018. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  7. ^ a b "ATP Rankings History: Rafael Nadal". ATP Tour. Archived from the original on 8 February 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  8. ^ "beats Federer in battle of wills". TheGuardian.com.
  9. ^ "Waske snaps Nadal's winning streak". Associated Press. 10 June 2005. Archived from the original on 14 July 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  10. ^ Linden, Julian (5 January 2006). "Foot injury delays Rafael Nadal's comeback". Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
  11. ^ "Rafael Nadal No. 1 Tribute". ATP World Tour. 18 August 2008. Retrieved 7 July 2009. [dead link]
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