2005 Rafael Nadal tennis season

2005 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Full name	Rafael Nadal Parera
Country	Spain
Calendar prize money	$3,874,751 (Singles $3,794,327, Doubles $80,424)[1] [2]
Singles
Season record	79–10 (88.8%)
Calendar titles	11
Year-end ranking	No. 2
Ranking change from previous year	49
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian Open	4R
French Open	W
Wimbledon	2R
US Open	3R
← 2004 2006 →

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,^[3] including then-season-record 4 Masters 1000 titles and his maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open on his first attempt, making him the first teenager since Pete Sampras (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,^[4] 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, Nadal lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt.

Hard court

Nadal reached the final of the 2005 Miami Masters, 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.^[5] Nadal won the Torneo Conde de Godó in Barcelona and beat 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria in the finals of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters and the 2005 Rome Masters. 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.^[6] These victories raised his ranking to world No. 5^[7] 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 semifinals,^[8] 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 Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19. Winning the French Open improved Nadal's ranking to world No. 3.^[7]

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.^[9] He then lost in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon 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, but lost in the first round of the 2005 Cincinnati Masters. 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 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.^[10]

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.^[11] 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

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent	Rank	Result	Score
Qatar Open Doha, Qatar ATP World Tour 250 Hard, outdoor 3–9 January 2005	1 / 75	1R	Mikhail Youzhny	16	Win	6–3, 7–6(7–3)
	2 / 76	2R	Fernando Verdasco	36	Win	6–2, 6–4
	3 / 77	QF	Ivan Ljubičić	22	Loss	2–6, 7–6(3–7), 3–6
Heineken Open Auckland, New Zealand ATP World Tour 250 Hard, outdoor 10–16 January 2005	4 / 78	1R	Dominik Hrbatý	20	Loss	3–6 RET
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 17–30 January 2005	5 / 79	1R	Julien Benneteau	65	Win	6–0, 6–4, 6–2
	6 / 80	2R	Mikhail Youzhny	15	Win	6–1, 4–6, 4–6, 7–5, 6–3
	7 / 81	3R	Bobby Reynolds	283	Win	6–1, 6–1, 6–3
	8 / 82	4R	Lleyton Hewitt	3	Loss	5–7, 6–3, 6–1, 6–7(3–7), 2–6
ATP Buenos Aires Buenos aires, Argentina ATP World Tour 250 Clay, outdoor 7–13 February 2005	9 / 83	1R	Agustín Calleri	61	Win	7–6(7–2), 6–3
	10 / 84	2R	Potito Starace	66	Win	6–1, 6–3
	11 / 85	QF	Gastón Gaudio	8	Loss	6–0, 0–6, 1–6
Brasil Open São Paulo, Brazil ATP World Tour 250 Clay, outdoor 15–20 February 2005	12 / 86	1R	José Acasuso	55	Win	7–6(7–1), 6–3
	13 / 87	2R	Álex Calatrava	86	Win	6–3, 6–3
	14 / 88	QF	Agustín Calleri	60	Win	6–2, 6–7(5–7), 6–4
	15 / 89	SF	Ricardo Mello	56	Win	2–6, 6–2, 6–4
	16 / 90	W	Alberto Martín	61	Win (1)	6–0, 6–7(2–7), 6–1
Abierto Mexicano Telcel Acapulco, Mexico ATP World Tour 500 Clay, outdoor 21–27 February 2005	17 / 91	1R	Álex Calatrava	81	Win	6–4, 6–4
	18 / 92	2R	Santiago Ventura	77	Win	7–6, 6–2
	19 / 93	QF	Guillermo Cañas	12	Win	7–5, 6–3
	20 / 94	SF	Mariano Puerta	74	Win	6–4, 6–1
	21 / 95	W	Albert Montañés	95	Win (2)	6–1, 6–0
Miami Open Key Biscayne, United States ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 21 March – 3 April 2005	–	1R	Bye
	22 / 96	2R	Rainer Schüttler	39	Win	6–4, 7–6(7–5)
	23 / 97	3R	Fernando Verdasco	45	Win	6–2, 6–2
	24 / 98	4R	Ivan Ljubičić	14	Win	6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–3
	25 / 99	QF	Thomas Johansson	27	Win	6–2, 6–4
	26 / 100	SF	David Ferrer	44	Win	6–4, 6–3
	27 / 101	F	Roger Federer	1	Loss (1)	6–2, 7–6(7–4), 6–7(5–7), 3–6, 1–6
Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana Valencia, Spain ATP World Tour 250 Clay, outdoor 4–10 April 2005	28 / 102	1R	Juan Carlos Ferrero	68	Win	6–2, 6–1
	29 / 103	2R	Guillermo García López	80	Win	6–1, 6–4
	30 / 104	QF	Igor Andreev	47	Loss	5–7, 2–6
Monte Carlo Masters Monte Carlo, Monaco ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 11–17 April 2005	31 / 105	1R	Gaël Monfils	106	Win	6–3, 6–2
	32 / 106	2R	Xavier Malisse	38	Win	6–0, 6–3
	33 / 107	3R	Olivier Rochus	42	Win	6–1, 6–2
	34 / 108	QF	Gastón Gaudio	6	Win	6–3, 6–0
	35 / 109	SF	Richard Gasquet	101	Win	6–7(6–8), 6–4, 6–3
	36 / 110	W	Guillermo Coria	9	Win (3)	6–3, 6–1, 0–6, 7–5
Torneo Godo Barcelona, Spain ATP World Tour 500 Clay, outdoor 18–24 April 2005	–	1R	Bye
	37 / 111	2R	Gilles Müller	64	Win	6–0, 6–2
	38 / 112	3R	Dominik Hrbatý	25	Win	6–1, 6–2
	39 / 113	QF	Agustín Calleri	99	Win	6–2, 3–0 RET
	40 / 114	SF	Radek Štěpánek	22	Win	7–5, 6–2
	41 / 115	W	Juan Carlos Ferrero	58	Win (4)	6–1, 7–6(7–4), 6–3
Internazionali BNL d'Italia Rome, Italy ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 2–8 May 2005	42 / 116	1R	Mikhail Youzhny	26	Win	6–0, 6–2
	43 / 117	2R	Victor Hănescu	85	Win	6–1, 6–1
	44 / 118	3R	Guillermo Cañas	13	Win	6–3, 6–1
	45 / 119	QF	Radek Štěpánek	17	Win	5–7, 6–1, 6–1
	46 / 120	SF	David Ferrer	25	Win	4–6, 6–4, 7–5
	47 / 121	W	Guillermo Coria	11	Win (5)	6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(8–6)
French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 23 May – 5 June 2005	48 / 122	1R	Lars Burgsmüller	96	Win	6–1, 7–6(7–4), 6–1
	49 / 123	2R	Xavier Malisse	46	Win	6–2, 6–2, 6–4
	50 / 124	3R	Richard Gasquet	31	Win	6–4, 6–3, 6–2
	51 / 125	4R	Sébastien Grosjean	24	Win	6–4, 3–6, 6–0, 6–3
	52 / 126	QF	David Ferrer	21	Win	7–5, 6–2, 6–0
	53 / 127	SF	Roger Federer	1	Win	6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3
	54 / 128	W	Mariano Puerta	37	Win (6)	6–7(6–8), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5
Gerry Weber Open Halle, Germany ATP World Tour 250 Grass, outdoor 6–12 June 2005	55 / 129	1R	Alexander Waske	147	Loss	6–4, 5–7, 3–6
The Championships, Wimbledon Wimbledon, United Kingdom Grand Slam Grass, outdoor 20 June – 3 July 2005	56 / 130	1R	Vincent Spadea	39	Win	6–4, 6–3, 6–2
	57 / 131	2R	Gilles Müller	69	Loss	4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6
Swedish Open Båstad, Sweden ATP World Tour 250 Clay, outdoor 4–7 July 2005	58 / 132	1R	Juan Mónaco	66	Win	6–1, 6–1
	59 / 133	2R	Alberto Martín	50	Win	6–2, 6–4
	60 / 134	QF	Juan Carlos Ferrero	31	Win	6–3, 6–3
	61 / 135	SF	Tommy Robredo	20	Win	6–3, 6–3
	62 / 136	W	Tomáš Berdych	20	Win (7)	2–6, 6–2, 6–4
Stuttgart Open Stuttgart, Germany ATP World Tour 500 Clay, outdoor 18–24 July 2005	–	1R	Bye
	63 / 137	2R	Hugo Armando	167	Win	6–1, 6–2
	64 / 138	3R	Fernando Verdasco	58	Win	6–3, 6–2
	65 / 139	QF	Tomáš Zíb	57	Win	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
	66 / 140	SF	Jarkko Nieminen	66	Win	6–2, 7–5
	67 / 141	W	Gastón Gaudio	13	Win (8)	6–3, 6–3, 6–4
Rogers Cup Montreal, Canada ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 8–14 August 2005	68 / 142	1R	Carlos Moyá	32	Win	6–3, 6–7, 6–3
	69 / 143	2R	Ricardo Mello	56	Win	6–1, 6–2
	70 / 144	3R	Sébastien Grosjean	34	Win	6–4, 6–4
	71 / 145	QF	Mariano Puerta	11	Win	6–3, 6–1
	72 / 146	SF	Paul-Henri Mathieu	63	Win	6–4, 7–5
	73 / 147	W	Andre Agassi	7	Win (9)	6–3, 4–6, 6–2
Cincinnati Masters Ohio, United States ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 15–21 August 2005	74 / 148	1R	Tomáš Berdych	36	Loss	7–6(7–4), 2–6, 6–7(3–7)
US Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 29 August – 11 September 2005	75 / 149	1R	Bobby Reynolds	132	Win	6–3, 6–3, 6–4
	76 / 150	2R	Scoville Jenkins	352	Win	6–4, 7–5, 6–4
	77 / 151	3R	James Blake	49	Loss	4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 1–6
China Open Beijing, China ATP World Tour 250 Hard, outdoor 12–18 September 2005	78 / 152	1R	Jimmy Wang	100	Win	6–2, 6–4
	79 / 153	2R	Justin Gimelstob	95	Win	5–7, 6–4, 6–4
	80 / 154	QF	Peter Wessels	115	Win	7–6(7–3), 6–2
	81 / 155	SF	Juan Carlos Ferrero	23	Win	6–4, 6–4
	82 / 156	W	Guillermo Coria	8	Win (10)	5–7, 6–1, 6–2
Davis Cup, ITA v/s ESP World Group Play Offs Italy Davis Cup Clay, outdoor 19–25 September 2005	83 / 157	RR	Daniele Bracciali	69	Win	6–3, 6–2, 6–1
	84 / 158	RR	Andreas Seppi	78	Win	6–1, 6–2, 5–7, 6–4
Madrid Open Madrid, Spain ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, indoor 17–23 October 2005	–	1R	Bye
	85 / 159	2R	Victor Hănescu	42	Win	7–6(7–5), 6–3
	86 / 160	3R	Tommy Robredo	17	Win	6–2, 6–4
	87 / 161	QF	Radek Štěpánek	14	Win	7–6(11–9), 6–4
	88 / 162	SF	Robby Ginepri	21	Win	7–5, 7–6(7–1)
	89 / 163	W	Ivan Ljubičić	7	Win (11)	3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(7–3)

See also

• 2005 ATP Tour
• 2005 Roger Federer tennis season

References

External links

• Official website (in Spanish)
• ATP tour profile