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, including then-season-record 4 Masters 1000 titles and his maiden Grand Slam title at the

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

on his first attempt, making him the first teenager since

Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...

( 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, and the world No. 2 ranking. He was awarded the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award.

Australian Open

At the

2005 Australian Open The 2005 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament held in Melbourne, Australia from 17 until 30 January 2005. Roger Federer was unsuccessful in defending his 2004 title, being defeated in the semi-finals by eventual champion Marat Safin ...

, Nadal lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt.

Hard court

Nadal reached the final of the

2005 Miami Masters The 2005 Miami Masters (also known as the ''NASDAQ-100 Open'' for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 21st edition of Miami Masters, this tournament, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the ...

, and despite being two points from a straight-sets victory, he was defeated in five sets by Roger Federer.

Clay court

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. Nadal won the Torneo Conde de Godó in Barcelona and beat

2004 French Open The 2004 French Open was the 108th edition of the tournament. Gastón Gaudio became the first men's Open Era Grand Slam title winner to save two match points in the final; the last time that had happened was 70 years earlier. Gaudio also became th ...

runner-up Guillermo Coria in the finals of the

2005 Monte Carlo Masters The 2005 Monte Carlo Masters was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 99th edition of the event and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2005 ATP Tour. It took place at the Monte Carlo Country Club in Roquebru ...

and the

2005 Rome Masters The 2005 Italian Open (also known as the 2005 Rome Masters and the 2005 Telecom Italia Masters for sponsorship reason) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 62nd edition of the Italian Open, and was part of the ATP Ma ...

. 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. These victories raised his ranking to world No. 5 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 The 2005 French Open was the 109th edition of the tournament. On the men's side, Rafael Nadal, seeded fourth at his first French Open, was a strong favorite to win the singles title after winning the Monte Carlo and Rome Masters. Guillermo Coria ...

semifinals, 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

won the 1990 US Open at age 19. Winning the French Open improved Nadal's ranking to world No. 3.

Grass court

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. He then lost in the second round of

2005 Wimbledon The 2005 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 119th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and were held fr ...

to Gilles Müller of Luxembourg.

Summer hard court

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 The 2005 Canada Masters (also known as the 2005 Rogers Masters and 2005 Rogers Cup for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 116th edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Seri ...

, but lost in the first round of the

2005 Cincinnati Masters The 2005 Cincinnati Masters (also known as the ''Western & Southern Financial Group Masters'' and ''Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open'' for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 104th ...

. 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 The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...

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 that prevented him from competing in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup. 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. 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

References

External links

*
ATP tour profile
{{Men's Tennis Player Seasons: 1998–2009 Rafael Nadal tennis seasons Nadal, Rafael