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Rafael Nadal's 22 singles Slam titles put him at the forefront of the list of Major winners. The former World No. 1 has an 88% win-rate in Grand Slam matches. He won his first Major title at the 2005 French Open and won his 22nd at the 2022 French Open. He leads his rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer by 11-7 and 10-4 respectively in Grand Slam matches.
A winner of the career golden Slam and two career Slams, Rafael Nadal has won over one-third of the Majors he has entered. Moreover, the southpaw has a win-rate of 71.4% against top 10 opponents at Majors.
Known for his tenacious display of tennis, which consists of boisterous groundstrokes from the baseline, the King of Clay has been a favorite at every Slam he enters irrespective of his form and physical injuries.
Despite possessing a game that could have a toll on his body, Nadal's perseverance has been lauded by many tennis pundits. He is only the third player in history to win a Slam in his teens, 20s and 30s. In 10 instances, he has successfully defended a Major title. Having been ranked as the World No.1 for 209 weeks, Rafael Nadal has been in the Top 10 of the rankings for a record 876 consecutive weeks.
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Given the stature of his record, it is difficult to imagine Nadal losing to a lesser-known player in Grand Slams. However, there are four such instances where players managed to get the better of the Mallorcan at the biggest stages of the game.
"I can lose, he can win, but I can't give up," said Nadal after his win against Daniil Medvedev at the 2022 Australian Open
#1 Steve Darcis
Rafael Nadal had a spectacular 2013 season. Nadal won 75 of the 82 matches he played that year. He also secured the year-end No. 1 spot at the end of the season. He won 10 tour-level singles titles that season, two of which were the French Open and the US Open titles. The most shocking of Rafael Nadal's seven losses that season came against Belgian player Steve Darcis.
Darcis was ranked as high as No. 38 in singles and has won two tour-level singles titles in his career. Before entering the main draw of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, Darcis had failed to win two consecutive tour-level main draw matches. Nadal, on the other hand, lost only 2 of the 44 matches that he played before entering Wimbledon that year. Ranked fifth in the world, Nadal drew World No.135 Darcis in the first round.
The two had met once previously at Doha in 2010, which ended in Darcis retiring mid-match due to an injury with Nadal leading 6-1 2-0. An upset was barely on the cards, but Darcis managed to tame the beast by defeating Nadal in straight sets. Nadal lost in the first round of a Major. Darcis pulled out of the tournament before the second round, citing a shoulder injury that he sustained during his 7-6(6), 7-6(8), 6-4 win against Nadal.
#2 Younes El Aynaoui
Moroccan player Younes El Aynaoui turned professional in 1990. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of No. 14 at the age of 31 and retired at the age of 45 in 2017. A winner of five tour level singles titles, El Ayanoui was the eldest player to hold a ranking on the ATP Tour.
He came into the limelight when he battled Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals of the 2003 Australian Open. The duo set the then record for the longest fifth set contested in Grand Slams. The Moroccan had a match point early in the fifth set, but it was Roddick who eventually won the match 4-6, 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-4, 21-19.
A young Rafael Nadal, who was active at both the tour and Challenger level, made history in 2003 when he became the youngest player since Boris Becker in 1984 to reach the third round of Wimbledon. Still a teenager, the Spaniard entered his second main draw of a Slam at the US Open where he defeated Fernando Vicente in the first round in straight sets.
Nadal drew 22nd seed El Ayanoui. The duo had one previous meeting that year which went in Nadal's favor. The southpaw won the match in three sets in the first round of the Bastad Open. However, in their second meeting, it was the Moroccan won the match 7-6(6), 6-3, 7-6(6). He would later go on to reach the quarterfinals for a second consecutive year. He lost to 13th seed David Nalbandian in four sets.
El Ayanoui will draw Nadal for the third and final time on the hard courts of Dubai in 2006. However, the Moroccan pulled out before the match due to an injury, handing Nadal a walkover.
#3 Paradorn Srichapan
Paradorn Srichapan was the first Asian to be ranked in the Top 10 of the ATP rankings. The Thai's best showing at Majors was reaching the fourth round of every Slam except the French Open. Srichapan's prime years on tour were between 2002-2005, during which he reached 11 tour-level finals, winning five of them.
Rafael Nadal made his main draw debut of a Major at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships. Srichapan was the 12th seed at the event. He had to win two consecutive five-set matches to reach the third round. Nadal dropped only one set before setting up his only career meeting against Srichapan. Nadal lost the match in straight sets, making Srichapan the first player to defeat the now 22-time singles Slam champion at a Major.
An unfortunate motorbike accident in 2010 severely injured Srichapan's knees and hands, which forced him to retire from the sport.
#4 Lukas Rosol
Former World No.26 Lukas Rosol never made it past the third round of a Major. The Czech has won two tour-level singles titles in his career. In 2012, Nadal was off to a flying start, finishing as the runner-up at the Australian Open after contesting the longest Grand Slam final against Djokovic and later winning titles at Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and the French Open.
In order to prepare for the grass season, Nadal entered the Halle Open. However, Philipp Kohlschreiber ended his run in the quarterfinals.
Rosol's 2012 season before the Wimbledon Championships saw him win only 9 of the 22 tour level main draw matches that he played. He defeated Ivan Dodig in four-sets in the first round. Nadal defeated Thomaz Bellucci in straight sets in his first-round match to set up his first ever meeting against Rosol.
In one of the biggest upsets of the decade, World No.100 Lukas Rosol defeated second seed Rafael Nadal 6-7(9), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4. It was the first time since 2005 Wimbledon that Nadal could not get past the second round of a Major. In 2014, the two met yet again in the second round of Wimbledon.
Rafael Nadal avenged his 2012 defeat by defeating Rosol in four sets. They met three other times on hard courts, and each time it was the Spaniard who won the match.
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