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Sweet 16: Nadal’s Incredible Streak of Consecutive Years Inside the Top 10 hits 16

By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday April 26, 2021

Rafael Nadal has always been one to put up mind-boggling numbers, particularly on the clay, where he is a 13-time Roland-Garros champion and a holder of double-digit titles at three events (12 at Barcelona and 11 at Monte-Carlo), in addition to being top of the clay-court title list with 61.

Tennis Express


But Nadal’s latest milestone has less to do with titles and more to do with good old-fashioned consistency. The Spaniard, as of Monday’s ATP rankings, has now held a spot in the ATP’s Top 10 for a whopping 814 consecutive weeks. That amounts to 16 years of Top 10 tennis, and it all started 16 years ago to the day, when Nadal climbed into the Top 10 after claiming his maiden title at the Barcelona Open in 2005.

It was a milestone that was part of a years’ worth of milestones for Nadal. The pirate-panted phenom would claim his maiden Roland-Garros title a month later and would finish the year ranked at No.2 in the world – all the way from 51 at the start of the season.

Yesterday, after claiming his 12th Barcelona Open title, Nadal talked about his approach to tennis. Not much has changed, in his mindset, or on the scoreboard.

“I went through some tough moments in all my career in terms of injuries but I always hold a passion and a love for the sport to keep going, and it's true that I always have a great team and a great family next to me that has been so important for holding the passion and the motivation to help me in those low moments. So yes, I am super happy to be where I am today,” he said.

In the past two years Nadal has blasted past Roger Federer (734 weeks) and Jimmy Connors (789 weeks) to stand alone on the list.

Nadal is not alone in this rarefied air, however. Martina Navratilova stands alone on the women’s side, the legendary 18-time major champion spent 1,000 consecutive weeks inside the Top 10. For Nadal to catch Martina, the Spaniard will have to hold out until the end of 2024, at which point he’ll have turned 38. Do you think he can do it? We certainly won’t be counting him out!

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