To celebrate Rafal Nadal becoming a global brand ambassador for Infosys, ATP’s digital innovation partner, ATPTour.com looks at the evolution of Rafa’s game and the Spaniard’s key stats during his record-breaking career.

Rafael Nadal exploded onto the global tennis scene in 2005, winning 11 ATP Tour tournaments, including five ATP Masters 1000 events and his maiden Roland Garros title. He started the year ranked No. 51 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and finished No. 2.

A star was born.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Nadal’s illustrious career identifies how champions evolve by continually adding to their game – and also changing the game along the way.

Let’s start at the beginning.

2005 Season (79-10)
The 18-year-old Spaniard got hot in April and May, going on a 17-match win streak to capture titles in Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, Rome and Roland Garros. He would finish with 11 titles, representing the most prolific year of his career.

What powered this sudden rise to stardom? An insatiable appetite to devour return points. He won a staggering 45 per cent of all return points in 2005, which was the best of his career. His specific area of expertise was facing second serves, where he won 57 per cent of return points. That was a personal record he equaled in five other seasons.

Nadal made a seismic splash onto the tennis scene in 2005, but it was only beginning. He kept adding to his game season after season.

2010 Season (71-10)
Nadal has described this season as the best of his career, and the trophy haul is something to behold. Nadal owned the clay court season with titles in Monte-Carlo, Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros. He then backed up that dominant performance with victories at Wimbledon and the US Open.

It was Nadal’s serve that stood tall in this spectacular season. He saved 71 per cent of break points, which was the best in any season of his career. He also served fewer double faults (59) in any season (excluding 2023). Until 2010, he was a nightmare from the returning side of the equation. He evolved his game to a whole new level to dominate when serving as well.

Nadal also converted more break points (49 per cent – tie with 2020) and set a personal single-season record for the most 1st serve return points won (38 per cent).

2013 Season (75-7)
After only three titles in 2011 and four in 2012, Nadal roared to prominence with ten titles in 2013, including ATP Masters 1000 titles in Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome, Canada, and Cincinnati. He added Roland Garros and the US Open to his dazzling 2013 resume.

Nadal won 91.5 percent of his matches, the highest win percentage of any season where he won 50+ matches.

2017 Season (68-12)
After three seasons from 2014-16 that only produced one Grand Slam title, Nadal bounced back with a vengeance in 2017 to capture Roland Garros and the US Open, along with ATP Masters 1000 titles in Monte-Carlo and Madrid.

Nadal tied his best season for total points won (56 per cent) and service points won (70 per cent).

2019 Season (58-7)
Two Grand Slam titles (Roland Garros/US Open) and two ATP Masters 1000 titles (Rome/Canada) delivered the No. 1 ranking back to the Spaniard at the end of the 2019 season. He held onto it for 12 weeks, moving into the start of 2020.

The 2019 season delivered several personal best statistical markers for Nadal, evidence of a champion taking his game to a new level. This time, the focus came back to his serve. He won more first serve points (76 per cent) and second serve points (60 per cent – tie with 2010) than any other season of his stellar career. He also put up personal best numbers for service games won (90 per cent – tied with 2010) and service points won (70 per cent – tied with 2010 & 2017).

2022 Season (39-8)
Nadal got off to a flyer, winning 21 straight matches, including the Australian Open, and would add a 14th Roland Garros title later in the season. Unfortunately, multiple injuries (foot, rib, abdomen) cut his season short when he appeared to be playing as good, or better, than at any time since 2005.

Nadal has cleverly evolved his game over the years, partly in response to developing the necessary tools to defeat the player on the other side of the net and from pushing himself to break through existing boundaries to redefine what’s possible in our sport.

The Christopher Eubanks show will soon begin at the US Open. But off the court, the American star paid a visit to a different kind of show.

Eubanks joined WTA players Beatriz Haddad Maia and Alycia Parks for a behind-the-scenes tour of Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in Manhattan. The players were showed around the stage, the music pit and even met several members of the cast.

One of the actors they met was Euan Morton, who plays King George in the musical. One of the most special moments of the visit came when the creator of the show, tennis fan Lin-Manuel Miranda, spoke to the players.

Eubanks, who had previously seen Hamilton twice, watched the first act in the music pit. It was a memorable experience before the season’s final major begins.

“Just seen Hamilton for the third time live. Just as good as it was the first time,” Eubanks said. “The cast was unbelievable. I got to watch the first act from the music pit, which was a pretty unique experience in itself. But again, the play is incredible.

“The entire cast was so welcoming and warm. I thank them, thank Lin-Manuel Miranda for the invite and I’ll probably look forward to coming back again.”

The ATP and Sense Arena, the world leader in virtual reality (VR) tennis training, have announced a new multiyear partnership that will see Sense Arena become the Official VR Tennis Training Tool of the ATP Tour.

Together, the partners will launch ATP Tour Sense Arena. The cobranded platform, operated via a Meta Quest 2 Headset paired with a haptic racquet, will offer groundbreaking VR training applications to tennis players of all levels worldwide. Additionally, the ATP’s Top 100 singles players and Top 25 doubles players will receive complimentary access to train with Sense Arena’s best-in-class VR technology.

The revamped ATP Tour Sense Arena platform will feature a new integration called Master Your Return, which will be powered by real match data and analytics from pro players on the ATP Tour and Hologic WTA Tours. This revolutionary feature will enable users to analyse and return true-to-life serves in VR from the top ATP and WTA players in the world. Additionally, Master Your Return will integrate match data from recreational players, allowing users to face accurate serves from virtual opponents of their equal skill level. The new feature will complement Sense Arena’s existing serve integrations from ATP pro Jack Sock, who had his serve replicated in Sense Arena earlier this year.

Casper Ruud, Daria Saville and Bob Tetiva.” />
^{ATP Chief Business Officer Daniele Sano, ATP player Casper Ruud, WTA player Daria Saville and Sense Arena Founder and CEO Bob Tetiva. Photo: ATP Tour.}
The ATP will in parallel collaborate with Sense Arena on the continued development of its training platform by designating advisors from its Medical Services, Technology and Business teams. The organisations will also work together to produce content to educate the wider tennis community about the benefits of mental training.

“Whether it’s on the ATP Tour or at any level of the game, the difference between winning and losing often comes down to mental fortitude and preparation,” said ATP CEO Massimo Calvelli. “Sense Arena is on the cutting edge of tennis training and we’re proud to lend our resources and expertise to advance a VR platform that will not only help our players, but tennis players of all ages and abilities across the globe.”

“Our goal is to change the game of tennis by elevating athlete performance through mental, tactical and visualisation-based training,” said Sense Arena Founder and CEO, Bob Tetiva. “Over the last few years, we have built Sense Arena for Tennis by working with the most respected names in the industry and this new opportunity to collaborate with the ATP will help us take our tennis training platform to the next level.”

ATP Tour Sense Arena is backed by International Tennis Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova and is being used by some of today’s top players including Jack Sock, Jennifer Brady, Brenda and Linda Fruhvirtova, Miomir Kecmanovic, Emil Ruusuvuori, Liudmila Samsonova, Hunter Reese, Daria Saville, Luisa Stefani and more.

To get started with ATP Tour Sense Arena, download the app on the Meta app store and subscribe by visiting SenseArena.com/ATPTour.

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, has been officially announced as the host city of the Next Gen ATP Finals, from 2023-2027. The tournament will take place over five days at the King Abdullah Sports City on indoor hard court from 28 November-2 December 2023, with a record US $2 million prize money on offer, following five successful editions of the tournament in Milan, Italy.

The ATP’s announcement follows a competitive bid process launched in March 2023, with the support of Deloitte’s Sport Business Group. The process evaluated host cities from multiple regions against criteria including venue, international connectivity, and potential to grow professional tennis in a new market.

In addition to delivering record prize money for players, Jeddah’s successful bid, led by the Saudi Tennis Federation (STF), makes history as the first official professional tennis event to take place in Saudi Arabia. It builds on a more than 30-year presence in the Middle East for the ATP Tour.

ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi said: “The ATP Tour is truly global and exploring new markets is central to growing the game. Bringing the Next Gen ATP Finals to Jeddah is our chance to inspire new fans, in a region with a vast young population, and unite audiences around tennis. Our congratulations go to Jeddah and the Saudi Tennis Federation. We look forward to building on the event’s incredible success together.”

Tennis is at a major inflection point in Saudi Arabia. Recreational clinics are at full capacity across the country, reflecting STF’s commitment to raising awareness and fostering interest among Saudi’s young, sport-enthusiastic population. Ambitious participation targets, an increase in the number of international tennis competitions, and establishing tennis as the marquee gender-equal sport in Saudi Arabia, have all been set as objectives in line with Vision 2030, which aspires to turn the Kingdom into a major sports, entertainment and tourism hub.

Arij Mutabagani, President of the Saudi Tennis Federation, said: “We are extremely proud that ATP has selected Jeddah to host such an important tennis event. The Next Gen ATP Finals embodies the philosophy of our Federation, which is to inspire young talent to reach the sport’s highest levels. We’re excited to collaborate to promote the ATP Tour’s most promising rising stars, and showcase new sporting innovations, in our special city of Jeddah.”

The Next Gen ATP Finals, first launched in 2017, has established itself as one of the highlights of the tennis season, showcasing the world’s best 21-and-under players in a fast-paced year-end format. Notably, nine of the current Top 10 players in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings having competed at the event, highlighting its role in showcasing the future stars of the sport. Past champions like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have used the event as a stepping-stone to further success in their careers.

The event also serves as a platform to test rule changes, new technologies and innovations in the sport, many of which have gone on to be incorporated on the ATP Tour.

Some of the world’s brightest stars treated US Open fans to a fun-filled night Wednesday, when the likes of Carlos Alcaraz, Frances Tiafoe and Matteo Berrettini banded together for ‘Stars of the Open’, an exhibition in support of Ukrainian humanitarian relief.

In front of more than 14,000 people at Louis Armstrong Stadium, the fundraiser brought out celebrities beyond tennis, too. NBA star Jimmy Butler and two-time Latin Grammy winner Sebastian Yatra were also part of the event that raised $320,000 towards the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. Butler served as a ball crew member for part of the night and even played a few points with World No. 1 Alcaraz following the Spaniard’s exhibition tie-break with Tiafoe.

If a better point of tennis has ever been played, we’ve never seen it 🤣 pic.twitter.com/udc6iGZkxx

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 23, 2023

Players were mic’d up throughout the festivities, providing several moments of laughter for those watching. A memorable moment was when Gael Monfils partnered his wife Elina Svitolina in mixed doubles against Americans Christopher Eubanks and Jennifer Brady to close the night. Berrettini teamed with 1990 US Open champion Gabriela Sabatini to face John McEnroe and Jessica Pegula.

The US Open main draw will be made Thursday at 12 p.m. local time and main draw action begins Monday, 28 August. 

THAT’S @JImmyButler‘s MUSIC!

AND AS A BALL CREW MEMBER! pic.twitter.com/SQKJmcNalg

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 23, 2023

John McEnroe goes after Matteo Berrettini and shows he’s still got it! pic.twitter.com/WgbfoZY2iZ

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 24, 2023

Top seed Borna Coric earned a hard-fought victory Wednesday at the Winston-Salem Open to reach his sixth tour-level quarter-final of the season.

The 26-year-old Croatian survived wild card Michael Mmoh 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3 in two hours, 47 minutes. Coric fired 11 aces and struck the ball with conviction to reach the last eight, where he will next face Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo. World No. 29 Coric has played his best tennis under pressure this week, having saved 16 of 17 break points he’s faced across two matches.

“I started to play better in the second set. He was serving really, really big and I didn’t have a chance to break him [in the second set],” Coric said. “Overall I thought it was a good match from my side and also from his side. I’m very happy with my level of tennis and I hopefully I can keep on getting better.”

Aiming for his fourth tour-level title and first since last year’s surprise run at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, Coric is making his third appearance in Winston-Salem, where he has twice reached the last eight (2015, 2017). His quarter-final contest against Cerundolo, who downed lucky loser Omni Kumar 7-5, 6-3 in third round, will mark his first encounter with the Argentine.

“I need to check him out a bit. I did watch him play a couple of times, but I’ve never watched him play where I was focussed on his game,” Coric said. “I need to check him out on YouTube and Tennis TV to see how he plays and then decide all of my game plans.”

Fifth seed Jiri Lehecka also needed three sets to advance Wednesday, defeating German Dominik Koepfer 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Maxime Cressy wasted no time Wednesday to reach the second round of US Open qualifying, needing 69 minutes to dispatch Czech Vit Kopriva 6-3, 6-3.

The 26-year-old American dropped just six points behind his hefty serve to move one step closer to his fourth main-draw appearance in Flushing Meadows, where he will next face Belgian Joris De Loore, who defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 6-4.

#NextGenATP stars Jakub Mensik, Arthur Cazaux and Leandro Riedi also earned victories Wednesday. The 17-year-old Mensik overcame a slow start and struck 10 aces to oust former World No. 7 Fabio Fognini 1-6, 6-1, 6-1. 17th seed Cazaux cruised past Zizou Bergs 6-3, 6-3 and the Swiss Riedi survived 13th seed Flavio Cobolli 6-1, 2-6, 7-5.

Canadian Vasek Pospisil played the longest men’s qualifying match of the day, needing three hours, 29 minutes to move past 26th seed Pedro Martinez 7-6(7), 6-7(3), 6-4.

John Millman, who was a US Open quarter-finalist in 2018, defeated Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 7-5. Dennis Novak upset fifth seed David Goffin 7-6(5), 6-3. In an all-American battle, Tennys Sandgren downed Denis Kudla 7-6(6), 6-4.