Thunderbird Theme of the Week - Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal has been a stalwart on the Tennis circuit beginning in 2001. He has won the second-most major men's singles titles (22) and the second-most Big titles (59) in tennis history. He appeared in the Top 10 of the ATP rankings consecutively from April 2005 to March 2023 – a record spanning 912 weeks. He stands alone in the Open Era as the player with the most clay court titles (63), consisting of an all-time record 14 French Open titles, 12 Barcelona Open titles, 11 Monte-Carlo Masters titles, and 10 Italian Open titles. His 14 French Open titles are a record at any single tournament, and he holds the record for the longest single-surface win streak in matches (81 on clay) and in sets (50 on clay) in the history of the Open Era. Nadal holds the all-time records for the most majors won without losing a set (4), the most match wins at a single major (112 at the French Open), and the highest match-winning percentage at clay court majors (97.4%), among many others. Nadal's dominance on clay is reflected by his honorific title as the "King of Clay" and he is widely regarded as the greatest clay-court player in history. Nadal is considered by many to be the greatest player in tennis history because of his record and evolution into an all-court champion.
Tennis has four Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
- Novak Djokovic, 24.
- Rafael Nadal, 22.
- Roger Federer, 20.
- Pete Sampras, 14.
- Roy Emerson, 12.
- Margaret Court, 24.
- Serena Williams, 23.