Rafael Nadal

The number one ranked tennis player in the world is 22 year old Rafael Nadal from Mallorca, Spain. He is a left-handed player and stands at just over six feet, which enables him to have a longer reach that has helped get him to the top. Interestingly enough, although he is considered to be one of the world's best tennis players, his heart is with soccer. His father and uncle were both famous soccer players. Recently, Rafael was awarded a gold medal from RCD Mallorca, which was his home soccer team.

Rafael is extremely talented in the game of tennis. He has had the number one ranking in golf for the past six months, and took the Olympic gold medal for singles in Beijing. He has won six Grand Slam singles titles, the last four French Open singles titles, and the 2008 title at Wimbledon. This year, he has already captured the Australian Open and has now joined the elite group of Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, and Andre Agassi, the only other players to win Grand Slam titles on three different surface types.

These past few years, Rafael was ranked number two in the world behind Roger Federer, and has played some of the greatest matches in tennis history against him. Nadal has played against Federer in seven Grand Slam finals, and defeated him five times. Nadal has also won 13 of the 19 matches played against Federer, and is definitely a force to be reckoned with.