Coordinates	46°45′0″N23°23′0″N
name	Rome
official name	Roma Capitale
native name	Roma
nickname	The Eternal City
image shield	Coat of arms of Rome.svg
coordinates type	region:IT_type:city(2700000)
coordinates display	title
region	Lazio
province	Rome (RM)
mayor party	PDL
mayor	Gianni Alemanno
area total km2	1285.31
population total	2761477
population as of	December 2010
population demonym	Roman
elevation m	20
saint	Saint Peter and Saint Paul
day	29 June
postal code	00100; 00121 to 00199
area code	06
website
footnotes	}}

Rome (; ; ) is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.

Rome's history spans two and a half thousand years. It was the capital city of the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, which was the dominant power in Western Europe and the lands bordering the Mediterranean for over seven hundred years from the 1st century BC until the 7th century AD. Since the 1st century AD Rome has been the seat of the Papacy and, after the end of Byzantine domination, in the 8th century it became the capital of the Papal States, which lasted until 1870. In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic.

After the Middle Ages, Rome was ruled by popes such as Alexander VI and Leo X, who transformed the city into one of the major centers of the Italian Renaissance, along with Florence. The current version of St Peter's Basilica was built and the Sistine Chapel was painted by Michelangelo. Famous artists and architects, such as Bramante, Bernini and Raphael resided for some time in Rome, contributing to its Renaissance and Baroque architecture.

In 2007 Rome was the 11th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. The city is one of Europe's and the world's most successful city "brands", both in terms of reputation and assets. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are amongst the world's 50 most visited tourist destinations (the Vatican Museums receiving 4.2 million tourists and the Colosseum receiving 4 million tourists every year). Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is currently bidding to host the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Etymology

About the origin of the name ''Roma'' several hypotheses have been advanced. The most important are the following:

from ''Rommylos'' (Romulus), son of Ascanius and founder of the city;

from ''Rumon'' or ''Rumen'', archaic name of Tiber. It has the same root of the Greek verb ῥέω (rhèo) and of the Latin verb ''ruo'', which both mean "flow";

from the Etruscan word ''ruma'', whose root is *rum-, "teat", with possible reference either to the totem wolf that adopted and suckled the cognately named twins Romulus and Remus, or to the shape of Palatine and Aventine Hills;

from the Greek word ῤώμη (rhòme), which means ''strength'';

History

Earliest history

There is archaeological evidence of human occupation of the Rome area from at least 14,000 years, but the dense layer of much younger debris obscures Palaeolithic and Neolithic sites. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to at least 10,000 years of human presence. The power of the well known tale of Rome's legendary foundation tends also to deflect attention from its actual, and much more ancient, origins.

Monarchy, republic, empire

Rome's early history is shrouded in legend. According to Roman tradition, the city was founded by Romulus on 21 April 753 BC. The legendary origin of the city tells that Romulus and Remus decided to build a city. After an argument, Romulus killed his brother Remus. Archaeological evidence supports the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built in the area of the future Roman Forum. While some archaeologists argue that Rome was indeed founded in the middle of the 8th century BC, the date is subject to controversy. The original settlement developed into the capital of the Roman Kingdom (ruled by a succession of seven kings, according to tradition), and then the Roman Republic (from 510 BC, governed by the Senate), and finally the Roman Empire (from 27 BC, ruled by an Emperor). This success depended on military conquest, commercial predominance, as well as selective assimilation of neighbouring civilisations, most notably the Etruscans and Greeks. From its foundation Rome, although losing occasional battles, had been undefeated in war until 386 BC, when it was briefly occupied by the Gauls. According to the legend, the Gauls offered to deliver Rome back to its people for a thousand pounds of gold, but the Romans refused, preferring to take back their city by force of arms rather than ever admitting defeat, after which the Romans recovered the city in the same year.

The Republic was wealthy, powerful and stable before it became an empire. According to tradition, Rome became a republic in 509 BC. However, it took a few centuries for Rome to become the great city of popular imagination, and it only became a great empire after the rule of Augustus (Octavian). By the 3rd century BC, Rome had become the pre-eminent city of the Italian peninsula, having conquered and defeated the Sabines, the Etruscans, the Samnites and most of the Greek colonies in Sicily, Campania and Southern Italy in general. During the Punic Wars between Rome and the great Mediterranean empire of Carthage, Rome's stature increased further as it became the capital of an overseas empire for the first time. Beginning in the 2nd century BC, Rome went through a significant population expansion as Italian farmers, driven from their ancestral farmlands by the advent of massive, slave-operated farms called latifundia, flocked to the city in great numbers. The victory over Carthage in the First Punic War brought the first two provinces outside the Italian peninsula, Sicily and Corsica et Sardinia. Parts of Spain (Hispania) followed, and in the beginning of the 2nd century the Romans got involved in the affairs of the Greek world. By then all Hellenistic kingdoms and the Greek city-states were in decline, exhausted from endless civil wars and relying on mercenary troops. This saw the fall of Greece after the Battle of Corinth (146 BC) and the establishment of Roman control over Greece.

The Roman Empire had begun more formally when Emperor Augustus (63 BC–AD 14; known as Octavian before his throne accession) founded the Principate in 27 BC. This was a monarchy system which was headed by an emperor holding power for life, rather than making himself dictator like Julius Caesar had done, which had resulted in his assassination on 15 March, 44 BC. At home, Emperor Augustus started off a great programme of social, political and economic reform and grand-scale reconstruction of the city of Rome. The city became dotted with impressive and magnificent new buildings, palaces, fora and basilicae. Augustus became a great and enlightened patron of the arts, and his court was attended by such poets as Virgil, Horace and Propertius. His rule also established the Pax Romana, a long period of relative peace which lasted approximately 200 years. Following his rule were emperors such as Caligula, Nero, Trajan, and Hadrian, to name a few. Roman emperor Nero was well known for his extravagance, cruelty, tyranny, and the myth that he was the emperor who "fiddled while Rome burned" during the night of 18 to 19 July 64 AD. The Antonine Plague of 165–180 is believed to have killed as much as one-third of the population.

Roman dominance expanded over most of Western Europe and the shores of the Mediterranean, though its influence through client states and the sheer power of its presence was wider than its formal borders. Its population surpassed one million inhabitants. For almost a thousand years, Rome was the most politically important, richest, and largest city in the Western world. After the Empire started to decline and was split, it lost its capital status to Milan and then to Ravenna, and was surpassed in prestige by the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople, whose Greek inhabitants continued through the centuries to call themselves Roman.

Middle Ages

The Bishop of Rome became the Pope due to his increased political and religious importance under Emperor Constantine I. The Pope set Rome as the centre of the Catholic Church. After the Sack of Rome in 410 AD by Alaric I and the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, Rome alternated between Byzantine and Germanic control. Its population declined from more than a million in 210 AD to a mere 35,000 during the Early Middle Ages, reducing the sprawling city to groups of inhabited buildings interspersed among large areas of ruins and vegetation. Rome remained nominally part of the Byzantine Empire until 751 AD, when the Lombards finally extinguished the Exarchate of Ravenna which was the last holdout of the Byzantines in northern Italy. In 756, Pepin the Short gave the Pope temporal jurisdiction over Rome and surrounding areas, thus creating the Papal States. In 846, Muslim Arabs invaded Rome and looted St. Peter's Basilica.

Rome remained the capital of the Papal States until its annexation by the Kingdom of Italy in 1870; the city became a major pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages and the focus of struggles between the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire starting with Charlemagne, who was crowned its first emperor in Rome in 800 by Pope Leo III. Apart from brief periods as an independent city during the Middle Ages, Rome kept its status as Papal capital and "holy city" for centuries, even when the Papacy briefly relocated to Avignon (1309–1377).

Early modern

The latter half of the 15th century saw the seat of the Italian Renaissance move to Rome from Florence. The Papacy wanted to equal and surpass the grandeur of other Italian cities and to this end created ever more extravagant churches, bridges, town squares and public spaces, including a new Saint Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, ''Ponte Sisto'' (the first bridge to be built across the Tiber since antiquity), and Piazza Navona. The Popes were also patrons of the arts engaging such artists as Michelangelo, Perugino, Raphael, Ghirlandaio, Luca Signorelli, Botticelli, and Cosimo Rosselli.

The period was also infamous for papal corruption, with many Popes fathering children, and engaging in nepotism and simony. The corruption of the Popes and the extravagance of their building projects led, in part, to the Reformation and, in turn, the Counter-Reformation. Popes, such as Alexander VI, were well known for their decadence, wild parties, extravagance and immoral lives. However, under these extravagant and rich popes, Rome was transformed into a centre of art, poetry, music, literature, education and culture. Rome became able to compete with other major European cities of the time in terms of wealth, grandeur, the arts, learning and architecture.

The Renaissance period changed Rome's face dramatically, with works like the Pietà by Michelangelo and the frescoes of the Borgia Apartment, all made during Innocent's reign. Rome reached the highest point of splendour under Pope Julius II (1503–1513) and his successors Leo X and Clement VII, both members of the Medici family. In this twenty-year period Rome became one of the greatest centres of art in the world. The old St. Peter's Basilica built by Emperor Constantine the Great (which by then was in a terrible state) was demolished and a new one begun. The city hosted artists like Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Botticelli and Bramante, who built the temple of San Pietro in Montorio and planned a great project to renovate the Vatican. Raphael, who in Rome became one the most famous painters of Italy creating frescos in the Cappella Niccolina, the Villa Farnesina, the Raphael's Rooms, plus many other famous paintings. Michelangelo started the decoration of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and executed the famous statue of the Moses for the tomb of Julius. Rome lost in part its religious character, becoming increasingly a true Renaissance city, with a great number of popular feasts, horse races, parties, intrigues and licentious episodes. Its economy was rich, with the presence of several Tuscan bankers, including Agostino Chigi, who was a friend of Raphael and a patron of arts. Before his early death, Raphael also promoted for the first time the preservation of the ancient ruins. The fight between France and Spain in Europe caused the first plunder of the City in more than one thousand years. In 1527 the Landsknechts of Emperor Charles V sacked the city, putting to an abrupt end the golden age of the Renaissance in Rome.

In the beginning of the 16th century the Church began also a secular struggle against the Reformation, which subtracted a great part of Christendom to the papal authority. During the 17th and the beginning of the 18th centuries the Popes continued the tradition of Counter-reformation, enriching the city's landscape with Baroque buildings, erected by the Popes themselves or by theirs Cardinal-nephews.

Soon after World War I, Rome witnessed the rise to power of Italian Fascism guided by Benito Mussolini, who marched on the city in 1922, eventually declaring a new Empire and allying Italy with Nazi Germany. The interwar period saw a rapid growth in the city's population, that surpassed 1,000,000 inhabitants. In World War II, due to its status of an open city, Rome largely escaped the tragic destiny of other European cities, but was occupied by the Germans from the Italian Armistice until its liberation on 4 June 1944. However, on 19 June 1943 Rome was bombed by Anglo-American forces, being one of the hardest hit areas in the San Lorenzo district, resulting in about 3,000 deaths and 11,000 wounded.

Rome grew momentously after the war, as one of the driving forces behind the "Italian economic miracle" of post-war reconstruction and modernisation. It became a fashionable city in the 1950s and early 1960s, the years of "la dolce vita" ("the sweet life"), with popular classic fims such as ''Ben Hur'', ''Quo Vadis'', ''Roman Holiday'' and ''La Dolce Vita'' being filmed in the city's iconic Cinecittà Studios. A new rising trend in population continued until the mid-1980s, when the commune had more than 2,800,000 residents; after that, population started to slowly decline as more residents moved to nearby suburbs.

Government

Local government

Rome constitutes one of Italy's 8,101 communes, and is the largest both in terms of land area and population. It is governed by a mayor, currently Gianni Alemanno, and a city council. The seat of the commune is the ''Palazzo Senatorio'' on the Capitoline Hill, the historic seat of the city government. The local administration in Rome is commonly referred to as ''"Campidoglio"'', the Italian name of the hill.

The city is divided into 20 administrative areas, called ''municipi'' or municipalities. They were created in 1972 for administrative reasons to increase decentralisation in the city. Each municipality is governed by a president and a council of four members who are elected by the residents of the municipality every five years. The municipalities frequently cross the boundaries of the traditional, non-administrative divisions of the city.

Rome is also divided into differing types of non-administrative divisions. The historic centre is divided into 22 ''rioni'', all of which are located within the Aurelian Walls except Prati and Borgo.

The Rioni have changed in number throughout history, from ancient Rome, the medieval period, to the Renaissance. They were later organized in a more precise way by Pope Benedict XIV in 1743.

Even after Napoleon lost his power in the city, there were no sensible changes in the organisation of the city, until Rome became the capital of the new born Italy. The needs of the new capital caused a great urbanisation and an increase of the population, both within the Aurelian walls and outside them. In 1874 the rioni became 15 adding Esquilino, obtained taking a part from Monti. At the beginning of the 20th century some rioni started being split up and the first parts outside the Aurelian walls started being considered part of the city. In 1921 the number of the rioni increased to 22. Prati was the last rione to be established. and the only one outside the City Walls. With the creation of the ''circoscrizioni'' (later renamed ''municipi'') in 1972, all the rioni, except Borgo and Prati, have been placed in the first one, Municipio I, which so contains almost completely the ''Centro Storico''.

National government

Rome is the national capital of Italy and is the seat of the Italian Government. The official residences of the President of the Italian Republic and the Italian Prime Minister, the seats of both houses of the Italian Parliament and that of the Italian Constitutional Court are located in the historic centre. The state ministries are spread out around the city; these include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is located in Palazzo della Farnesina near the Olympic stadium.

Geography

Location

Rome is in the Lazio region of central Italy on the Tiber river (). The original settlement developed on hills that faced onto a ford beside the Tiber island, the only natural ford of the river in this area. The Rome of the Kings was built on seven hills: the Aventine Hill, the Caelian Hill, the Capitoline Hill, the Esquiline Hill, the Palatine Hill, the Quirinal Hill, and the Viminal Hill. Modern Rome is also crossed by another river the Aniene which joins the Tiber north of the historic centre.

Although the city center is about inland from the Tyrrhenian Sea, the city territory extends to the shore, where the south-western district of Ostia is located. The altitude of the central part of Rome ranges from above sea level (at the base of the Pantheon) to above sea level (the peak of Monte Mario). The Commune of Rome covers an overall area of about , including many green areas.

Topography

Throughout the history of Rome, the urban limits of the city were considered to be the area within the city walls. Originally, these consisted of the Servian Wall, which was built twelve years after the Gaulish sack of the city in 390 BC. This contained most of the Esquiline and Caelian hills, as well as the whole of the other five. Rome outgrew the Servian Wall, but no more walls were constructed until almost 700 years later, when, in 270 AD, Emperor Aurelian began building the Aurelian Walls. These were almost long, and were still the walls the troops of the Kingdom of Italy had to breach to enter the city in 1870. Modern Romans frequently consider the city's urban area to be delimited by its ring-road, the ''Grande Raccordo Anulare'', which circles the city centre at a distance of about 10 km.

The Commune of Rome, however, covers considerably more territory and extends to the sea at Ostia, the largest town in Italy that is not a commune in its own right. The Commune covers an area roughly three times the total area within the ''Raccordo'' and is comparable in area to the entire provinces of Milan and Naples, and to an area six times the size of the territory of these cities. It also includes considerable areas of abandoned marsh land which is suitable neither for agriculture nor for urban development.

As a consequence, the density of the Commune is not that high, the communal territory being divided between highly urbanised areas and areas designated as parks, nature reserves, and for agricultural use. The Province of Rome is the largest by area in Italy. At , its dimensions are comparable to the region of Liguria.

Climate

Rome enjoys a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Csa''), typical of the Mediterranean coasts of Italy. Spring and autumn are mild to warm, and the Romans ''ottobrate'' ("beautiful October days") are known as being sunny and warm. By August, the maximum diurnal temperature often exceeds . Traditionally, many businesses were accustomed to closing during August, while Romans visited holiday resorts. In more recent years, however, in response to growing tourism and changing work habits, the city has been staying open for the whole summer. The average high temperature in January is about , but in hot periods it can be higher, while subzero lows are not uncommon. Snowfalls can occur in December, January and February. Within the last four decades they have been rare in Rome: the most recent snowfall with accumulation was in February 2010, the first since 1986 (in some peripheral areas since 1991); between 1986 and 2010 snow fell four times, without significant traces on the ground.

Generally – summer's season lasts about 6 months, from May to October. Two months (April and November) are transitional, sometimes there are temperature above . December, January, February and March are the coldest months, with average temperatures (of these four months) over near the city centre ( near sea) during the day and near the city centre ( near sea) at night. The average relative humidity is 74.8%, varying from 72% in July to 77% in November and December. |date=August 2010 }}

Demographics

At the time of the Emperor Augustus, Rome was the largest city in the world: with a population of about one million people (about the size of London in the early 19th century, when London was the largest city in the world).

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city's population fell dramatically to less than 50,000 people, and continued to either stagnate or shrink until the Renaissance. When the Kingdom of Italy annexed Rome in 1870, the city had a population of about 200,000, which rapidly increased to 600,000 by the eve of World War I. The Fascist regime of Mussolini tried to block an excessive demographic rise of the city, but failed to prevent it from reaching one million people by early 1930s. After the Second World War, growth continued, helped by a post-war economic boom. A construction boom also created a large number of suburbs during the 1950s and 1960s.

In mid-2010, there were 2,754,440 residents in the city proper, while some 4.2 million people lived in the greater Rome area (which can be approximately identified with its administrative province, with a population density of about 800inhab./km2 stretching over more than 5,000 km2). Minors (children ages 18 and younger) totalled 17.00 percent of the population compared to pensioners who number 20.76 percent. This compares with the Italian average of 18.06 percent (minors) and 19.94 percent (pensioners). The average age of a Roman resident is 43 compared to the Italian average of 42. In the five years between 2002 and 2007, the population of Rome grew by 6.54 percent, while Italy as a whole grew by 3.56 percent. The current birth rate of Rome is 9.10 births per 1,000 inhabitants compared to the Italian average of 9.45 births.

Ethnic groups

According to the latest statistics conducted by ISTAT, approximately 9.5% of the population consists of non-Italians. The bulk of immigrants are those of various other European origins (chiefly Romanians, Polish, Ukrainians, and Albanians) numbering a combined total of 131,118 or 4.7 percent of the population and almost one half of the total immigrant population. The remaining 4.8 percent are those with non-European origins chiefly Filipinos: 26,933, Bangladeshis: 12,154, Peruvians: 10,530, Chinese: 10,283, and other nationalities.

The Esquilino district, off Termini Railway Station, has evolved into a largely immigrant neighbourhood, it is now seen as Rome's Chinatown, but in fact immigrants from more than a hundred different countries crowd its busy streets and piazzas. A thriving commercial district, Esquilino boasts dozens of restaurants featuring every kind of international cuisine. There are innumerable wholesale clothes shops: of the 1,300 or so commercial premises operating in the district 800 are Chinese-owned, around 300 are run by immigrants from other countries around the world and some 200 are owned by Italians.

In order to serve the growing number Muslims community, in 1995 the first Mosque in Rome was inaugurated, the largest mosque in Europe.

Hundreds of Romani gypsies live in illegal trailer camps on the city's outskirts. There is a growing population of homeless people in Rome, mostly not Italian and estimated at 7000.

Religion

Much like the rest of Italy, Rome is predominantly Roman Catholic, and the city has been an important centre of religion and pilgrimage for centuries, the base of the ancient Roman Religion with the pontifex maximus and later the seat of the Vatican City and the pope. Before the arrival of the Christians in Rome, the Religio Romana (literally, the "Roman Religion") was the major religion of the city in classical antiquity. The first gods held sacred by the Romans were Jupiter, the most high, and Mars, god of war, and father of Rome's twin founders, Romulus and Remus, according to tradition. Other gods and goddesses such as Vesta and Minerva were honoured. Rome was also the base of several mystery cults, such as Mithraism. Later, after St Peter and St Paul were martyred in the city, and the first Christians began to arrive, Rome became Christian, and the St. Peter's Basilica was first constructed in 313 AD. Despite some interruptions (such as the Avignon papacy), Rome has for centuries been the home of the Roman Catholic Church and the bishop of Rome, otherwise known as the pope. Despite the fact that Rome is home to the Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica, Rome's cathedral is the Basilica of St. John Lateran, located to the south-east of the city-centre. There are around 900 churches in Rome in total, aside from the cathedral itself, some others of note include: the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, the Basilica di San Clemente, San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane and the Church of the Gesu. There are also the ancient Catacombs of Rome underneath the city. Numerous highly important religious educational institutions are also in Rome, such as the Pontifical Lateran University, Pontifical Biblical Institute, Pontifical Gregorian University, and Pontifical Oriental Institute. The territory of Vatican City is part of the ''Mons Vaticanus'', and of the adjacent former Vatican Fields, where St. Peter's Basilica, the Apostolic Palace, the Sistine Chapel, and museums were built, along with various other buildings. The area was part of the Roman rione of Borgo until 1929. Being separated from the city on the west bank of the Tiber river, the area was an outcrop of the city that was protected by being included within the walls of Leo IV, later expanded by the current fortification walls of Paul III/Pius IV/Urban VIII. When the Lateran Treaty of 1929 that gave the state its present form was being prepared, the boundaries of the proposed territory was influenced by the fact that much of it was all but enclosed by this loop. For some tracts of the frontier, there was no wall, but the line of certain buildings supplied part of the boundary, and for a small part of the frontier a modern wall was constructed. The territory includes Saint Peter's Square, separated from the territory of Italy only by a white line along the limit of the square, where it touches Piazza Pio XII. St. Peter's Square is reached through the Via della Conciliazione, which runs from the Tiber River to St. Peter's. This grand approach was constructed by Benito Mussolini after the conclusion of the Lateran Treaty. According to the Lateran Treaty, certain properties of the Holy See that are located in Italian territory, most notably Castel Gandolfo and the major basilicas, enjoy extraterritorial status similar to that of foreign embassies.

In recent years, there has been a significant growth in Rome's Muslim community, mainly due to immigration from North African and Middle Eastern countries into the city. As a consequence of this increase of the local practitioners of the Islamic faith, the commune promoted the building of the largest mosque in Europe, which was designed by architect Paolo Portoghesi and inaugurated on 21 June 1995. Since the end of the Roman Republic Rome is also the center of an important Jewish community, which was once based in Trastevere, and later in the Roman Ghetto. There lies also the major synagogue in Rome, the ''Tempio Maggiore''.

Cityscape

Architecture

Rome's architecture over the centuries has greatly developed, especially from the Classical and Imperial Roman styles to modern Fascist architecture. Rome was for a period one of the world's main epicentres of classical architecture, developing new forms such as the arch, the dome and the vault. The Romanesque style in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries was also widely used in Roman architecture, and later the city became one of the main centres of Renaissance and Baroque architecture.

Ancient Rome

One of the symbols of Rome is the Colosseum (70–80 AD), the largest amphitheatre ever built in the Roman Empire. Originally capable of seating 60,000 spectators, it was used for gladiatorial combat. A list of important monuments and sites of ancient Rome includes the Roman Forum, the Domus Aurea, the Pantheon, Trajan's Column, Trajan's Market, the Catacombs, the Circus Maximus, the Baths of Caracalla, Castel Sant'Angelo, the Mausoleum of Augustus, the Ara Pacis, the Arch of Constantine, the Pyramid of Cestius, and the Bocca della Verità.

Medieval

Often overlooked, Rome's medieval heritage is one of the largest in Italian cities. Basilicas dating from the Paleochristian age include Santa Maria Maggiore and San Paolo Fuori le Mura (the latter largely rebuilt in the 19th century), both housing precious 4th century AD mosaics. Later notable medieval mosaic and fresco art can be also found in the churches of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Santi Quattro Coronati, and Santa Prassede. Lay buildings include a number of towers, the largest being the Torre delle Milizie and the Torre dei Conti, both next the Roman Forum, and the huge staircase leading to the basilica of Santa Maria in Ara Coeli.

Renaissance and Baroque

Rome was a major world centre of the Renaissance, second only to Florence, and was profoundly affected by the movement. Among others, a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture in Rome is the Piazza del Campidoglio by Michelangelo. During this period, the great aristocratic families of Rome used to build opulent dwellings as the Palazzo del Quirinale (now seat of the President of the Italian Republic), the Palazzo Venezia, the Palazzo Farnese, the Palazzo Barberini, the Palazzo Chigi (now seat of the Italian Prime Minister), the Palazzo Spada, the Palazzo della Cancelleria, and the Villa Farnesina.

Many of the famous city's squares – some huge, majestic and often adorned with obelisks, some small and pictoresque – got their present shape during the Renaissance and Baroque. The principal ones are Piazza Navona, Piazza di Spagna, Campo de' Fiori, Piazza Venezia, Piazza Farnese, Piazza della Rotonda and Piazza della Minerva. One of the most emblematic examples of Baroque art is the Fontana di Trevi by Nicola Salvi. Other notable 17th-century baroque palaces are the Palazzo Madama, now the seat of the Italian Senate and the Palazzo Montecitorio, now the seat of the Chamber of Deputies of Italy.

Neoclassicism

In 1870, Rome became the capital city of the new Kingdom of Italy. During this time, neoclassicism, a building style influenced by the architecture of antiquity, became a predominant influence in Roman architecture. During this period, many great palaces in neoclassical styles were built to host ministries, embassies, and other governing agencies. One of the best-known symbols of Roman neoclassicism is the Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II or "Altar of the Fatherland", where the Grave of the Unknown Soldier, that represents the 650,000 Italians that fell in World War I, is located.

Fascist architecture

The Fascist regime that ruled in Italy between 1922 and 1943 developed an architectural style that was characterised by its links with ancient Roman architecture. The most important Fascist site in Rome is the E.U.R district, designed in 1938 by Marcello Piacentini. It was originally conceived for the 1942 world exhibition, and was called "E.42" (''"Esposizione 42"''). The world exhibition, however, never took place because Italy entered the Second World War in 1940. The most representative building of the Fascist style at E.U.R. is the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana (1938–1943), the iconic design of which has been labelled the cubic of Square Colosseum. After World War II, the Roman authorities found that they already had the seed of an off-centre business district of the type that other capitals were still planning (London Docklands and La Défense in Paris). Also the Palazzo della Farnesina, the current seat of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was designed in 1935 in pure Fascist style.

Parks and gardens

Public parks and nature reserves cover a large area in Rome, and the city has one of the largest areas of green space amongst European capitals. The most notable part of this green space is represented by the large number of villas and landscaped gardens created by the Italian aristocracy. While many villas were destroyed during the building boom of the late 19th century, a great many remain. The most notable of these are Villa Borghese, Villa Ada, and Villa Doria Pamphili. Villa Doria Pamphili is west of the Gianicolo hill comprising some 1.8 km2. Also on the Gianicolo hill there is Villa Sciarra, with playgrounds for children and shaded walking areas. In the nearby area of Trastevere the Orto Botanico (Botanical Garden) is a cool and shady green space. The old Roman hippodrome (Circus Maximus) is another large green space but the main attraction is the ancient site of the chariot racing and it has few trees. Nearby is the lush Villa Celimontana, close to the gardens surrounding the Baths of Caracalla and Rose Garden (‘roseto comunale’). The Villa Borghese garden is the best known large green space in Rome, with famous art galleries among its shaded walks. It is close to the Spanish Steps and Piazza del Popolo. Rome also has a number of regional parks of much more recent origin including the Pineto Regional Park and the Appian Way Regional Park. There are also nature reserves at Marcigliana and at Tenuta di Castelporziano.

Fountains and aqueducts

Rome is a city famous for its numerous fountains, built in all different styles, from Classical and Medieval, to Baroque and Neoclassical. The city has had fountains for more than two thousand years, and they have provided drinking water and decorated the piazzas of Rome. During the Roman Empire, in 98 AD, according to Sextus Julius Frontinus, the Roman consul who was named ''curator aquarum'' or guardian of the water of the city, Rome had nine aqueducts which fed 39 monumental fountains and 591 public basins, not counting the water supplied to the Imperial household, baths and owners of private villas. Each of the major fountains was connected to two different aqueducts, in case one was shut down for service. During the 17th and 18th century the Roman popes reconstructed other ruined Roman acqueducts and built new display fountains to mark their termini, launching the golden age of the Roman fountain. The fountains of Rome, like the paintings of Rubens, were expressions of the new style of Baroque art. They were crowded with allegorical figures, and filled with emotion and movement. In these fountains, sculpture became the principal element, and the water was used simply to animate and decorate the sculptures. They, like baroque gardens, were "a visual representation of confidence and power."

Statues

Rome is well known for its statues but, in particular, the talking statues of Rome. These are usually ancient statues which have become popular soapboxes for political and social discussion, and places for people to (often satirically) voice their opinions. There are two main talking statues: the Pasquino and the Marforio, yet there are four other noted ones: il Babuino, Madama Lucrezia, il Facchino and Abbot Luigi. Most of these statues are ancient Roman or classical, and most of them also depict mythical gods, ancient people or legendary figures; il Pasquino represents Menelaus, Abbot Luigi is an unknown Roman magistrate, il Babuino is supposed to be Silenus, Marforio represents Oceanus, Madama Lucrezia is a bust of Isis, and il Facchino is the only non-Roman statue, created in 1580, and not representing anyone in particular. They are often, due to their status, covered with placards or graffiti expressing political ideas and points of view. Other statues in the city, which are not related to the talking statues, include those of the Ponte Sant'Angelo, or several monuments scattered across the city, such as that to Giordano Bruno in the Campo de'Fiori.

Obelisks and columns

The city contains eight ancient Egyptian and five ancient Roman obelisks, together with a number of more modern obelisks; there was also formerly (until 2005) an ancient Ethiopian obelisk in Rome. The city contains some of obelisks in piazzas, such as in Piazza Navona, St Peter's Square, Piazza Montecitorio, and Piazza del Popolo, and others in villas, thermae parks and gardens, such as in Villa Celimontana, the Baths of Diocletian, and the Pincian Hill. Moreover, the centre of Rome hosts also Trajan's and Antonine Column, two ancient Roman columns with spiral relief.

Bridges

The city of Rome contains numerous famous bridges which cross the Tiber. Famous ones include the Ponte Cestio, the Ponte Milvio, the Ponte Nomentano, the Ponte Sant'Angelo, the Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, the Ponte Sisto and the Ponte dei Quattro Capi. Currently there are five ancient Roman bridges still remaining in the city. Most of the city's public bridges were built in Classical or Renaissance style, but also in Baroque, Neoclassical and Modern styles. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the finest ancient bridge remaining in Rome is the Ponte Sant'Angelo, which was completed in 135AD, and was decorated with 10 statues of the angels, designed by Bernini in 1688.

Catacombs

Rome has extensive amount of ancient catacombs, or underground burial places under or near the city, of which there are at least forty, some discovered only in recent decades. Though most famous for Christian burials, they include pagan and Jewish burials, either in separate catacombs or mixed together. The first large-scale catacombs were excavated from the 2nd century onwards. Originally they were carved through tuff, a soft volcanic rock, outside the boundaries of the city, because Roman law forbade burial places within city limits. Currently maintenance of the catacombs is in the hands of the Papacy which has invested in the Salesians of Don Bosco the supervision of the Catacombs of St. Callixtus on the outskirts of Rome.

Economy

Being the capital city of Italy, Rome hosts all the principal institutions of the nation, like the Presidency of the Republic, the government (and its single Ministeri), the Parliament, the main judicial Courts, and the diplomatic representatives of all the countries for the states of Italy and the Vatican City (curiously, Rome also hosts, in the Italian part of its territory, the Embassy of Italy for the Vatican City, a unique case of an Embassy within the boundaries of its own country). Many international institutions are located in Rome, notably cultural and scientific ones – such as the American Institute, the British School, the French Academy, the Scandinavian Institutes, the German Archaeological Institute – for the honour of scholarship in the Eternal City, and humanitarian ones, such as the FAO. Rome, also hosts major international and worldwide political and cultural organisations, such as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Food Programme (WFP), the NATO Defence College and ICCROM, the International Center for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property . Rome is currently an alpha- world city, along with Chicago, Istanbul, Frankfurt, Athens, Zürich, Mexico City, Prague, Budapest, Amsterdam, Vienna and Dublin, to name a few. Rome was in 2008, also ranked 15th out of all the cities of the world for global importance, mainly for cultural experience.

With a 2005 GDP of €94.376 billion (US$121.5 billion), the city produces 6.7% of the national GDP (more than any other single city in Italy), and its unemployment rate, lowered from 11.1% to 6.5% between 2001 and 2005, is now one of the lowest rates of all the European Union capital cities. Rome grows +4.4% annually and continues to grow at a higher rate in comparison to any other city in the rest of the country. This means that were Rome a country, it would be the world's 52nd richest country by GDP, near to the size to that of Egypt. Rome also had a 2003 GDP per capita of €29,153 (US$ 37,412), which was second in Italy, (after Milan), and is more than 134.1% of the EU average GDP per capita. Rome, on the whole, has the highest total earnings in Italy, reaching €47,076,890,463 in 2008, yet, in terms of average workers' incomes, the city places itself 9th in Italy, with €24,509 On a global level, Rome's workers receive the 30th highest wages in 2009, coming three places higher than in 2008, in which the city ranked 33rd.

Although the economy of Rome is characterised by the absence of heavy industry and it is largely dominated by services, high-technology companies (IT, aerospace, defence, telecommunications), research, construction and commercial activities (especially banking), and the huge development of tourism are very dynamic and extremely important to its economy. Rome's international airport, Fiumicino, is the largest in Italy, and the city hosts the head offices of the vast majority of the major Italian companies, as well as the headquarters of three of the world's 100 largest companies: Enel, Eni, and Telecom Italia.

Universities, national radio and television and the movie industry in Rome are also important parts of the economy: Rome is also the hub of the Italian film industry, thanks to the Cinecittà studios, working since the 1930s. The city is also a centre for banking and insurance as well as electronics, energy, transport, and aerospace industries. Numerous international companies and agencies headquarters, government ministries, conference centres, sports venues, and museums are located in Rome's principal business districts: the Esposizione Universale Roma (EUR); the ''Torrino'' (further south from the EUR); the ''Magliana''; the ''Parco de' Medici-Laurentina'' and the so-called ''Tiburtina-valley'' along the ancient Via Tiburtina.

Education

Rome is a nation-wide and major international centre for higher education, containing numerous academies, colleges and universities. According to the City Brands Index, Rome is considered the world's second most historically, educationally and culturally interesting and beautiful city. It boasts a large variety of academies and colleges, and has always been a major worldwide intellectual and educational centre, especially during Ancient Rome and the Renaissance, along with Florence.

Rome has a large number of universities and colleges. Its first university, La Sapienza (founded in 1303), is the largest in Europe and the second-largest in the world, with more than 140,000 students attending; in 2005 it ranked as Europe's 33rd best university and currently ranks amongst Europe's 50 and the world's 150 best colleges. In order to decrease the overcrowding of La Sapienza, two new public universities were founded during the last decades: Tor Vergata in 1982, and Roma Tre in 1992.

Rome contains also a large number of pontifical universities and other institutes, including the British School at Rome, the French School in Rome, the Pontifical Gregorian University (The oldest Jesuit university in the world, founded in 1551), Istituto Europeo di Design, the St. John's University, the American University of Rome, the Scuola Lorenzo de' Medici, the Link Campus of Malta, and the Università Campus Bio-Medico. Rome is also the location of the John Felice Rome Center, a campus of Loyola University Chicago. The Roman Colleges are several seminaries for students from foreign countries studying for the priesthood at the Pontifical Universities. Examples include the Venerable English College, the Pontifical North American College, the Scots College, and the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome.

Rome's major libraries include: the Biblioteca Angelica, opened in 1604, making it Italy's first public library; the Biblioteca Casanatense, opened in 1701; the Biblioteca Vallicelliana; Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute of Art History, a German library located in Rome, often noted for excellence in the arts and sciences; the National Central Library, one of the two national libraries in Italy, which contains 4,126,002 volumes; The Biblioteca del Ministero degli Affari Esteri, specialised in diplomacy, foreign affairs and modern history; the Biblioteca dell'Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana; the Biblioteca Don Bosco, one of the largest and most modern of all Salesian libraries; the Biblioteca e Museo teatrale del Burcardo, a museum-library specialised in history of drama and theatre; the Biblioteca della Società Geografica Italiana, which is based in the Villa Celimontana and is the most important geographical library in Italy, and one of Europe's most important; and the Vatican Library, one of the oldest and most important libraries in the world, which was formally established in 1475, though in fact much older and has 75,000 codices from throughout history.

Culture

Entertainment and performing arts

Rome is an important centre for music, and it has an intense musical scene, including several prestigious music conservatories and theatres. It hosts the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (founded in 1585), for which new concert halls have been built in the new Parco della Musica, one of the largest musical venues in the world. Rome also has an opera house, the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, as well as several minor musical institutions. The city also played host to the Eurovision Song Contest in 1991 and the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2004.

Rome has also had a major impact in music history. The Roman School was a group of composers of predominantly church music, which were active in the city during the 16th and 17th centuries, therefore spanning the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras. The term also refers to the music they produced. Many of the composers had a direct connection to the Vatican and the papal chapel, though they worked at several churches; stylistically they are often contrasted with the Venetian School of composers, a concurrent movement which was much more progressive. By far the most famous composer of the Roman School is Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, whose name has been associated for four hundred years with smooth, clear, polyphonic perfection. However, there were other composers working in Rome, and in a variety of styles and forms.

Tourism

Name	Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Infoboxwidth	270px
State party	and Holy See
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, ii, iii, iv, vi
Id	91
Region	Europe and North America
Year	1980
Extension	1990 }}

Rome today is one of the most important tourist destinations of the world, due to the incalculable immensity of its archaeological and artistic treasures, as well as for the charm of its unique traditions, the beauty of its panoramic views, and the majesty of its magnificent "villas" (parks). Among the most significant resources are the many museums – (Musei Capitolini, the Vatican Museums, Galleria Borghese, including those dedicated to modern and contemporary art and great many others) – aqueducts, fountains, churches, palaces, historical buildings, the monuments and ruins of the Roman Forum, and the Catacombs. Rome is the 3rd most visited city in the EU, after London and Paris, and receives an average of 7–10 million tourists a year, which sometimes doubles on holy years. The Colosseum (4 million tourists) and the Vatican Museums (4.2 million tourists) are the 39th and 37th (respectively) most visited places in the world, according to a recent study.

Rome is a major archaeological hub, and one of the world's main centres of archaeological research. There are numerous cultural and research institutes located in the city, such as the American Academy in Rome, and The Swedish Institute at Rome, to name a few. Rome contains numerous ancient sites, including the Forum Romanum, Trajan's Market, Trajan's Forum, the Colosseum, and the Pantheon, to name but a few. The Colosseum, arguably one of Rome's most iconic archaeological sites, is regarded as a wonder of the world.

Rome contains a vast and impressive collection of art, sculpture, fountains, mosaics, frescos, and paintings, from all different periods. Rome first became a major artistic centre during ancient Rome, with forms of important Roman art such as architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Metal-work, coin die and gem engraving, ivory carvings, figurine glass, pottery, and book illustrations are considered to be 'minor' forms of Roman artwork. Rome later became a major centre of Renaissance art, since the popes spent vast sums of money for the constructions of grandiose basilicas, palaces, piazzas and public buildings in general. Rome became one of Europe's major centres of Renaissance artwork, second only to Florence, and able to compare to other major cities and cultural centres, such as Paris and Venice. The city was affected greatly by the baroque, and Rome became the home of numerous artists and architects, such as Bernini, Caravaggio, Carracci, Borromini and Cortona, to name a few. In the late 18th century and early 19th century, the city was one of the centres of the Grand Tour, when wealthy, young English and other European aristocrats visited the city to learn about ancient Roman culture, art, philosophy and architecture. Rome hosted a great number of neoclassical and rococo artists, such as Pannini and Bernardo Bellotto. Today, the city is a major artistic centre, with numerous art institutes and museums.

Rome has a growing stock of contemporary and modern art and architecture. The National Gallery of Modern Art has works by Balla, Morandi, Pirandello, Carrà, De Chirico, De Pisis, Guttuso, Fontana, Burri, Mastroianni, Turcato, Kandisky, Cézanne on permanent exhibition. 2010 sees the opening of Rome's newest arts foundation, a contemporary art and architecture gallery designed by acclaimed Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. Known as Maxxi National Museum of XXIst century Art and Architecture it restores a dilapidated area with striking modern architecture. Maxxi features a campus dedicated to culture, experimental research laboratories, international exchange and study and research. It is one of Rome's most ambitious modern architecture projects alongside Renzo Piano's Auditorium Parco della Musica and Massimiliano Fuksas' Rome Convention Center, Centro Congressi Italia EUR, in the EUR district, due to open in 2011. The Convention Center features a huge translucent container inside which is suspended a steel and teflon structure resembling a cloud and which contains meeting rooms and an auditorium with two piazzas open to the neighbourhood on either side.

Rome is also widely recognised as a world fashion capital. Although not as important as Milan, Rome is the world's 4th most important center for fashion in the world, according to the 2009 Global Language Monitor after Milan, New York and Paris, and beating London. Major luxury fashion houses and jewellery chains, such as Bulgari, Fendi, Laura Biagiotti and Brioni (fashion), just to name a few, are headquartered or were founded in the city. Also, other major labels, such as Chanel, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Armani and Versace have luxury boutiques in Rome, primarily along its prestigious and upscale Via dei Condotti.

Cuisine

Rome's cuisine has evolved through centuries and periods of social, cultural, and political changes. Rome became a major gastronomical centre during Ancient Rome. Ancient Roman Cuisine was highly influenced by Ancient Greek culture, and after, the empire's enormous expansion exposed Romans to many new, provincial culinary habits and cooking techniques. In the beginning, the differences between social classes were not very great, but disparities developed with the empire's growth. Later, during the Renaissance, Rome became well known as a centre of high-cuisine, since some of the best chefs of the time, worked for the popes. An example of this could be Bartolomeo Scappi, who was a chef, working for Pius IV in the Vatican kitchen, and he acquired fame in 1570 when his cookbook ''Opera dell'arte del cucinare'' was published. In the book he lists approximately 1000 recipes of the Renaissance cuisine and describes cooking techniques and tools, giving the first known picture of a fork. Today, the city is home to numerous formidable and traditional Italian dishes. A Jewish influence can be seen, as Jews have lived in Rome since the 1st century BCE. Vegetables, especially globe artichokes, are common. Examples of these include "''Saltimbocca alla Romana''" – a veal cutlet, Roman-style; topped with raw ham and sage and simmered with white wine and butter; "''Carciofi alla giudia''" – artichokes fried in olive oil, typical of Roman Jewish cooking; "''Carciofi alla romana''" – artichokes Roman-style; outer leaves removed, stuffed with mint, garlic, breadcrumbs and braised; "''Spaghetti alla carbonara''" – spaghetti with bacon, eggs and pecorino, and "''Gnocchi di semolino alla romana''" – semolina dumpling, Roman-style, to name but a few.

Cinema

Rome hosts the Cinecittà Studios, the largest film and television production facility in continental Europe and the centre of the Italian cinema, where a large number of today's biggest box office hits are filmed. The 99-acre (40-ha) studio complex is 5.6 miles (9 km) from the centre of Rome and is part of one of the biggest production communities in the world, second only to Hollywood, with well over 5,000 professionals – from period costume makers to visual effects specialists. More than 3,000 productions have been made on its lot, from recent features like The Passion of the Christ, Gangs of New York, HBO's Rome, The Life Aquatic and Dino De Laurentiis’ Decameron, to such cinema classics as Ben-Hur, Cleopatra, and the films of Federico Fellini.

Founded in 1937 by Benito Mussolini, the studios were bombed by the Western Allies during the Second World War. In the 1950s, Cinecittà was the filming location for several large American film productions, and subsequently became the studio most closely associated with Federico Fellini. Today Cinecittà is the only studio in the world with pre-production, production, and full post-production facilities on one lot, allowing directors and producers to walk in with their script and "walk out" with a completed film.

Language

The original language of Rome was Latin, which evolved during the Middle Ages into Italian. The latter emerged as the confluence of various regional dialects, among which the Tuscan dialect predominated, but the population of Rome also developed its own dialect, the Romanesco. The ancient ''Romanesco'', used during the Middle Ages, was a southern Italian dialect, very close to the Neapolitan. The influence of the Florentine culture during the renaissance, and, above all, the immigration to Rome of many Florentines, amongst them the two Medici Popes (Leo X and Clement VII) and their suite, caused a major shift in the dialect, which began to resemble more the Tuscan varieties. This remained largely confined to Rome until the 19th century, but then expanded to other zones of Lazio (Civitavecchia, Latina), from the beginning of the 20th century, thanks to the rising population of Rome and to better transportation systems. As a consequence, Romanesco abandoned its traditional forms to mutate into the dialect spoken within the city, which is more like standard Italian, although it remains distinct from the other Romanesco-influenced local dialects of Lazio. Dialectal literature in the traditional form Romanesco includes the works of such authors as Giuseppe Gioachino Belli, Trilussa, and Cesare Pascarella. Contemporary Romanesco is mainly represented by popular actors such as Aldo Fabrizi, Alberto Sordi, Nino Manfredi, Anna Magnani, Gigi Proietti, Enrico Montesano, and Carlo Verdone.

Rome's historic contribution to language in a worldwide sense is much more extensive however. Through the process of Romanisation, the peoples of Gallia, the Iberian Peninsula, Italy and Dacia developed languages which derive directly from Latin and were adopted in large areas of the world both through colonization and cultural influence. Moreover, also modern English, because of the Norman Conquest, borrowed a large percentage of its vocabulary from the Latin Language. The Roman or Latin alphabet is the most widely used writing system in the world used by the greatest number of languages.

Sports

Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Rome, as in the rest of the country. The city hosted the final games of the 1934 and 1990 FIFA World Cup. The latter took place in the Olympic Stadium, which is also the home stadium for local Serie A clubs A.S. Roma and S.S. Lazio, whose rivalry has become a staple of Roman sports culture. Footballers who play for these teams and are also born in the city tend to become especially popular, as has been the case with players such as Francesco Totti and Daniele De Rossi (both for A.S. Roma). Atletico Roma is a minor team that plays in First Division; its home stadium is Stadio Flaminio.

Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics, with great success, using many ancient sites such as the Villa Borghese and the Thermae of Caracalla as venues. For the Olympic Games many new structures were created, notably the new large Olympic Stadium (which was also enlarged and renewed to host qualification and the final match of the 1990 FIFA World Cup), the Villaggio Olimpico (Olympic Village, created to host the athletes and redeveloped after the games as a residential district), etc. Rome has recently put forth a bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games.

Rugby union is gaining wider acceptance. The Stadio Flaminio is the home stadium for the Italy national rugby union team, which has been playing in the Six Nations Championship since 2000, albeit with less than satisfactory performances, as they have never won the championship. Rome is home to local rugby teams, such as Unione Rugby Capitolina, Rugby Roma, and S.S. Lazio.

Every May, Rome hosts the ATP Masters Series tennis tournament on the clay courts of the Foro Italico. Cycling was popular in the post-World War II period, although its popularity has faded. Rome has hosted the final portion of the Giro d'Italia twice, in 1989 and 2000. Rome is also home to other sports teams, including basketball (Virtus Roma), volleyball (M. Roma Volley), handball or waterpolo.

Transportation

Rome is at the centre of the radial network of roads that roughly follow the lines of the ancient Roman roads that began at the Capitoline Hill and connected Rome with its empire. Today Rome is circled, at a distance of about , by the ring-road (the ''Grande Raccordo Anulare'' or ''GRA'').

Due to its location in the centre of the Italian peninsula, Rome is a principal railway node for central Italy. Rome's main train station, Termini, is one of the biggest train stations in Europe and the most heavily used in Italy, with around 400 thousand travellers passing through every day. The second-largest station in the city, Roma Tiburtina, is currently being redeveloped as a high-speed rail terminus.

Rome is served by three airports. The intercontinental Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport is Italy's chief airport and is commonly known as "Fiumicino Airport", as it is located within the nearby Comune of Fiumicino, south-west of Rome. The older Rome Ciampino Airport is a joint civilian and military airport. It is commonly referred to as "Ciampino Airport", as it is located beside Ciampino, south-east of Rome. A third airport, the Roma-Urbe Airport, is a small, low-traffic airport located about 6 km north of the city centre, which handles most helicopter and private flights.

The city suffers from traffic problems largely due to this radial street pattern, making it difficult for Romans to move easily from the vicinity of one of the radial roads to another without going into the historic centre or using the ring-road. These problems are not helped by the limited size of Rome's metro system when compared to other cities of similar size. In addition, Rome has only 21 taxis for every 10,000 inhabitants, far below other major European cities. Chronic congestion caused by cars during the 1970s and 1980s led to restrictions being placed on vehicle access to the inner city-centre during the hours of daylight. Areas where these restriction apply are known as Limited Traffic Zones (''Zona a Traffico Limitato'' (ZTL) in Italian). More recently, heavy night-time traffic in Trastevere and San Lorenzo has led to the creation of night-time ZTLs in those districts, and there are also plans to create another night-time ZTL in Testaccio.

A 2-line metro system called the ''Metropolitana'' operates in Rome. Construction on the first branch started in the 1930s. The line had been planned to quickly connect the main train station with the newly planned E42 area in the southern suburbs, where the 1942 World Fair was supposed to be held. The event never took place because of war. The area was later partly redesigned and renamed EUR (Esposizione Universale di Roma: Rome Universal Exhibition) in the 1950s to serve as a modern business district. The line was finally opened in 1955, and it is now part of the B Line.

The A line opened in 1980 from Ottaviano to Anagnina stations, later extended in stages (1999–2000) to Battistini. In the 1990s, an extension of the B line was opened from Termini to Rebibbia. This underground network is generally reliable (although it may become very congested at peak times and during events, especially the A line) as it is relatively short. As of 2005, its total length is .

The two existing lines, A and B, intersect at Roma Termini station. A new branch of the B line (B1) is under construction with an estimated cost of €500 million. It is scheduled to open in 2012. B1 will connect to line B at Piazza Bologna and will have four stations over a distance of . A third line, line C, is under construction with an estimated cost of €3 billion and will have 30 stations over a distance of . It will partly replace the existing Rail Road line, Termini-Pantano. It will feature full automated, driverless trains. The first section is due to open in 2011 and the final sections in 2015, but archaeological findings often delay underground construction work. A fourth line, D line, is also planned. It will have 22 stations over a distance of . The first section is projected to open in 2015 and the final sections before 2035.

Above-ground public transport in Rome is made up of a bus, tram and urban train network (FR lines). The bus and tram network is run by ''Trambus S.p.A.'' under the auspices of ''Atac S.p.A.'' (which originally stood for the Municipal Bus and Tramways Company, ''Azienda Tramvie e Autobus del Comune'' in Italian). The bus network has in excess of 350 bus lines and over 8 thousand bus stops, whereas the more-limited tram system has 39 km of track and 192 stops. There is also one trolleybus line, opened in 2005, and additional trolleybus lines are planned.

International entities, organisations and involvement

Rome is unique in having a sovereign state located entirely within its city limits, the Vatican City. The Vatican is a enclave of Rome and a sovereign possession of the Holy See, the supreme government of the Roman Catholic Church. Rome hosts foreign embassies to both Italy and the Holy See, although frequently the same ambassador is accredited to both.

Another body, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), took refuge in Rome in 1834, due to the conquest of Malta by Napoleon in 1798. It is sometimes classified as having sovereignty but does not claim any territory in Rome or anywhere else, hence leading to dispute over its actual sovereign status.

Rome is also the seat of international agencies of the UN, such as the World Food Programme (WFP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Rome has traditionally been involved in the process of European political integration. In 1957, the city hosted the signing of the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (predecessor to the European Union), and also played host to the official signing of the proposed European Constitution in July 2004.

Rome is the seat of the NATO Defense College and is the place where the Statute of the International Criminal Court was formulated.

Twin towns, sister cities and partner cities

Rome is since 1956 exclusively and reciprocally twinned only with: Paris, France : ''Seule Paris est digne de Rome; seule Rome est digne de Paris.'' : ''Solo Parigi è degna di Roma; solo Roma è degna di Parigi.'' :"Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris."

Rome's sister and partner cities are: Achacachi, Bolivia. Algiers, Algeria. Beijing, China. Belgrade, Serbia. Brasília, Brazil. Cairo, Egypt. Kiev, Ukraine. London, United Kingdom. Mumbai, India. Madrid, Spain. Marbella, Spain. Montreal, Canada. New York City, United States. Plovdiv, Bulgaria. New Delhi, India. Seoul, South Korea. Sydney, Australia. Tirana, Albania. Tokyo, Japan. Tongeren, Belgium. Tunis, Tunisia Multan, Pakistan

See also

Glocal Forum

Large Cities Climate Leadership Group

List of shopping areas and markets in Rome

References

Bibliography

Documentaries

''The Holy Cities: Rome'' produced by Danae Film Production, distributed by HDH Communications; 2006.

External links

Vintage Rome: The Eternal City – slideshow by ''Life magazine''

;Official APT (official Tourist Office) of the City of Rome Rome Museums – Official site Capitoline Museums

Category:Article Feedback Pilot Category:Ancient cities Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Holy cities Rome (1960) Category:Populated places established in the 8th century BC Category:IOC Session Host Cities

ace:Roma af:Rome als:Rom am:ሮማ ang:Rōm ar:روما an:Roma arc:ܪܗܘܡܐ (ܡܕܝܢܬܐ) roa-rup:Roma frp:Roma ast:Roma gn:Róma ay:Roma az:Roma bn:রোম zh-min-nan:Lô-má ba:Рим be:Горад Рым be-x-old:Рым bcl:Roma bi:Rome bar:Rom bo:རོ་མ། bs:Rim br:Roma bg:Рим ca:Roma cv:Рим ceb:Roma cs:Řím cbk-zam:Roma co:Roma cy:Rhufain da:Rom pdc:Rom de:Rom dsb:Rom et:Rooma el:Ρώμη eml:Råmma es:Roma eo:Romo ext:Roma eu:Erroma ee:Rome fa:رم hif:Rome fo:Róm fr:Rome fy:Rome (stêd) fur:Rome ga:An Róimh gv:Yn Raue gag:Roma gd:An Ròimh gl:Roma gan:羅馬 got:𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌰/Ruma ko:로마 hy:Հռոմ hi:रोम hsb:Rom hr:Rim io:Roma id:Roma ia:Roma ie:Roma os:Ром is:Róm it:Roma he:רומא jv:Roma kl:Roma kn:ರೋಮ್ ka:რომი csb:Rzim kk:Рим kw:Rom rw:Roma rn:Roma sw:Roma kv:Рим ht:Ròm ku:Roma lad:Roma krc:Рим la:Roma lv:Roma lb:Roum lt:Roma lij:Rumma li:Roeme ln:Roma jbo:romas lmo:Roma hu:Róma mk:Рим mg:Roma ml:റോം mt:Ruma mi:Rōma mr:रोम arz:روما ms:Rom mwl:Roma mn:Ром my:ရောမမြို့ nah:Roma na:Roma nl:Rome (stad) nds-nl:Rome cr:Roma ne:रोम ja:ローマ nap:Romma frr:Rom no:Roma nn:Roma nrm:Rome nov:Roma oc:Roma mhr:Рим uz:Rim pnb:روم pap:Roma pfl:Rom pms:Roma tpi:Rom nds:Rom pl:Rzym pnt:Ρώμη pt:Roma crh:Roma ty:Roma ksh:Rom ro:Roma rm:Roma qu:Roma rue:Рім ru:Рим sah:Ром se:Roma sa:रोमा sg:Rome sc:Roma sco:Roum stq:Room sq:Roma scn:Roma simple:Rome sk:Rím cu:Римъ sl:Rim szl:Rzim so:Roma ckb:ڕۆما sr:Рим sh:Rim fi:Rooma sv:Rom tl:Roma ta:உரோமை நகரம் roa-tara:Rome tt:Рим te:రోమ్ th:โรม tg:Рим tr:Roma tk:Rim udm:Рим uk:Рим ur:روم ug:Rim vec:Roma vi:Roma vo:Roma fiu-vro:Rooma zh-classical:羅馬 vls:Rome (stee) war:Roma wo:Rom wuu:罗马 yi:רוים yo:Romu zh-yue:羅馬 diq:Roma bat-smg:Ruoma zh:罗马

Coordinates	46°45′0″N23°23′0″N
team	Vancouver Canucks
former teams	NHLColumbus Blue Jackets Anaheim DucksAHLSyracuse CrunchPortland PiratesCincinnati Mighty Ducks
league	NHL
position	Defence
shoots	Left
height ft	6
height in	1
weight lb	218
birth date	September 27, 1983
birth place	Nesbitt, MB, CAN
draft	104th overall
draft year	2002
draft team	Los Angeles Kings
career start	2004 }}

Aaron Rome (born September 27, 1983) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was originally selected out of the Western Hockey League (WHL) 104th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Los Angeles Kings. Unsigned by the Kings, he joined the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim organization in 2004, earning most of his playing time with their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliates. In 2007, he played one game with the Ducks during their Stanley Cup-winning playoff season. The following season, he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, playing two seasons in the organization between the NHL and AHL. Becoming an unrestricted free agent in July 2009, he signed with the Canucks and established himself as a regular in the team's lineup.

Playing career

Junior

Rome played junior hockey in the Western Hockey League (WHL) from 1999–2004. After debuting in one game for the Saskatoon Blades in 1998–99, he registered 6 assists over 47 games in the following season. During his rookie WHL season, he played alongside older brother Reagan Rome as defensive partners for a short span (Reagan played five games for Saskatoon in 1999–2000 before moving to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League). Three games into the 2000–01 season, Rome moved from Saskatoon to the Kootenay Ice and finished the season with 2 goals and 10 points. Rome began the 2001–02 season with another new WHL team, the Swift Current Broncos. Playing in his third major junior season, he improved to 7 goals and 31 points. In the off-season, Rome was selected by the Los Angeles Kings, 104th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He was scouted as a stay-at-home defenceman with strong positioning and some offensive skills.

Returning to Swift Current following his draft for the 2002–03 season, he recorded a junior career-high 12 goals and 56 points, ranking eighth among league defencemen in scoring. Late in the 2003–04 season, he was traded to his fourth WHL team, the Moose Jaw Warriors, where he joined his younger brother, Ashton Rome (also a defenceman). Between Swift Current and Moose Jaw, he scored a combined 10 goals and 52 points over 69 games. Ranking third among WHL defencemen in point-scoring, he was named to the WHL East Second All-Star Team.

Professional

Unsigned by the Kings two years after his NHL draft, he became a free agent in the 2004 off-season. On June 7, 2004, he was signed by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He began his professional career with Anaheim's minor league affiliate, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2004–05. During that season, he had a second opportunity to play with his brother, Reagan Rome, as the latter was called up from Cincinnati's ECHL affiliate, the Reading Royals, for two games. Playing 74 games in his rookie AHL season, he scored 2 goals and 16 points. He helped Cincinnati to the second round of the 2005 playoffs, adding 3 goals and 6 points over 12 post-season games.

The following season, Anaheim's AHL affiliate was changed to the Portland Pirates and Rome began a two-and-a-half season stint with his new club. He improved to 24 points over 64 games in his second AHL season. During the 2006-07 season, Rome was called up to Anaheim and appeared in his first NHL game on January 2, 2007, a 2–1 loss against the Detroit Red Wings. Registering 14 minutes of ice time, he had a -1 plus-minus rating and took one shot on goal. Completing the season with Portland, he tallied 25 points, including an AHL career-high 8 goals. He was recalled once more for the Ducks' 2007 playoff run, appearing in one post-season game. The Ducks went on to win the Stanley Cup that year. As Rome did not play in the Stanley Cup Finals, he did not qualify to have his name engraved on the trophy. Anaheim did, however, award him a Stanley Cup ring, as well as the customary day spent with the trophy in the off-season.

After beginning the 2007–08 season with the Pirates, Rome was traded from the Ducks to the Columbus Blue Jackets, along with Clay Wilson, for Geoff Platt, on November 15, 2007. Rome was assigned to the Blue Jackets' AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, immediately following the trade. After appearing in 41 games with Syracuse, scoring 3 goals and 24 points, he was called up to Columbus on February 26, 2008. He scored his first NHL goal late in the season against goaltender Dominik Hasek, in a 3–2 loss against the Red Wings on April 3, 2008. After his first Blue Jackets training camp in September 2008, Rome was placed on waivers. After clearing,|group=notes}} he was assigned to start the season with Syracuse. He remained with the Crunch until February 2009, when he was recalled by the Blue Jackets for the remainder of the 2008–09 season. He played eight games with the Blue Jackets, registering one assist. Over 48 games in the AHL, he notched 7 goals and 28 points. Rome remained with the Blue Jackets for the franchise's first playoff season in 2009, competing in one game. Columbus was eliminated in the first round by Detroit.

Rome became an unrestricted free agent in the subsequent off-season and was signed by the Vancouver Canucks on July 1, 2009, to a one-way,|group=notes}} one-year contract worth $550,000. He played the majority of the season with the Canucks, notching 4 assists in 49 games, while also appearing in 7 games with Vancouver's affiliate, the Manitoba Moose; he scored 6 goals and 7 points in the AHL. During a three-game stint with the Canucks that season, he played forward for the first time in his career. He appeared in one playoff game for the Canucks in 2010, missing nine games due to injury. In the off-season, Rome re-signed with Vancouver to a two-year, $1.5 million contract. He scored for the first time as a Canuck on March 29, 2011, an empty netter in a 3–1 win against the Nashville Predators. It was his first goal in 109 games. Rome finished the 2010–11 season with an NHL career-high 56 games with a goal and four assists. In the 2011 playoffs, he scored his first NHL post-season goal against Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 of the third round – a 7–3 win. The following game, he was injured off a boarding hit from Sharks forward Jamie McGinn. Rome was sidelined from the rest of the game; McGinn received a five-minute penalty on the play, but did not receive further discipline from the league.

In game three of the Stanley Cup Finals, Rome sent Boston forward Nathan Horton to the ice with a late hit. Horton sustained a severe concussion and was taken off the ice on a stretcher. Rome was ejected from the game after being assessed a five-minute major penalty for interference and a game misconduct. After a disciplinary hearing the next morning, Rome was assessed a four-game suspension and missed the remainder of the 2011 playoffs. While Rome and the Canucks maintained that it was a clean hit, the NHL determined that Rome hit Horton over a second after Horton gave up the puck. The NHL considers a hit to be late if it takes place more than half a second after a player loses possession.

Personal life

Rome was born and raised in Nesbitt, Manitoba, a small community of less than 30 people. He was the third of four sons born to Dennis and Karen Rome. All four brothers played hockey and made it to the minor professional level; Rome is the only one to compete in the NHL. Ashton Rome is the only other brother to be drafted into the NHL, selected 143rd overall in 2006 by the San Jose Sharks, and has played in the ECHL and AHL. Eldest brother Ryan Rome competed in the United (UHL) and Central Hockey Leagues (CHL), while Reagan Rome has played in the ECHL, AHL and in Europe.

Rome and his wife Adrianne have a son, Grayson. They spend their off-seasons in Brandon, Manitoba.

Career statistics

Western Hockey League Saskatoon Blades Saskatoon BladesKootenay IceSwift Current Broncos Swift Current Broncos Swift Current BroncosMoose Jaw WarriorsCincinnati Mighty DucksPortland Pirates Portland PiratesAnaheim Ducks Portland PiratesSyracuse CrunchColumbus Blue Jackets Syracuse Crunch Columbus Blue JacketsManitoba MooseVancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks

colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"			! colspan="5"		Playoffs
Season (sports)>Season	! Team		! League		! GP	Goal (ice hockey)>G	Assist (ice hockey)>A	Point (ice hockey)>Pts	Penalty (ice hockey)>PIM	! GP	! G	! A	! Pts	! PIM
1998–99 WHL season	1998–99		Saskatoon Blades		WHL||	1	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—
1999–2000 WHL season	1999–00		|		WHL	47	0	6	6	22	1	0	0	0	0
2000–01 WHL season	2000–01		|		WHL	3	0	0	0	2	—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	|		WHL		53	2	8	10	43	11	1	3	4	6
2001–02 WHL season	2001–02		|		WHL	70	7	24	31	168	10	1	4	5	23
2002–03 WHL season	2002–03		|		WHL	61	12	44	56	201	4	1	0	1	20
2003–04 WHL season	2003–04		|		WHL	41	7	26	33	122	—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	|		WHL		28	3	16	19	88	8	0	6	6	17
2004–05 AHL season	2004–05		|		American Hockey League>AHL	75	2	14	16	130	12	3	3	6	33
2005–06 AHL season	2005–06		|		AHL	64	5	19	24	87	18	1	4	5	33
2006–07 AHL season	2006–07		|		AHL	76	8	17	25	139	—	—	—	—	—
2006–07 NHL season	2006–07		|		NHL	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
2007–08 AHL season	2007–08		|		AHL	14	2	3	5	31	—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	|		AHL		41	3	21	24	126	—	—	—	—	—
2007–08 NHL season	2007–08		|		NHL	17	1	1	2	33	—	—	—	—	—
2008–09 AHL season	2008–09		|		AHL	48	7	21	28	153	—	—	—	—	—
2008–09 NHL season	2008–09		|		NHL	8	0	1	1	0	1	0	1	1	0
2009–10 AHL season	2009–10		|		AHL	7	6	1	7	15	—	—	—	—	—
2009–10 NHL season	2009–10		|		NHL	49	0	4	4	24	1	0	0	0	0
2010–11 NHL season	2010–11		|		NHL	56	1	4	5	53	14	1	0	1	37
NHL totals			! 131		! 2	! 10	! 12	! 110	! 17	! 1	! 1	! 2	! 37

Statistics taken from Aaron Rome's NHL Profile

Awards

Award	! Year
Western Hockey League	WHL East Second All-Star Team	2003–04 WHL season>2003–04
Stanley Cup (with the Anaheim Ducks)	2007 Stanley Cup playoffs>2007

Notes

References

External links

Aaron Rome on TSN.ca

Category:1983 births Category:Anaheim Ducks players Category:Canadian ice hockey defencemen Category:Cincinnati Mighty Ducks players Category:Columbus Blue Jackets players Category:Ice hockey people from Manitoba Category:Kootenay Ice alumni Category:Living people Category:Los Angeles Kings draft picks Category:Manitoba Moose players Category:Moose Jaw Warriors alumni Category:Portland Pirates players Category:Saskatoon Blades alumni Category:Stanley Cup champions Category:Swift Current Broncos alumni Category:Syracuse Crunch players Category:Vancouver Canucks players

de:Aaron Rome simple:Aaron Rome sv:Aaron Rome

Coordinates	46°45′0″N23°23′0″N
image alt	Caucasian male wearing black helmet, black jersey with a spoked B located in the middle. He is holding a hockey stick.
team	Boston Bruins
former teams	Florida Panthers
league	NHL
position	Right wing
shoots	Right
height ft	6
height in	2
weight lb	229
birth date	May 29, 1985
birth place	Welland, ON, CAN
draft	3rd overall
draft year	2003
draft team	Florida Panthers
career start	2003 }}

Nathan Horton (born May 29, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey winger who currently plays for the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). During his career, Horton has also played for the Florida Panthers, the Thorold Blackhawks of the Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League (GHJHL), the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League (AHL).

During his only season with Thorold he played in 41 games, scoring 16 goals and 31 assists. With Oshawa he scored 64 goals and recorded 71 assists for his career. Following his time with Oshawa, Horton was drafted by the Florida Panthers and spent his first professional season playing for the team. However, during what would be his second season, the NHL cancelled the season which caused Horton to find another team to play for. Instead of going to Europe as many other NHL players had, he joined the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. In an injury shortened season, Horton played in 21 games for the Rampage scoring 5 goals and recording 4 assists.

Playing career

Minor Hockey

Horton grew up in Dunnville, Ontario playing much of his minor hockey with the Welland Tigers of the OMHA South Central AAA League before graduating to the Thorold Blackhawks Jr.B. club of the OHA's Golden Horseshoe League. For much of his career with Welland, Horton played up on the "'84" Tigers team with future NHL'ers Dan Girardi, Daniel Paille (current Bruins teammate) and Andre Deveaux.

Junior career

Horton first entered junior hockey as a player for the Thorold Blackhawks. In one season with Thorold he scored 16 goals and registered 31 assists in 41 games. Prior to the 2001 OHL Draft, a 16–year old Horton stated that if he was drafted first overall by the Mississauga Ice Dogs, he would not report to the team. He was instead selected second overall in the draft by the Oshawa Generals. As a rookie in the OHL, Horton totaled 31 goals and 36 assists in 64 games for the Generals.

To begin the 2002–03 season, Horton missed 13 games out of 22 but still ended up scoring 9 goals with 18 points during that span. Horton was named to the Canadian national junior team's selection camp in December but was one of the first cuts. He ended his final season in Oshawa with 33 goals and 35 assists in 54 games.

2003 NHL Entry Draft

In January 2002, Horton, along with Patrick O'Sullivan and Kevin Klein, was regarded as a top prospect from the OHL for the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Eleven months later in December, Horton was called, "an almost sure-fire top five pick" by ''USA Today''. Midway through the 2002–03 season, Horton was regarded as a top-five North American prospect by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. Scouts likened Horton, who considered him a "power forward", to John LeClair who was considered to be one of the best power forwards in the NHL. However, Horton stated that he saw himself to be more like Jeremy Roenick or Peter Forsberg, both of whom were faster than LeClair.

The Florida Panthers, who originally held the first overall pick but traded it to the Pittsburgh Penguins, selected Horton with the third overall pick. Goaltender Marc-André Fleury (Pittsburgh) and centre Eric Staal (Carolina) were selected before him.

Florida Panthers

Horton signed with the Panthers on October 6, 2003. After his signing, Panthers coach Mike Keenan compared Horton to future New York Rangers Hall of Famer Mark Messier.

Against the Minnesota Wild on October 24, Horton recorded his first career point with an assist on an Ivan Novoseltsev goal. Horton recorded his first career goal on November 1 against the San Jose Sharks. In the next game for the Panthers against the Los Angeles Kings, Horton scored his second goal in as many games. On January 9, 2004, Horton became the first rookie in NHL history to record a goal on a penalty shot, scoring against Philadelphia Flyers goalie Jeff Hackett. Three seasons later, on October 22, 2006, Penguins rookie Jordan Staal matched the feat and surpassed Horton as the youngest player to score; Staal was 183 days younger than Horton was when he scored. Four days after his penalty shot goal, Horton suffered a torn rotator cuff and labrum which would potentially end his season. At the time, he was third on the Panthers with 10 goals. Following an examination by surgeon Tony Miniaci, Horton was told that he could rehabilitate naturally and did not require surgery on his shoulder. He returned to the Panthers in early March and scored in one of his first games back against the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, his shoulder troubles continued and it was determined that surgery was required. Horton ended his rookie campaign with 14 goals and 8 assists in 55 games.

The 2004–05 NHL season ended up being locked out which forced Horton and other players to sign with other teams. Horton eventually signed with the Panthers' AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage after a controversy ensued as to whether junior hockey eligible players such as Horton were obligated to return to their junior teams. Despite not signing with the Rampage until October 29, Horton still participated in their training camp. Seven minutes into his second AHL game, Horton scored his first goal of the season. He recorded his first career AHL assist on a Gregory Campbell goal. On December 3, 2004, against the Houston Aeros, Horton scored both of the Rampage's goals to help the team win in overtime. thumb|alt = Caucasian male wearing white helmet, white jersey with a leaping panther located in the middle. He is holding a hockey stick.|Horton in 2007 For the second straight season, the Panthers did not allow Horton to play for the Canadian national junior team. He and Houston Aeros defenceman Brent Burns were the only two players not allowed to play for the team. Days before the announcement that Horton would not play for Team Canada, he suffered another shoulder injury which allegedly played into the Panthers' decision. Horton suffered the shoulder injury in a fight in December and missed 14 games. He was informed he would again have to undergo surgery. In 21 games for San Antonio, Horton scored 5 goals and recorded 4 assists.

Entering the 2005–06 season, Horton stated in response to a question about his shoulders, "I feel better. I feel stronger, bigger." In the season opener against the Atlanta Thrashers, Horton scored the first goal for the Panthers. Through the first games of the season, Horton was tied for the team lead in goals. On November 8, 2005, Horton was placed on injured reserve because of a knee injury. He was activated on December 1 and scored in his first game back against the Washington Capitals to help the Panthers win 3–2. Horton added 2 goals against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Panthers' next game to bring his season total to 10 in 17 games. Against the Nashville Predators on December 13, Horton recorded his first career hat trick and stated after the game that, "It's a pretty nice feeling. I felt like there was no one on me. I just tried to get it to the net and it went in every time." Despite missing 10 games to injury, Horton was tied with teammate Olli Jokinen for the team lead in goals with 16 after 38 games. Against Washington on January 9, Horton and Joe Nieuwendyk scored a goal in the shootout to help the Panthers win 4–3. Two days after his shootout goal, Horton was promoted to the Panthers' first line. Despite his promotion to the first line, Horton's name was mentioned in a potential trade with the Vancouver Canucks; however, nothing materialized. In a 6–2 win over the Ottawa Senators, Horton scored 2 goals including one on a rebound, after which he said, "It just popped right out to me. It was a long time coming for goals for me. I got lucky tonight and hopefully they keep going in." In March, Horton began playing in penalty kill situations for the first time in his career. Also against the Lightning, Horton scored the Panthers' only goal with his 27th goal of the season. Horton completed the season playing 71 games, scoring 28 goals and adding 19 assists.

Following the 2005–06 season, Horton's rookie contract expired. He was re-signed by Florida on July 12, 2006, to a one-year, $1.1 million contract. Against the Boston Bruins, Horton scored his first goal of the season to help the Panthers win 8–3. He scored his third goal of the season on October 18 in a 5–2 loss against the Washington Capitals, who the Panthers had not lost to in regulation since the 2004–05 season. After Horton was called for a second-period penalty against Atlanta, coach Jacques Martin demoted Horton to the fourth line in an attempt to send a message to Horton. Before long, however, Horton was again promoted to the first line, with Finnish players Olli Jokinen and Ville Peltonen. They gave Horton the name "Nathan Hortonen" in an attempt to make his name Finnish. Against the Montreal Canadiens on November 16, Horton assisted on all goals that Jokinen recorded. Against Tampa Bay on February 17, Horton scored the game winning goal for Florida, 29 seconds into overtime.

For the second straight season, Horton's name was brought up in trade offers; however Canadian sports writer, Bruce Garrioch called it "doubtful" that Horton would be traded despite Horton being unhappy playing in Florida. Against Tampa Bay on March 28, Horton scored two goals, which brought his season total for goals against the Lightning up to 8. In the Panthers' next game against the Lightning, Horton had 1 goal which made it 9 goals and 3 assists for him against Tampa Bay in the 2006–07 season. The goal also gave Horton his career-high 31st goal on the season. He ended the season with 31 goals and 31 assists in 82 games.

Horton re-signed with the Panthers on June 21, 2007, to a six-year, US$24 million contract. despite previous rumours he would not. Through seven games for the Panthers to open the 2007–08 NHL season, Horton recorded 3 goals and 3 assists, during which he had a four-game point streak. Horton scored the only goal for the Panthers in a 2–1 loss against the Carolina Hurricanes on November 18. Against the Washington Capitals on November 28, Horton along with teammates Olli Jokinen, Kamil Kreps and Stephen Weiss scored shootout goals to help Florida win the game. For the first time since March 2007, Horton scored 2 goals in a game to help the Panthers win over the Atlanta Thrashers on December 28. Horton and linemate David Booth combined for three goals against the New York Islanders, of which Horton scored two. In the Panthers' 5–3 win over the Ottawa Senators on January 22, 2008, Horton recorded 4 assists, which was a career–high. Horton scored against Vancouver Canucks goalie and former Panther Roberto Luongo in a shootout to help the Panthers win 4–3, giving them their first win over Vancouver since 1999. Horton scored a goal against the Washington Capitals to help Florida win 4–2 in the game after Richard Zednik suffered a neck injury in which he had his external carotid artery cut by a skate. Twenty-two seconds into overtime against the Boston Bruins on March 5, Horton scored to give the Panthers a 1–0 victory. Four days later on March 9, Horton scored again in overtime with 23 seconds left, causing the ''Miami Herald'' to nickname him the "King of Overtime". On April 5, Horton scored his 100th career goal.

Prior to the start of the 2008–09 NHL season, Panthers head coach Peter DeBoer, who first saw Horton play at seven years old, said about his hopes for Horton, "If I'm looking for guys to do more, he wouldn't be at the top of the list. If he can give us 30-plus, I'd be happy with Nathan. There's a group of guys underneath him that I think can make a lot bigger jumps than I need out of Nathan Horton goal-wise." Horton was also moved from his position of right wing to centre before the season. After playing a few games at centre, Horton said, "It's not as easy as wing. You can play wing and all you have to concentrate on is getting the puck and shooting it. At center, you have more responsibilities." Against the Nashville Predators on November 1, Horton played in his 300th career game, but failed to record a point. On November 26, Horton suffered a deep cut in his leg after it was stepped on by a skate. At the time of the injury, Horton had 6 goals and 7 assists. In early December, the ''Ottawa Sun'' reported that the Panthers might have been looking to trade Horton after he was reportedly unhappy playing for the team. Horton returned to the lineup on December 17 after missing eight games. After the game, Horton commented, "I'm excited to play. It's kind of a different Panthers team than the past. It's really changed in a matter of a month. Things are going good now, and everybody's really buying into what Pete has been telling us all year." On January 17, Horton recorded 3 assists to help the Panthers defeat Tampa Bay, 4–3. For the second time during the season, Horton's name came up in trade rumours, this time with the Chicago Blackhawks. In early March, days after the trade deadline, Horton suffered a finger injury that forced him to have surgery. He returned to the lineup on March 23, recording an assist in a Panthers loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Horton ended the season with 22 goals and 23 assists in 67 games.

Boston Bruins

Horton was traded to the Boston Bruins on June 22, 2010 along with Gregory Campbell for Dennis Wideman, the Bruins first round pick (15th overall) in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, and third round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He got off to a great start in his first season in Boston, with seven goals and six assists, including a six game point streak, in the first 12 games of the season. He finished second on the team in goals and fourth in assists.

During the first round of the 2011 NHL Playoffs, Horton scored a game-winning overtime goal for the Bruins in both games five and seven to help the Bruins win the series over the Montreal Canadiens. A third period goal by Horton against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the only goal of game 7, later sent the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Finals.

In game three of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, Horton was hit with late check to the head by Vancouver Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome. Rome received a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct. Horton seemed concussed and unresponsive as he was carried out on a stretcher and put into an ambulance. He was moving all his extremities in the ambulance. He was later diagnosed with a severe concussion and missed the remainder of the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. Rome was suspended for 4 games following the hit. Together they have one son named Dylan Jaxon Horton.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

{| BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="0" width="75%" style="text-align:center" |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff" |   ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |   ! colspan="5" | Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff" |   ! colspan="5" | Playoffs |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM ! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM |- |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 1999–00 | Welland Tigers Bantam AAA | OMHA | 44 || 41 || 51 || 92 || 34 | - || - || - || - || - |- | 2000–01 | Thorold Blackhawks | GHJHL | 41 || 16 || 31 || 47 || 75 | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2001–02 | Oshawa Generals | OHL | 64 || 31 || 36 || 67 || 84 | 5 || 1 || 2 || 3 || 10 |- | 2002–03 | Oshawa Generals | OHL | 54 || 33 || 35 || 68 || 111 | 13 || 9 || 6 || 15 || 10 |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2003–04 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 55 || 14 || 8 || 22 || 57 | — || — || — || — || — |- | 2004–05 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 21 || 5 || 4 || 9 || 21 | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2005–06 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 71 || 28 || 19 || 47 || 89 | — || — || — || — || — |- | 2006–07 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 82 || 31 || 31 || 62 || 61 | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2007–08 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 82 || 27 || 35 || 62 || 85 | — || — || — || — || — |- | 2008–09 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 67 || 22 || 23 || 45 || 48 | — || — || — || — || — |- bgcolor="#f0f0f0" | 2009–10 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 65 || 20 || 37 || 57 || 42 | — || — || — || — || — |- | 2010–11 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 80 || 26 || 27 || 53 || 85 | 21 || 8 || 9 || 17 || 35 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | OHL totals ! 118 !! 64 !! 71 !! 135 !! 195 ! 18 !! 10 !! 8 !! 18 !! 20 |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | AHL totals ! 21 !! 5 !! 4 !! 9 !! 21 ! — !! — !! — !! — !! — |- bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" | NHL totals ! 502 !! 168 !! 180 !! 348 !! 467 ! 21 !! 8 !! 9 !! 17 !! 35 |}

''All statistics are from NHL.com.''

Awards

OHL

! Award	! Year

NHL

! Award	! Year
Stanley Cup

References

External links

Category:1985 births Category:Boston Bruins players Category:Canadian ice hockey centres Category:Florida Panthers draft picks Category:Florida Panthers players Category:Ice hockey people from Ontario Category:Living people Category:National Hockey League first round draft picks Category:Oshawa Generals alumni Category:People from Welland, Ontario Category:San Antonio Rampage players Category:Stanley Cup champions

cs:Nathan Horton de:Nathan Horton fr:Nathan Horton ru:Хортон, Натан simple:Nathan Horton fi:Nathan Horton sv:Nathan Horton

Coordinates	46°45′0″N23°23′0″N
Name	Rafael Nadal
Fullname	Rafael Nadal Parera
Country	Spain
Nickname	''Rafa''''The King of Clay''''The Matador''
Residence	Manacor, Majorca, Spain
Birth date	June 03, 1986
Birth place	Manacor, Majorca
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight
Turnedpro	2001
Plays	Left-handed (two-handed backhand)
Careerprizemoney	$45,114,407
Singlesrecord	550–118 (82.34%)
Singlestitles	46
Currentsinglesranking	No. 2 (14 November 2011)
Highestsinglesranking	No. 1 (18 August 2008)
Australianopenresult	W (2009)
Frenchopenresult	W (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)
Wimbledonresult	W (2008, 2010)
Usopenresult	W (2010)
Othertournaments	Yes
Masterscupresult	F (2010)
Olympicsresult	20px Gold medal (2008)
Doublesrecord	91–57
Doublestitles	7
Highestdoublesranking	No. 26 (8 August 2005)
Grandslamsdoublesresults	yes
Australianopendoublesresult	3R (2004, 2005)
Wimbledondoublesresult	2R (2005)
Usopendoublesresult	SF (2004)
Updated	28 October 2011 }}

}}

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (; ) (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time; his success on clay has earned him the nickname "The King of Clay", and has prompted many experts to regard him as the greatest clay court player of all time.

Nadal has won ten Grand Slam singles titles, including six French Open titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 19 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and also was part of the Spain Davis Cup team that won the finals in 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011. He completed the career Grand Slam by winning the 2010 US Open, being the seventh player in history, and the youngest in the open era, to achieve it. He is the second male player to complete the Career Golden Slam (winner of the four grand slams and the Olympic Gold medal) after only Andre Agassi.

Nadal had a 32-match winning streak in 2008, starting at the 2008 Masters Series Hamburg to the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open, which included titles at Hamburg, the French Open (where he did not drop a set), Queen's Club, his first title at Wimbledon, and the Rogers Cup. In 2011, by winning the Monte Carlo Masters, he became the only player to have won seven editions of a tournament in a row at the ATP level. Nadal was ranked world No. 2, behind Roger Federer, for a record 160 consecutive weeks before earning the top spot, which he held from 18 August 2008 to 5 July 2009. He regained the world No.1 ranking on 7 June 2010, after winning his fifth French Open title. He held it until 3 July 2011, when Novak Djokovic replaced him as world No. 1.

Early life

Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, Majorca, Spain to Sebastián Nadal, a businessman who owns an insurance company, a glass and window company, Vidres Mallorca, and manages his own restaurant, Sa Punta. His mother is Ana María Parera, a housewife. He has a younger sister named María Isabel. His uncle, Miguel Ángel Nadal, is a retired professional footballer, who played for RCD Mallorca, FC Barcelona, and the Spanish national team. Nadal supports football clubs Real Madrid and RCD Mallorca. Recognizing that Nadal had a natural talent for tennis, another uncle, Toni Nadal, a former professional tennis player, introduced him to tennis when he was three years old.

At age eight, Nadal won an under-12 regional tennis championship at a time when he was also a promising football player. This made Toni Nadal intensify training, and at that time he encouraged Nadal to play left-handed for a natural advantage on the tennis court, as he noticed Nadal played forehand shots with two hands. When Nadal was 12, he won the Spanish and European tennis titles in his age group and was playing tennis and football all the time. Nadal's father made him choose between football and tennis so that his school work would not deteriorate entirely. Nadal said: "I chose tennis. Football had to stop straight away."

When he was 14, the Spanish tennis federation requested that he leave Majorca and move to Barcelona to continue his tennis training. Nadal's family turned down this request, partly because they feared it would hurt his education, but also because Toni said that "I don't want to believe that you have to go to America, or other places to be a good athlete. You can do it from your home." The decision to stay home meant that Nadal received less financial support from the federation; instead, Nadal's father covered the costs. In May 2001, he defeated former Grand Slam champion Pat Cash in a clay-court exhibition match.

At 15, he turned pro. Nadal participated in two events on the ITF junior circuit. In 2002, at the age of 16, Nadal reached the semifinals of the Boy's Singles tournament at Wimbledon, in his first ITF junior event.

By the age of 17, he beat Roger Federer the first time they played and became the youngest man to reach the third round at Wimbledon since Boris Becker. At 18, he helped pace Spain over the US in the junior Davis Cup in his second, and final, appearance on the ITF junior circuit. At 19, Nadal won the French Open the first time he played it, a feat not accomplished in Paris for more than 20 years. He eventually won it the first four times he played at Roland Garros. In 2003, he had won the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award. Early in his career, Nadal picked up the trademark habit of biting the trophies he won.

Tennis career

2002–2004

In April 2002, at 15 years and 10 months, the world No. 762 Nadal won his first ATP match, defeating Ramón Delgado, and became the ninth player in the open era to do so before the age of 16. The following year, Nadal won two Challenger titles and finished the year in the top 50. At his Wimbledon debut in 2003, Nadal became the youngest man to reach the third round since Boris Becker in 1984. During 2004, Nadal played his first match against world No. 1 Roger Federer at the 2004 Miami Masters, and won in straight sets. He is one of the six players that defeated Federer that year (along with Tim Henman, Albert Costa, Gustavo Kuerten, Dominik Hrbatý, and Tomáš Berdych). He missed most of the clay court season, including the French Open, because of a stress fracture in his left ankle. Nadal, at 18 years and six months, became the youngest player to register a singles victory in a Davis Cup final for a winning nation. By beating world No. 2 Andy Roddick, he helped Spain clinch the 2004 title over the United States in a 3–2 win. He finished the year ranked world No. 51.

2005

At the 2005 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the 4th round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt. Two months later, 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 world No. 1 Roger Federer. Both performances were considered to be breakthroughs for Nadal.

He then dominated the spring 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 runner-up Guillermo Coria in the finals of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters and the 2005 Rome Masters. 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 semifinals, being one of only four players who defeated the top-seeded player 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 to win the French Open on his first attempt since Mats Wilander in 1982: He also became the first 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.

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 to Gilles Müller of Luxembourg.

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.

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. Nadal won the Golden Bagel Award for 2005, with eleven 6–0 sets during the year. Also, he earned the highest year-end ranking ever by a Spaniard and the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award.

2006

Nadal missed the Australian Open due to a foot injury. In February, he lost in the semifinals of the first tournament he played, the Open 13 tournament in Marseille, France. Two weeks later, he handed Roger Federer his first loss of the year in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Men's Open (in 2006, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were the only two men who defeated Federer). To complete the spring hard-court season, Nadal was upset in the semifinals of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, by James Blake, and was upset in the second round of the 2006 Miami Masters.

On European clay, Nadal won all four tournaments he entered and 24 consecutive matches. He defeated Federer in the final of the Masters Series Monte Carlo in four sets. The following week, he defeated Tommy Robredo in the final of the Open Sabadell Atlántico tournament in Barcelona. After a one-week break, Nadal won the Masters Series Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating Federer in a fifth-set tiebreaker in the final, after saving two match points and equaling Björn Borg's tally of 16 ATP titles won as a teenager. Nadal broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas's 29-year male record of 53 consecutive clay-court match victories by winning his first round match at the French Open. Vilas presented Nadal with a trophy, but commented later that Nadal's feat was less impressive than his own because Nadal's winning streak covered two years and was accomplished by adding easy tournaments to his schedule. Nadal went on to play Federer in the final of the French Open. The first two sets of the match were hardly competitive, as the rivals traded 6–1 sets. Nadal won the third set easily and served for the match in the fourth set before Federer broke him and forced a tiebreaker. Nadal won the tiebreaker and became the first player to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam final.

Nadal injured his shoulder while playing a quarterfinal match against Lleyton Hewitt at the Artois Championships, played on grass at the Queen's Club in London. Nadal was unable to complete the match, which ended his 26-match winning streak. Nadal was seeded second at Wimbledon, but was two points from defeat against American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the second round before coming back to win in five sets. In the third round, Nadal defeated world No. 20 Andre Agassi in straight sets at Agassi's last career match at Wimbledon. Nadal also won his next three matches in straight sets, which set up his first Wimbledon final, which was against Federer, who had won this tournament the three previous years. Nadal was the first Spanish man since Manuel Santana in 1966, to reach the Wimbledon final, but Federer won the match in four sets 6–0, 7–6, 6–7, 6–3 to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.

During the leadup to the US Open, Nadal played the two Masters Series tournaments in North America. He was upset in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Nadal was seeded second at the US Open, but lost in the quarterfinals to world No. 54 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in four sets.

Nadal played only three tournaments the remainder of the year. Joachim Johansson, ranked world No. 690, upset Nadal in the second round of the Stockholm Open 6–4, 7–6. The following week, Nadal lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals of the year's last Masters Series tournament, the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid. During the round-robin stage of the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, Nadal lost to James Blake but defeated Nikolay Davydenko and Robredo. Because of those two victories, Nadal qualified for the semifinals, where he lost to Federer 6–4, 7–5. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer.

Nadal went on to become the first player since Andre Agassi in 1994–95 to finish the year as the world No. 2 in consecutive years.

2007

Nadal started the year by playing in six hard-court tournaments. He lost in the semifinals and first round of his first two tournaments and then lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open to eventual runner-up Fernando González. After another quarterfinal loss at the Dubai Tennis Championships, he won the 2007 Indian Wells Masters, before Novak Djoković defeated him in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Miami Masters.

He had comparatively more success after returning to Europe to play five clay-court tournaments. He won the titles at the Masters Series Monte Carlo, the Open Sabadell Atlántico in Barcelona, and the Masters Series Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, before losing to Roger Federer in the final of the Masters Series Hamburg. This defeat ended his 81-match winning streak on clay, which is the male open era record for consecutive wins on a single surface. He then rebounded to win the French Open for the third straight year, defeating Federer once again in the final.

Between the tournaments in Barcelona and Rome, Nadal defeated Federer in the "Battle of Surfaces" exhibition match in Majorca, Spain, with the tennis court being half grass and half clay.

Nadal played the Artois Championships at the Queen's Club in London for the second consecutive year. As in 2006, Nadal was upset in the quarterfinals. Nadal then won consecutive five-set matches during the third and fourth rounds of Wimbledon before being beaten by Federer in the five-set final. This was Federer's first five-set match at Wimbledon since 2001.

In July, Nadal won the clay court Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, which proved to be his last title of the year. He played three important tournaments during the North American summer hard court season. He was a semifinalist at the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Montreal before losing his first match at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was the second-seeded player at the US Open, but was defeated in the fourth round by David Ferrer.

After a month-long break from tournament tennis, Nadal played the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid and the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. David Nalbandian upset him in the quarterfinals and final of those tournaments. To end the year, Nadal won two of his three round robin matches to advance to the semifinals of the Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, where Federer defeated him 6–4, 6–1.

During the second half of the year, Nadal battled a knee injury suffered during the Wimbledon final. In addition, there were rumors at the end of the year that the foot injury he suffered during 2005, caused long-term damage, which were given credence by coach Toni Nadal's claim that the problem was "serious". Nadal and his spokesman strongly denied this, however, with Nadal himself calling the story "totally false".

2008

Nadal began the year in India, where he was comprehensively beaten by Mikhail Youzhny in the final of the Chennai Open. Nadal then reached the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Nadal 6–2, 6–3, 6–2 in the semifinal of 2008 Australian Open. Tsonga's semifinal performance was characterized by his powerful and precise serve, finesse volleys, and aggressive baseline play; it was a performance that drew the Melbourne crowd to their feet. Tsonga did not face a break point until the third set, while breaking the Spaniard five times in the match. Nadal also reached the final of the Miami Masters for the second time.

During the spring clay-court season, Nadal won four singles titles and defeated Roger Federer in three finals. He beat Federer at the Masters Series Monte Carlo for the third straight year, capturing his open era record fourth consecutive title there. He won in straight sets, despite Federer's holding a 4–0 lead in the second set. Nadal then won his fourth consecutive title at the Open Sabadell Atlántico tournament in Barcelona. A few weeks later, Nadal won his first title at the Masters Series Hamburg, defeating Federer in the three-set final. He then won the French Open, becoming the fifth man in the open era to win a Grand Slam singles title without losing a set. He defeated Federer in the final for the third straight year, but this was the most lopsided of all their matches, as Nadal only lost four games and gave Federer his first bagel since 1999. This was Nadal's fourth consecutive French title, tying Björn Borg's all-time record. Nadal became the fourth male player during the open era to win the same Grand Slam singles tournament four consecutive years (the others being Borg, Pete Sampras, and Federer). Nadal then played Federer in the final of Wimbledon for the third consecutive year, in the most anticipated match of their rivalry. Nadal entered the final on a 23-match winning streak, including his first career grass-court title at the Artois Championships staged at the Queen's Club in London prior to Wimbledon. Federer had won his record fifth grass-court title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, and then reached the Wimbledon final without losing a set. Unlike their previous two Wimbledon finals, though, Federer was not the prohibitive favorite, and many analysts picked Nadal to win. They played the longest (in terms of time on court, not in terms of numbers of games) final in Wimbledon history, and because of rain delays, Nadal won the fifth set 9–7 in near-darkness. The match was widely lauded as the greatest Wimbledon final ever, with some tennis critics even calling it the greatest match in tennis history. By winning his first Wimbledon title, Nadal became the third man in the open era to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year, after Rod Laver in 1969, and Borg in 1978–80, (Federer later accomplished this the following year) as well as the second Spaniard to win Wimbledon. He also ended Federer's record streak of five consecutive Wimbledon titles and 65 straight wins on grass courts. This is also the first time that Nadal won two Grand Slams back-to-back.

After Wimbledon, Nadal extended his winning streak to a career-best 32 matches. He won his second Rogers Cup title in Toronto, and then made it into the semifinals of the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. As a result, Nadal clinched the US Open Series and, combined with Federer's early-round losses in both of those tournaments, finally earned the world No. 1 ranking on 18 August, officially ending Federer's record four-and-a-half year reign at the top.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Nadal defeated Novak Djoković of Serbia in the semifinals 6–4, 1–6, 6–4 and Fernando González of Chile in the final to win his first Olympic gold medal. Nadal became the first male player ranked in the top five to win the gold medal.

At the US Open, Nadal was the top-seeded player for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament. He did not lose a set during his first three matches, defeating qualifiers in the first and second rounds and Viktor Troicki in the third round. He then needed four sets to defeat both Sam Querrey in the fourth round and Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, he lost to eventual runner up, Andy Murray 6–2, 7–6, 4–6, 6–4. Later in the year in Madrid, Nadal helped Spain defeat the United States in the Davis Cup semifinals.

At the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid, Nadal lost in the semifinals to Gilles Simon 3–6, 7–5, 7–6. However, his performance at the event guaranteed that he would become the first Spaniard during the open era to finish the year as the world No. 1. On 24 October at the Campoamor theatre in Oviedo, Spain, Nadal was given the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports, in recognition of his achievements in tennis. Two weeks after the Madrid Masters at the BNP Paribas Masters in France, Nadal reached the quarterfinals, where he faced Nikolay Davydenko. Nadal lost the first set 6–1, before retiring in the second with a knee injury. The following week, Nadal announced his withdrawal from the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, citing tendinitis of the knee. On 10 November, Nadal withdrew from Spain's Davis Cup final against Argentina, as his knee injury had not healed completely.

2009

Nadal's first official ATP tour event for the year was the 250 series Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. After his first-round match with Fabrice Santoro, Nadal was awarded the 2008 ATP World Tour Champion trophy. Nadal eventually lost in the quarterfinals to Gaël Monfils. Nadal also entered and won the tournament's doubles event with partner Marc López, defeating the world No. 1 doubles team of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić in the final. As noted by statistician Greg Sharko, this was the first time since 1990, that the world No. 1 singles player had played the world No. 1 doubles player in a final.

At the 2009 Australian Open, Nadal won his first five matches without dropping a set, before defeating compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the semifinals in the longest match in Australian Open history at 5 hours and 14 minutes. This win set up a championship match with Roger Federer, their first meeting ever in a hard-court Grand Slam tournament and their nineteenth meeting overall. Nadal defeated Federer in five sets to earn his first hard-court Grand Slam singles title, making him the first Spaniard to win the Australian Open and the fourth male tennis player—after Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, and Andre Agassi—to win Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces. This win also made Nadal the first male tennis player to hold three Grand Slam singles titles on three different surfaces at the same time. Nadal then played the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. In the final, he lost to second-seeded Murray in three sets. During the final, Nadal called a trainer to attend to a tendon problem with his right knee, which notably affected his play in the final set. Although this knee problem was not associated with Nadal's right knee tendonitis, it was serious enough to cause him to withdraw from the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships a week later.

In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Serbia in a Davis Cup World Group first-round tie on clay in Benidorm, Spain. Nadal defeated Janko Tipsarević and Novak Djokovic. The win over world No. 3 Djokovic was Nadal's twelfth consecutive Davis Cup singles match win and boosted his career win–loss record against Djokovic to 11–4, including 6–0 on clay.

At the 2009 Indian Wells Masters, Nadal won his thirteenth Masters 1000 series tournament. In the fourth round, Nadal saved five match points, before defeating David Nalbandian for the first time. Nadal defeated Juan Martín del Potro in the quarterfinals and Andy Roddick in the semi-finals, before defeating Murray in the final. The next ATP tour event was the 2009 Miami Masters. Nadal advanced to the quarterfinals, where he again faced Argentinian del Potro, this time losing the match. This was the first time del Potro had defeated Nadal in five career matches.

Nadal began his European clay court season at the 2009 Monte Carlo Masters, where he won a record fifth consecutive singles title there. He defeated Novak Djokovic in the final for his fifth consecutive win, a record in the open era. Nadal is the first male player to win the same ATP Master series event for five consecutive years.

Nadal then competed in the ATP 500 event in Barcelona. He advanced to his fifth consecutive Barcelona final, where he faced David Ferrer. Nadal went on to beat Ferrer 6–2, 7–5 to record five consecutive Barcelona victories. At the Rome Masters, Nadal reached the final, where he defeated Novak Djokovic to improve his overall record to 13–4 and clay record to 8–0 against the Serb. He became the first player to win four Rome titles.

After winning two clay-court Masters, he participated in the Madrid Open. He lost to Roger Federer 4–6, 4–6 in the final. This was the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer since the semifinals of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup.

On 19 May, the ATP World Tour announced that Nadal was the first player out of eight to qualify for the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals, to be played at the O2 Arena in London.

By beating Lleyton Hewitt in the third round of 2009 French Open, Nadal (2005–09 French Open) set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros, beating the previous record of 28 by Björn Borg (1978–81 French Open). Nadal had won 32 consecutive sets at Roland Garros (since winning the last 2 sets at the 2007 French Open final against Federer), the second-longest winning streak in the tournament's history behind Björn Borg's record of 41 consecutive sets. This run came to an end on 31 May 2009, when Nadal lost to eventual runner-up, Robin Söderling in the 4th round. The Swede triumphed 6–2, 6–7, 6–4, 7–6. This was Nadal's first loss at the French Open.

After his surprise defeat at Roland Garros, Nadal withdrew from the AEGON Championships. It was confirmed that Nadal was suffering from tendinitis in both of his knees. On 19 June, Nadal withdrew from the 2009 Wimbledon Championship, citing his recurring knee injury. He was the first champion to not defend the title since Goran Ivanišević in 2001. Roger Federer went on to win the title, and Nadal consequently dropped back to world No. 2 on 6 July 2009. Nadal later announced his withdrawal from the Davis Cup.

On 4 August, Nadal's uncle, Toni Nadal, confirmed that Nadal would return to play at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. There, in his first tournament since Roland Garros, Nadal lost in the quarterfinals to Juan Martín del Potro. With this loss, he relinquished the No. 2 spot to Andy Murray on 17 August 2009, ranking outside the top two for the first time since 25 July 2005.

In the quarterfinals of the US Open he defeated Fernando González 7–6, 7–6, 6–0 in a rain-delayed encounter. However, like his previous US Open campaign, he fell in the semifinals, this time losing to eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro 2–6, 2–6, 2–6. Despite the loss, he regained his No. 2 ranking after Andy Murray's early exit.

At the World Tour Finals, Nadal lost all three of his matches against Robin Söderling, Nikolay Davydenko, and Novak Djokovic respectively without winning a set.

In December, Nadal participated in the second Davis Cup final of his career. He defeated Czech No. 2 Tomáš Berdych in his first singles rubber to give the Spanish Davis Cup Team their first point in the tie. After the Spanish Davis Cup team had secured its fourth Davis Cup victory, Nadal defeated Jan Hájek in the first Davis Cup dead rubber of his career. The win gave Nadal his 14th consecutive singles victory at Davis Cup (his 13th on clay).

Nadal finished the year as No. 2 for the fourth time in five years. Nadal won the Golden Bagel Award for 2009, with nine 6–0 sets during the year. Nadal has won the award three times (a tour record).

2010

Nadal began the year by participating in the Capitala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He defeated compatriot David Ferrer 7–6, 6–3 to reach his second final in the exhibition tournament. In the final, Nadal defeated Robin Söderling 7–6, 7–5.

Nadal participated in an Australian Open warm-up tournament, the Qatar ExxonMobil Open ATP 250 event in Doha, where he lost in the finals to Nikolay Davydenko 6–0, 6–7, 4–6.

In the first round of the Australian Open, Nadal defeated Peter Luczak of Australia 7–6, 6–1, 6–4. In the second round, he beat Lukáš Lacko 6–2, 6–2, 6–2. In the third round, he was tested by Philipp Kohlschreiber, finally beating him 6–4, 6–2, 2–6, 7–5. In the fourth round, he beat Ivo Karlović of Croatia, 6–4, 4–6, 6–4, 6–4. In the quarterfinals, Nadal pulled out at 3–0 down in the third set against Andy Murray, having lost the first two sets 6–3, 7–6. After examining Nadal's knees, doctors told him that he should take two weeks of rest, and then two weeks of rehabilitation.

Nadal reached the semifinals in singles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where he was the defending champion; however, eventual champion Ivan Ljubičić defeated him in three sets. He and countryman López won the doubles title, though, as wildcard entrants against number one seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjić. This boosted his doubles ranking 175 places to world number 66, whereas he was 241st before Indian Wells. After Indian Wells, Nadal reached the semifinals of the Sony Ericsson Open, where he lost to eventual champion Andy Roddick in three sets.

Nadal reached the final of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in Monaco, after beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6–3, 6–2 in the semifinals. This was Nadal's first tour final since Doha earlier in the year. He won the final 6–0, 6–1 over his compatriot Fernando Verdasco. He lost 14 games throughout all five matches, the fewest he had ever lost en route to a championship, and the final was the shortest Masters 1000 final in terms of games. With this win, Nadal became the first player in the open era to win a tournament title for six straight years.

Unlike in previous years, Nadal next chose to skip the Barcelona tournament (despite being that event's five-time defending champion), and his next tournament was the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. He defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber, Victor Hănescu, and Stanlias Wawrinka, all in straight sets, to win his 57th straight match in April. In the semis, he faced a resilient Ernests Gulbis, who defeated Roger Federer earlier in the tournament and took Nadal to three sets for the first time this clay-court season. Nadal eventually prevailed with a 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 in 2 hours and 40minutes. He then defeated compatriot David Ferrer in the final 7–5, 6–2 for his fifth title at Rome to equal Andre Agassi's record of winning 17 ATP Masters titles.

Nadal then entered the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where he had finished runner-up the previous year. Being one of the top eight seeds, he received a bye in the first round. In the second round, he defeated qualifier Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr in straight sets. He then played the six-foot-nine-inch American John Isner. Nadal comfortably came through in straight sets, 7–5, 6–4. He defeated Gaël Monfils in the quarterfinals 6–1, 6–3 and his countryman Nicolás Almagro in the next round, who was playing in his first Masters 1000 semifinal, 4–6, 6–2, 6–2. The first set of his match against Almagro would be just the second set he lost on clay up to this point in 2010. Nadal then defeated longtime rival Roger Federer 6–4, 7–6, avenging his 2009 finals loss to Federer. The win gave him his 18th Masters title, breaking the all-time record. He became the first player to win all three clay-court Masters titles in a single year and the first player to win three consecutive Masters events. Nadal moved back to No. 2 the following day.

Entering the French Open, many were expecting another Nadal-Federer final. However, this became impossible when rival Robin Söderling defeated Federer 3–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4 in the quarterfinals. The failure of Federer to reach the semifinals allowed Nadal to regain the world No. 1 ranking if he were to win the tournament. Nadal advanced to the final and defeated Soderling 6–4, 6–2, 6–4 to win the French Open. The win gave Nadal his seventh Grand Slam, tying him with John McEnroe, John Newcombe, and Mats Wilander on the all-time list, and allowed Nadal to reclaim the position of world No. 1, denying his biggest rival Roger Federer the all-time record for weeks at No. 1. By this win, Nadal became the first man to win the three Masters series on clay and the French Open. This was dubbed by the media as the "Clay Slam". This victory at Roland Garros marked the second time (2008) that Nadal had won the French Open without dropping a single set (tying the record held by Björn Borg). With the win in Paris he also booked his place at the World Tour Finals in London and became the first player to win five French Open titles in six years.

In June, Nadal entered the AEGON Championships, which he had won in 2008, at the prestigious Queen's Club. He played singles and doubles at this grass court tournament as a warmup for Wimbledon. Being one of the top eight seeds, he received a bye in the first round. In the second round, where he played his first match on grass since winning Wimbledon 2008, he defeated Marcos Daniel easily, 6–2, 6–2. In the third round, he played Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, whom he defeated 7–6, 4–6, 6–4, to advance to the quarterfinals. However, he was defeated by compatriot Feliciano López 6–7, 4–6.

At the Wimbledon, Nadal beat Kei Nishikori 6–2, 6–4, 6–4. Nadal was taken to the limit by Robin Haase winning 5–7, 6–2, 3–6, 6–0, 6–3. He defeated Philipp Petzschner in the third round. The match was a 5-set thriller, with Nadal triumphing 6–4, 4–6, 6–7, 6–2, 6–3. During his match with Petzschner, Nadal was warned twice for receiving coaching from his coach and uncle, Toni Nadal, resulting in a $2000 fine by Wimbledon officials. Allegedly, encouraging words for Nadal shouted during the match were some sort of coaching code signal. He met Paul-Henri Mathieu of France in the round of 16 and comfortably beat Mathieu 6–4, 6–2, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, he got past Robin Söderling of Sweden in four sets 3–6, 6–3, 7–6, 6–1. He defeated Andy Murray in straight sets 6–4, 7–6, 6–4 to reach his fourth Wimbledon final.

Nadal won the 2010 Wimbledon men's title by defeating Tomáš Berdych in straight sets 6–3, 7–5, 6–4. After the win, Nadal said "it is more than a dream for me" and thanked the crowd for being both kind and supportive to him and his adversary during the match and in the semifinal against Andy Murray. The win gave him a second Wimbledon title and an eighth career major title just past the age of 24. The win also gave Nadal his first "Old World Triple"; the last person to achieve this was Björn Borg in 1978 ("Old World Triple" is a term given to winning the Italian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon in the same year).

In his first hard-court tournament since Wimbledon, Nadal advanced to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup, along with No. 2 Novak Djokovic, No. 3 Roger Federer, and No. 4 Andy Murray, after coming back from a one-set deficit to defeat Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4. In the semifinal, defending champion Murray defeated Nadal 6–3, 6–4, becoming the only player to triumph over the Spaniard twice in 2010. Nadal also competed in the doubles with Djokovic in a one-time, high-profile partnership of the world No. 1 and No. 2, the first such team since the Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe team in 1976. However, Nadal and Djokovic lost in the first round to Canadians Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil. The next week, Nadal was the top seed at the Cincinnati Masters, losing in the quarterfinals to 2006 Australian Open finalist Marcos Baghdatis.

At the 2010 US Open, Nadal was the top seed for the second time in three years. He defeated Teymuraz Gabashvili, Denis Istomin, Gilles Simon, number 23 seed Feliciano López, number 8 seed Fernando Verdasco, and number 12 seed Mikhail Youzhny all without dropping a set, to reach his first US Open final, becoming only the eighth man in the Open Era to reach the final of all four majors, and at age 24 the second youngest ever to do so, behind only Jim Courier. In the final, he defeated Novak Djokovic 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2 which completed the Career Grand Slam for Nadal and he became the second male after Andre Agassi to complete a Career Golden Slam. Nadal also became the first man to win grand slams on clay, grass, and hard court in the same year, and the first to win the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open in the same year since Rod Laver in 1969. Nadal and Mats Wilander are the only male players to win at least two Grand Slams each on clay, grass, and hardcourts in their careers. Nadal also became the first left-handed man to win the US Open since John McEnroe in 1984. Nadal's victory also clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking for 2010, making Nadal only the third player (after Ivan Lendl in 1989 and Roger Federer in 2009) to regain the year-end number one ranking after having lost it. Nadal began his Asian tour at the 2010 PTT Thailand Open in Bangkok where he reached the semifinals, losing to compatriot Guillermo García López. Nadal was able to regroup, and at the 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo (debut), he defeated Santiago Giraldo, Milos Raonic, and Dmitry Tursunov. In the semifinals against Viktor Troicki, Nadal saved two match points in the deciding set tiebreaker to win it 9–7 in the end. In the final, Nadal comfortably defeated Gaël Monfils 6–1, 7–5 for his seventh title of the season.

Nadal next played in the 2010 Shanghai Rolex Masters in Shanghai, where he was the top seed, but lost to world No. 12 Jürgen Melzer in the third round, snapping his record streak of 21 consecutive Masters quarterfinals. On the 5 November, Nadal announced that he was pulling out of the Paris Masters due to tendinitis in his left shoulder. On 21 November 2010, in London, Nadal won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for the first time.

At the 2010 ATP World Tour Finals in London, Nadal defeated Roddick 3–6, 7–6, 6–4 in the first match, Djokovic 7–5, 6–2 in the second match, and Berdych 7–6, 6–1 in the third match, to advance to the semifinals for the third time in his career. This is the first time that Nadal achieved three wins in the round-robin stage. In the semifinal, he defeated Murray 7–6, 3–6, 7–6 in a hard-fought match to reach his first final at the tournament. In only their second meeting of the year, Federer beat Nadal in the final by a score of 6–3, 3–6, 6–1. After the match, Nadal stated: "Roger is probably the more complete player of the world. I'm not going to say I lost that match because I was tired." This was a reference to his marathon victory over Murray on Saturday. "I tried my best this afternoon, but Roger was simply better than me."

Nadal ended the 2010 season having won three Slams and three Masters 1000 tournaments, and having regained the No. 1 ranking.

Next up for Nadal was a two-match exhibition against Federer for the Roger Federer Foundation. The first match took place in Zürich on 21 December 2010, and the second in Madrid the next day.

2011

Nadal started 2011, by participating in the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He defeated Tomáš Berdych, 6–4, 6–4, to reach his third final in the exhibition tournament. In the final, he won over his main rival Roger Federer, 7–6, 7–6.

At the Qatar ExxonMobil Open ATP 250 event in Doha, Qatar, Nadal barely struggled past his first three opponents, Karol Beck, 6–3, 6–0, Lukáš Lacko, 7–6, 0–6, 6–3, and Ernests Gulbis, 7–6, 6–3, citing fever as the primary reason for his poor performance. He fell in straight sets to a resurgent Nikolay Davydenko in the semifinals, 3–6, 2–6. He and countryman López won the doubles title by defeating the Italian duo Daniele Bracciali and Andreas Seppi, 6–3, 7–6.

In the first round of the Australian Open, Nadal defeated Marcos Daniel of Brazil 6–0, 5–0 ret. In the second round, he beat upcoming qualifier Ryan Sweeting of the United States 6–2, 6–1, 6–1. In the third round, he was tested by emerging player Bernard Tomic of Australia, who previously ousted Nadal's countryman Feliciano López, but Nadal was victorious 6–2, 7–5, 6–3. He went on to defeat Marin Čilić of Croatia 6–2, 6–4, 6–3, in the fourth round. He suffered an apparent hamstring injury against fellow Spaniard David Ferrer early in the pair's quarterfinal match and ultimately lost in straight sets 4–6, 2–6, 3–6, thus ending his effort to win four major tournaments in a row.

On 7 February 2011, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Nadal won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for the first time, ahead of footballer Lionel Messi, Sebastian Vettel, Spain's Andres Iniesta, Lakers basketball player Kobe Bryant, and Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao.

In March, Nadal helped Spain defeat Belgium in a 2011 Davis Cup World Group first-round tie on hard indoor courts in the Spiroudome in Charleroi, Belgium. Nadal defeated Ruben Bemelmans 6–2, 6–4, 6–2. After Spain's victory in three matches, Nadal played a second dead rubber against Olivier Rochus and won 6–4, 6–2.

At the 2011 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Nadal defeated upcoming qualifier Rik de Voest of South Africa 6–0, 6–2, in his first match. In the third round, he beat qualifier Ryan Sweeting, 6–3, 6–1. He then defeated Indian qualifier Somdev Devvarman, 7–5, 6–4, in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals, Nadal had a hard time against Croatian Ivo Karlovic, but won 5–7, 6–1, 7–6, and in the semifinals he met Argentine Juan Martin del Potro, back from a long injury. The last three confrontations between the players were in favor of del Potro, but despite some difficulties, Nadal won 6–4, 6–4. He reached his third final at Indian Wells, and in the final lost against Novak Djokovic, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6. The next day, Nadal and Djokovic played a friendly match in Bogota, Colombia, which Nadal won.

Nadal started the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open with a win over Japanese player Kei Nishikori, 6–4, 6–4, then met his compatriot Feliciano Lopez in the third round, whom he defeated 6–3, 6–3. In the fourth round, he defeated Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine, 6–1, 6–2. In the quarterfinals, Nadal had the first real test of the tournament when he met the world no. 7 Tomas Berdych. After a good first set, Nadal's level of play fell significantly due to an injured right shoulder, and he lost the second set. He eventually triumphed, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3. In the semifinals, Nadal met his main rival Roger Federer, their first meeting in a semifinal since the 2007 Masters Cup. Nadal was swiftly victorious, 6–3, 6–2; this match was one of the fastest matches played on hard courts. For the second time in two weeks, Nadal faced Novak Djokovic in the final. As in the Indian Wells tournament, Nadal won the first set, and Djokovic the second. The third set ended in a tiebreak, with Djokovic winning the match, 4–6, 6–3, 7–6. This is the first time Nadal reached the finals of Indian Wells and Miami in the same year.

Nadal began his clay-court season in style, winning the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters with the loss of just one set. Nadal defeated Jarkko Nieminen, 6–2, 6–2, Richard Gasquet, 6–2, 6–4, Ivan Ljubičić, 6–1, 6–3, and Andy Murray, 6–4, 2–6, 6–1, in the semifinals to reach his seventh consecutive final in Monte Carlo. In the final, Nadal avenged his defeat by David Ferrer in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Australian Open and won the match, 6–4, 7–5. He was the first man to win the same tournament seven times in a row at the ATP level in the open era. Nadal chalked up his 37th straight win at the clay-court event, where he has not lost since the 2003 Monte Carlo Masters. It was his 44th career title and 19th at a Masters event. It was his first title since winning the Japan Open. Nadal shares third place with Björn Borg and Manuel Orantes in the list of players with the most titles on clay.

Just a week later, Nadal won his sixth Barcelona Open crown, winning the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell final in straight sets. He won the final over Ferrer, 6–2, 6–4. In doing so, Nadal became the first man in the open era to have won two tournaments at least six times each. Nadal was then the leader in terms of matches won in the year, with 29. He did not gain any points for this victory, however, as only four ATP 500 tournaments can be counted towards a players ranking at one time, but they will go into effect 8 August 2011, when the result of the 2010 Legg Mason Tennis Classic expires.

At the Madrid in May, he defeated Marcos Baghdatis, had a walkover against Juan Martin del Potro, and defeated Michael Llodra and Roger Federer, before losing the final to Novak Djokovic, 5–7, 4–6.

Nadal lost in straight sets to Novak Djokovic in the Rome Masters final, 4–6, 4–6. This marked the first time that Nadal has lost twice on clay to the same player in a single season. However, Nadal retained his no. 1 ranking during the clay-court season and won his sixth French Open title by defeating Roger Federer, 7–5, 7–6, 5–7, 6–1.

At Wimbledon, Nadal beat Michael Russell in the first round, 6–4, 6–2, 6–2, Ryan Sweeting, 6–3, 6–2, 6–4, in the second round, and Gilles Muller, 7–6, 7–6, 6–0, in the third round. He then faced former US Open Champion Juan Martin del Potro in the fourth round, prevailing 7–6, 3–6, 7–6, 6–4. He then faced tenth-seeded Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals, prevailing in four sets, 6–3, 6–3, 5–7, 6–4. His semifinal opponent was world no. 4 Andy Murray. Murray took the first set, but Nadal upped his game and won in four sets, 5–7, 6–2, 6–2, 6–4. This set up a final against world no. 2 Novak Djokovic, who had beaten Nadal in all four of their matches in 2011 (all in Masters finals). Djokovic broke in the 10th game of the first set to take it 6–4; he then won the second comfortably 6–1, but Nadal fought back, breaking early in the third to win it 6–1. In a tense fourth set, Djokovic broke in the ninth game and clinched the title, with Nadal losing 4–6, 1–6, 6–1, 3–6. This was the first Grand Slam final that Nadal had lost to someone other than Roger Federer and his first loss at Wimbledon since his five-set loss to Federer in the 2007 final. The loss ended Nadal's winning streak in Grand Slam finals at seven, preventing him from tying the all-time record of eight victories in a row set by Pete Sampras. Djokovic's success at the tournament also meant that the Serb ascended to world no. 1 for the first time, breaking the dominance of Federer and Nadal on the position, which one of them had held for every week since 2 February 2004. Nadal fell to world no. 2 in the rankings for the first time since June 2010.

After resting for a month from a foot injury sustained during Wimbledon, he contested the 2011 Rogers Cup, where he was shocked by Croatian Ivan Dodig in a third-set tiebreak. He next played in the 2011 Cincinnati Masters, where he lost to Mardy Fish in the quarterfinals.

At the 2011 US Open, Nadal defeated Andrey Golubev in straight sets and advanced to the third round after Frenchman Nicholas Mahut retired. After defeating David Nalbandian on September 4, Nadal collapsed in his post-match press conference due to severe cramps. Nadal lost to Novak Djokovic in the final in four sets 2–6, 4–6, 7–6, 1–6.

After the US Open, Nadal made the final of the Japan Open Tennis Championships. Nadal, who was the 2010 champion, was defeated by Andy Murray, 6–3, 2–6, 0–6. At the Shanghai Masters, Nadal was top seed with the absence of Novak Djokovic, but was upset in the third round by no. 23 ranked Florian Mayer in straight sets, 6–7, 3–6. At the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals, Nadal was defeated by Roger Federer in the round-robin stage, 3–6, 0–6 in one of the quickest matches between the two, lasting just 60 minutes. In the following match, Nadal was defeated by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6–7, 6–4, 3–6, and was eliminated from the tournament.

In the Davis Cup final in December, Nadal had a quick straight-set win over Juan Monaco in his first match. In his second match against Juan Martin del Potro Nadal did not win a single service game in the first set but came back to win the match 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-6(0).

Nadal ended his tennis season with the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, an exhibition tournament not affiliated with the ATP. The tournament, normally held in early January, was held from December 29 to December 31, 2011. Nadal had a bye into the semifinals and played against David Ferrer, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals., Ferrer ended the match to easy win with a 6–3, 6–2. Nadal was then relegated to the third place match against Roger Federer. Nadal dominated the first set, and Federer made an attempt to claim the second set but failed, winning the match with a score of 6–1, 7–5.

2012

Rivalries

Federer vs. Nadal

Federer and Nadal have been playing each other since 2004, and their rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers.

They held the top two rankings on the ATP Tour from July 2005 until 14 September 2009, when Nadal fell to World No. 3 (Andy Murray became the new No. 2). They are the only pair of men to have ever finished four consecutive calendar years at the top. Federer was ranked number 1 for a record 237 consecutive weeks beginning in February 2004. Nadal, who is five years younger, ascended to No. 2 in July 2005 and held this spot for a record 160 consecutive weeks before surpassing Federer in August 2008.

Nadal leads their head-to-head 18–9. However, most of their matches have been on clay, which is statistically Nadal's best surface and statistically Federer's worst surface. Federer has a winning record on grass (2–1) and indoor hard courts (4–0) while Nadal leads the outdoor hard courts by 5–1 and clay by 12–2. Because tournament seedings are based on rankings, 19 of their matches have been in tournament finals, including an all-time record 8 Grand Slam finals. From 2006 to 2008 they played in every French Open and Wimbledon final, and then they met in the 2009 Australian Open final and the 2011 French Open final. Nadal won six of the eight, losing the first two Wimbledons. Three of these matches were five set-matches (2007 and 2008 Wimbledon, 2009 Australian Open), and the 2008 Wimbledon final has been lauded as the greatest match ever by many long-time tennis analysts. They have also played in a record 9 Masters Series finals, including their lone five hour match at the 2006 Rome Masters which Nadal won in a fifth-set tie-break having saved two match points.

Until 14 September 2009, when Juan Martín del Potro beat Nadal in the US Open semifinal on his way to defeating Federer in the final itself, no player had beaten both Nadal and Federer in the same Grand Slam. Federer was undefeated in US Open finals until losing in five sets to del Potro (5). Both Federer and Nadal have won Grand Slam events on three different surfaces successively (2008 French Open, 2008 Wimbledon, 2009 Australian Open for Nadal and 2008 US Open, 2009 French Open, 2009 Wimbledon for Federer). This rivalry is also part of the "Trivalry" between Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic.

Djokovic vs. Nadal

Djokovic and Nadal have met 30 times (which is the sixth-most head-to-head meetings in the Open Era) with Nadal having a 16–14 advantage. Nadal leads on grass 2–1 and clay 9–2, but Djokovic leads on hard courts 11–5. This rivalry is listed as the third greatest rivalry in the last decade by ATPworldtour.com and is considered by many to be the emerging rivalry. Djokovic is the only player to have at least ten match wins against Nadal and the only person to defeat Nadal six times consecutively and consecutively on clay. The two share the record for the longest match played in a best of three sets (4 hours and 3 minutes), at the 2009 Mutua Madrid Open semi-finals. In the 2011 Wimbledon final, Djokovic won in four sets 6–4, 6–1, 1–6, 6–3, which was his first victory over Nadal in a Major on his sixth attempt. By doing so, he became the only person other than Federer to defeat Nadal in a Grand Slam tournament final. This rivalry is part of the "Trivalry" (a term coined by American sportscaster Mary Carillo), which includes the rivalries among the top three in tennis (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic). In their most recent encounter, Djokovic defeated Nadal in the 2011 US Open Final 6–2, 6–4, 6–7, 6–1 to capture his third major title of the year and fourth overall. By beating Nadal, Djokovic became the second player to defeat Nadal in more than one Grand Slam final (the other being Federer), and the only player to beat Nadal in a Slam final on a surface other than grass which has been achieved before in the open era by other all surface specialists facing similar competitors like McEnroe, Borg, Connors and Lendl.

Major Titles

Grand Slam performance timeline

''To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2012 Australian Open.

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;font-size:97% !Tournament!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!2008!!2009!!2010!!2011!!2012!!SR!!W–L!!Win % |- |colspan=15 align=left|'''Grand Slam Tournaments |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|Australian Open |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |A |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=thistle|F |bgcolor=#efefef|1 / 8 |bgcolor=#efefef|35–7 |bgcolor=#efefef|83.33 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|French Open |A |A |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=lime|'''W | |bgcolor=#efefef|6 / 7 |bgcolor=#efefef|45–1 |bgcolor=#efefef|97.83 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|Wimbledon |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |A |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=thistle|F |bgcolor=thistle|F |bgcolor=lime|'''W |A |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=thistle|F | |bgcolor=#efefef|2 / 7 |bgcolor=#efefef|35–5 |bgcolor=#efefef|87.50 |- |bgcolor=#efefef align=left|US Open |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#afeeee|2R |bgcolor=#afeeee|3R |bgcolor=#ffebcd|QF |bgcolor=#afeeee|4R |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=yellow|SF |bgcolor=lime|'''W |bgcolor=thistle|F | |bgcolor=#efefef|1 / 9 |bgcolor=#efefef|34–8 |bgcolor=#efefef|80.95 |- !style=text-align:left|Win–Loss !3–2 !3–2 !13–3 !17–2 !20–3 !24–2 !15–2 !25–1 !23–3 !6–1 !10 / 31 !149–21 !87.65 |}

Grand Slam Finals

Singles: 15 (10 titles, 5 runner-ups)

{|class="sortable wikitable" !width=100|Outcome !width=50|Year !width=200|Championship !width=75|Surface !width=200|Opponent in the final !width=200|Score in the final |-bgcolor=#ebc2af |bgcolor=#98fb98|Winner||2005||French Open||Clay|| Mariano Puerta||6–7^(6–8), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5 |-bgcolor=#ebc2af |bgcolor=#98fb98|Winner||2006||French Open (2)||Clay|| Roger Federer||1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(7–4) |-bgcolor=#ccffcc |bgcolor=#ffa07a|Runner-up||2006||Wimbledon||Grass|| Roger Federer||0–6, 6–7^(5–7), 7–6^(7–2), 3–6 |-bgcolor=#ebc2af |bgcolor=#98fb98|Winner||2007||French Open (3)||Clay|| Roger Federer||6–3, 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 |-bgcolor=#ccffcc |bgcolor=#ffa07a|Runner-up||2007||Wimbledon (2)||Grass|| Roger Federer||6–7^(7–9), 6–4, 6–7^(3–7), 6–2, 2–6 |-bgcolor=#ebc2af |bgcolor=#98fb98|Winner||2008||French Open (4)||Clay|| Roger Federer||6–1, 6–3, 6–0 |-bgcolor=#ccffcc |bgcolor=#98fb98|Winner||2008||Wimbledon||Grass|| Roger Federer||6–4, 6–4, 6–7^(5–7), 6–7^(8–10), 9–7 |-bgcolor=#ffffcc |bgcolor=#98fb98|Winner||2009||Australian Open||Hard|| Roger Federer||7–5, 3–6, 7–6^(7–3), 3–6, 6–2 |-bgcolor=#ebc2af |bgcolor=#98fb98|Winner||2010||French Open (5)||Clay|| Robin Söderling||6–4, 6–2, 6–4 |-bgcolor=#ccffcc |bgcolor=#98fb98|Winner||2010||Wimbledon (2)||Grass|| Tomáš Berdych||6–3, 7–5, 6–4 |-bgcolor=#ccccff |bgcolor=#98fb98|Winner||2010||US Open||Hard|| Novak Djokovic||6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2 |-bgcolor=#ebc2af |bgcolor=#98fb98|Winner||2011||French Open (6)||Clay|| Roger Federer||7–5, 7–6^(7–3), 5–7, 6–1 |-bgcolor=#ccffcc |bgcolor=#ffa07a|Runner-up||2011||Wimbledon (3)||Grass|| Novak Djokovic||4–6, 1–6, 6–1, 3–6 |-bgcolor=#ccccff |bgcolor=#ffa07a|Runner-up||2011||US Open||Hard|| Novak Djokovic||2–6, 4–6, 7–6^(7–3), 1–6 |-bgcolor=#ffffcc |bgcolor=#ffa07a|Runner-up||2012||Australian Open||Hard|| Novak Djokovic||7-5, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6^(7-5), 5-7 |}

Year-End Championships

{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;font-size:97% |- !Tournament!!2002!!2003!!2004!!2005!!2006!!2007!!2008!!2009!!2010!!2011!!2012!!SR!!W–L!!Win % |- | colspan="18" style="text-align:left;"|'''Year-End Championship Tournaments |- | style="background:#efefef; text-align:left;"|YEC |A |A |A |A | style="background:yellow;"|SF | style="background:yellow;"|SF |A | style="background:#afeeee;"|RR | style="background:thistle;"|F | style="background:#afeeee;"|RR | !0 / 5 !9–10 !47.37 |}

Singles: 1 Runner-up

{|class="sortable wikitable" |- !width=100|Outcome !width=50|Year !width=200|Championship !width=75|Surface !width=200|Opponent in the final !width=200|Score in the final |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Runner-up||2010||2010 ATP World Tour Finals||Hard|| Roger Federer||3–6, 6–3, 1–6 |}

Olympic finals

Singles: 1 (1 title)

{|class="sortable wikitable" |- !width=100|Outcome !width=50|Year !width=200|Championship !width=75|Surface !width=200|Opponent in the final !width=200|Score in the final |- style="background:gold;" | style="background:#98fb98;"|Winner||2008||Beijing Olympics||Hard|| Fernando González||6–3, 7–6^(7–2), 6–3 |}

Career statistics

Records

All time tournament records

align=center>1877 align=center>1897 align=center align=center align=center

Tournament	Since	Record accomplished	Player tied
List of non-Grand Slam tennis statistics and records#Most titles at a particular tournament	All	|	Most consecutive titles at any single tournament (7)	Richard Sears (tennis)>Sears<	Pancho Gonzales
[[Monte Carlo Masters#Men's Singles	Monte Carlo Masters	|	Most men's singles titles (7)	Stands alone
List of French Open Men's Singles champions#French Championships	French Open	1925 ||	Most men's singles titles (6)	Björn Borg
Rome Masters#Men's singles finals	Rome Masters	1930 ||	Most men's singles titles (5)	Stands alone
Torneo Godó#Singles	Barcelona Open	1953 ||	Most men's singles titles (6)	Stands alone

ITF Grand Slam tournament records

These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis (since 1968).

Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.

{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |- style="background:#efefef;" !width=345|'''ITF Grand Slam tournaments !style="width:105px; text-align:center;"|'''Year(s) !width=400|Record accomplished'' !width=200|'''Player tied |- |Australian OpenFrench OpenWimbledonUS OpenOlympics||align=center|20092005200820102008||Career Golden Slam||Andre Agassi |- |Australian OpenFrench OpenWimbledonUS Open||align=center|2009200520082010||Career Grand Slam||Rod Laver Andre Agassi Roger Federer |- |Australian Open – French Open – Wimbledon – US Open||align=center|2005–2010||At least two Majors on grass, clay, and hard courts||Mats Wilander |- |Australian Open – French Open – Wimbledon – US Open||align=center|2005–2010||Youngest to win all four Grand Slams (24)||Stands alone |- |French Open – US Open||align=center|2010||Winner of Majors on clay, grass, and hard court in calendar year||Stands alone |- |French Open – US Open||align=center|2010||Winner of three consecutive Majors in calendar year||Rod Laver |- |French Open – US Open||align=center|2010||Simultaneous holder of Majors on clay, grass, and hard court||Roger Federer |- |Olympics – US Open||align=center|2010||Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and Majors on clay, grass, and hard court||Stands alone |- |Olympics – Wimbledon||align=center|2010||Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and Wimbledon||Stands alone |- |Olympics – French Open||align=center|2010||Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and three Majors||Andre Agassi |- |Olympics – US Open||align=center|2010||Simultaneous holder of Olympic singles gold medal and clay & hard court Majors||Andre Agassi |- |French Open||align=center|2005–2011||6 titles in 7 years||Stands alone |- |French Open||align=center|2005–2011||6 titles||Björn Borg |- |French Open||align=center|2005–2009||31 consecutive match wins||Stands alone |- |French Open—Wimbledon||align=center|2008, 2010||Accomplished a "Channel Slam": Winning both tournaments in the same year||Rod Laver Björn Borg Roger Federer |- |French Open||align=center|2005–2008||4 consecutive wins||Björn Borg |- |French Open||align=center|2005–2008||4 consecutive finals||Björn Borg Ivan Lendl Roger Federer |- |French Open||align=center|2008, 2010||Most French Open championships without losing a set (2)||Björn Borg |- |French Open||align=center|2005||Won title on the first attempt||Mats Wilander |- |French Open||align=center|2005–2008, 2010–2011||6 finals overall||Björn Borg |- |Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open||align=center|2005–2010||Finalist in all the 4 majors||Rod Laver Ken Rosewall Ivan Lendl Stefan Edberg Jim Courier Andre Agassi Roger Federer |}

ATP Masters records

ATP Masters was introduced in 1990.

{|class="wikitable collapsible collapsed" |- style="background:#efefef;" !width=345|'''ATP Masters Series !style="width:105px; text-align:center;"|'''Year(s) !width=400|'''Record accomplished !width=200|'''Player tied |- |Monte Carlo Masters—Madrid Masters||align=center|2005–2011||Most Masters singles titles (19)||'''Stands alone |- |Madrid Masters||align=center|2009||Longest best-of-three sets men's singles match ever played (4 hours, 3 minutes)||Novak Djokovic |- |Monte Carlo Masters—Roland Garros||align=center|2010||1 Clay Slam: 3 Masters series on clay and Roland Garros||'''Stands alone |- |Monte Carlo Masters||align=center|2005–2011||7 consecutive titles||'''Stands alone |- |Rome Masters||align=center|2005–2010||5 titles in 6 years||'''Stands alone |- |ATP Masters||align=center|2008–2010||21 consecutive quarter-finals||'''Stands alone |- |ATP Masters||align=center|2008||Consecutive tournaments won on 3 different surfaces||Roger Federer (2004) |- |ATP Masters||align=center|2005–2011||Most consecutive years winning at least 1 Masters title – 7||'''Stands alone |- |Monte Carlo Masters—Rome Masters||align=center|2005–20072009–2010||Most years winning both titles – 5||'''Stands alone |- |ATP Masters||align=center|2007–2010||Consecutive years winning at least 3 Masters titles – 4||'''Stands alone |- |ATP Masters||align=center|2005–2011||Winning percentage above 80% ||'''Stands alone |- |Monte Carlo Masters—Rome Masters—Madrid Masters||align=center|2010||Winning 3 consecutive Masters titles||Novak Djokovic (2011) |- |Monte Carlo Masters||align=center|2008||Winner of the singles and doubles tournament at the same tournament and the same year ||Jim Courier (Indian Wells 1991) |- |ATP Masters||align=center|2011||Most consecutive finals reached – 5||'''Stands alone |}

Other selected records

'''Year(s)	Record accomplished	Player tied
align=center	2005–2007	81 consecutive clay court match victories
align=center	2002–2011	92.77% (231–18) career clay court match winning percentage

Playing style

Nadal generally plays an aggressive, behind-the-baseline game founded on heavy topspin groundstrokes, consistency, speedy footwork and tenacious court coverage thus making him an aggressive counterpuncher. Known for his athleticism and speed around the court, Nadal is an excellent defender who hits well on the run, constructing winning plays from seemingly defensive positions. He also plays very fine dropshots, which work especially well because his heavy topspin often forces opponents to the back of the court. Nadal is primarily a baseliner, although he has been noted by several commentators (including John McEnroe) as an excellent volleyer, which has contributed to his reaching four Wimbledon finals on grass, winning two of them, and has been observed approaching the net more often since 2009.

In recent years, Nadal employs a full western grip forehand, often with a "lasso-whip" follow through, where his left arm hits through the ball and finishes above his left shoulder – as opposed to a more traditional finish across the body or around his opposite shoulder. Nadal's forehand groundstroke form allows him to hit shots with heavy topspin – more so than many of his contemporaries. San Francisco tennis researcher John Yandell used a high-speed video camera and special software to count the average number of revolutions of a tennis ball hit full force by Nadal. "The first guys we did were Sampras and Agassi. They were hitting forehands that in general were spinning about 1,800 to 1,900 revolutions per minute. Federer is hitting with an amazing amount of spin, too, right? 2,700 revolutions per minute. Well, we measured one forehand Nadal hit at 4,900. His average was 3,200." While Nadal's shots tend to land short of the baseline, the characteristically high bounces his forehands achieve tend to mitigate the advantage an opponent would normally gain from capitalizing on a short ball. Although his forehand is based on heavy topspin, he can hit the ball deep and flat with a more orthodox follow through for clean winners.

Nadal's serve was initially considered a weak point in his game, although his improvements in both first serve points won and break points saved since 2005, have allowed him to consistently compete for and win major titles on faster surfaces. Nadal relies on the consistency of his serve to gain a strategic advantage in points, rather than going for service winners. However, before the 2010 season, he altered his service motion, arriving in the trophy pose earlier and pulling the racket lower during the trophy pose. Before the 2010 U.S. Open, Nadal modified his service grip to a more continental one. These two changes in his serve have increased its average speed by around 10 mph, maxing out at 135 mph (217 km), allowing him to win more free points on his serve.

Nadal's mental resilience and strategic approach to the game are other noted strengths. Nadal is able to avoid discouragement regardless of match score, allowing him to singularly focus on winning the current point and gaining an advantage. As a strategic player, Nadal can assess outside variables such as court surface, weather conditions, and his opponent's tactics in order to adjust his own play to best adapt to present conditions.

Nadal is a clay court specialist in the sense that he has been extremely successful on that surface. Since 2005, he won six times at Roland Garros, seven times at Monte Carlo and five at Rome. However, Nadal has shed that label due to his success on other surfaces, including holding Grand Slams simultaneously on grass, hard courts, and clay on two separate occasions, winning five Masters series titles on hardcourt, and winning the Olympic gold medal on hardcourt. Despite praise for Nadal's talent and skill, some have questioned his longevity in the sport, citing his build and playing style as conducive to injury. Nadal himself has admitted to the physical toll hard courts place on ATP Tour players, calling for a reevaluated tour schedule featuring fewer hard court tournaments.

Public image

Equipment and endorsements

Nadal has appeared in advertising campaigns for Kia Motors as a global ambassador for the company. In May 2008, Kia released a claymation viral ad featuring Nadal in a tennis match with an alien. Nadal also has an endorsement agreement with Universal DVDs.

Nike serves as Nadal's clothing and shoe sponsor. Nadal's signature on-court attire entailed a variety of sleeveless shirts paired with 3/4 length capri pants. For the 2009 season, Nadal adopted more-traditional on-court apparel. Nike encouraged Nadal to update his look in order to reflect his new status as the sport's top player at that time and associate Nadal with a style that, while less distinctive than his "pirate" look, would be more widely emulated by consumers. At warmup tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Doha, Nadal played matches in a polo shirt specifically designed for him by Nike, paired with shorts cut above the knee. Nadal's new, more conventional style carried over to the 2009 Australian Open, where he was outfitted with Nike's Bold Crew Men's Tee and Nadal Long Check Shorts. Nadal wears Nike's Air CourtBallistec 2.3 tennis shoes, bearing various customizations throughout the season, including his nickname "Rafa" on the right shoe and a stylized bull logo on the left.

Becomes the face of Lanvin's ''L'Homme Sport'' cologne, launched April 2009.

Nadal uses an AeroPro Drive racquet with a 4-inch L2 grip. , Nadal's racquets are painted to resemble the new Babolat AeroPro Drive with Cortex GT racquet in order to market a current model which Babolat sells. Nadal uses no replacement grip, and instead wraps two overgrips around the handle. He used Duralast 15L strings until the 2010 season, when he switched to Babolat's new, black-colored, RPM Blast string. Nadal's rackets are always strung at , regardless of which surface or conditions he is playing on.

, Nadal is the international ambassador for Quely, a company from his native Majorca that manufactures biscuits, bakery and chocolate coated products; he has consumed their products ever since he was a young child.

In 2010, luxury watchmaker Richard Mille announced that he had developed an ultra-light wristwatch in collaboration with Nadal called the Richard Mille RM027 Tourbillon watch. The watch is made of titanium and lithium and is valued at US$525,000; Nadal was involved in the design and testing of the watch on the tennis court. During the 2010 French Open, Men's Fitness reported that Nadal wore the Richard Mille watch on the court as part of a sponsorship deal with the Swiss watchmaker.

Nadal replaces Cristiano Ronaldo as the new face of Emporio Armani Underwear and Armani Jeans for the spring/summer 2011 collection that will launch in February. This is the first time that the label has chosen a tennis player for the job; association football has ruled lately prior to Ronaldo, David Beckham graced the ads since 2008. Armani said that he selected Nadal as his latest male underwear model because "...he is ideal as he represents a healthy and positive model for youngsters."

In popular culture

In February 2010, Rafael Nadal was featured in the music video of "Gypsy", the forthcoming single from Shakira and part of her album release ''She Wolf''. In explaining why she chose Nadal for the video, Shakira was quoted as saying in an interview with the ''Latin American Herald Tribune'': "I thought that maybe I needed someone I could in some way identify with. And Rafael Nadal is a person who has been totally committed to his career since he was very young. Since he was 17, I believe." She added about "Gypsy": "I've been on the road since I was very, very young, so that's where the gypsy metaphor comes from."

Misc

128036 Rafaelnadal is a Main belt asteroid discovered in 2003 at the Observatorio Astronómico de Mallorca, Spain and named after Rafael Nadal.

Off the court

Involvement in football

Nadal has recently become seriously involved in Spanish football. He is an avid fan of soccer club Real Madrid. On 8 July 2010, it was reported that he has become a shareholder of RCD Mallorca, his local club by birth, in an attempt to assist the club from debt. Rafa reportedly owns 10 percent and was offered the role of vice president, but he rejected that offer. His uncle Miguel Ángel Nadal, became assistant coach under Michael Laudrup. Nadal remains a passionate Real Madrid supporter; ''ESPN.com'' writer Graham Hunter wrote, "He's as ''Merengue'' as [Real Madrid icons] Raúl, Iker Casillas and Alfredo Di Stéfano." Shortly after acquiring his interest in Mallorca, he called out UEFA for apparent hypocrisy in ejecting the club from the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League for excessive debts, saying through a club spokesperson, "Well, if those are the criteria upon which UEFA is operating, then European competition will only comprise two or three clubs because all the rest are in debt, too."

He is a fervent supporter of the Spanish national team, one of only six people not affiliated with the team or the national federation allowed into the team's locker room immediately following Spain's victory in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final.

Philanthropy

Rafael Nadal took part in Thailand's 'A Million Trees For The King' project, planting a tree in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej on a visit to Hua Hin during his Thailand Open 2010. "For me it's an honour to part of this project," said Nadal. "It's a very good project. I want to congratulate the Thai people and congratulate the King for this unbelievable day. I wish all the best for this idea. It's very, very nice."

Fundación Rafa Nadal

The creation of the Fundación Rafa Nadal took place in November 2007, and its official presentation was in February 2008, at the Manacor Tennis Club in Mallorca, Spain. The foundation will focus on social work and development aid particularly on childhood and youth. On deciding why to start a foundation, Nadal said "This can be the beginning of my future, when I retire and have more time, [...] I am doing very well and I owe society, [...] A month-and-a-half ago I was in Chennai, in India. The truth is we live great here....I can contribute something with my image..." Nadal was inspired by the Red Cross benefit match against malaria with Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas, recalling, "We raised an amount of money that we would never have imagined. I have to thank Iker, my project partner, who went all out for it, [...] That is why the time has come to set up my own foundation and determine the destination of the money." Ana Maria Parera, Rafa's mom, chairs the organization and father Sebastian is vice-chairman. Coach and uncle Toni Nadal and his agent, former tennis player Carlos Costa, are also involved. Roger Federer has been giving Nadal advice on getting involved in philanthropy. Despite the fact that poverty in India struck him particularly hard, Nadal wants to start by helping "people close by, in the Balearic Islands, in Spain, and then, if possible, abroad."

On 16 October 2010, Nadal traveled to India for the first time to assist in the transformation of one of the poorest and most needy areas of India, Andhra Pradesh. He has an academy in the south of the country, in the state of Andhra Pradesh. His foundation has also worked in the Anantapur Educational Center project, in collaboration with the Vicente Ferrer Foundation.

Personal life

Nadal owns an Aston Martin DBS. He lived with his parents and younger sister Maria Isabel in a five-story apartment building in their hometown of Manacor, Mallorca. In June 2009, Spanish newspaper ''La Vanguardia'', and then ''The New York Times'', reported that his parents, Ana Maria and Sebastian, had separated. This news came after weeks of speculation in Internet posts and message boards over Nadal's personal issues as the cause of his setback. He has revealed himself to be Agnostic. When a young boy, he would run home from school to watch Goku in his favorite Japanese anime, Dragon Ball. ''CNN'' released an article about Nadal's childhood inspiration, and called him "the Dragon Ball of tennis" due to his unorthodox style "from another planet."

Nadal's autobiography, ''Rafa'', written with assistance from John Carlin, was published in August 2011.

See also

ATP World Tour records

List of ATP number 1 ranked players

List of Grand Slam men's singles champions

List of non-Grand Slam tennis statistics and records

128036 Rafaelnadal asteroid

List of open era tennis records

ATP Awards

References

External links

Zen and the Art of Rafael Nadal

{{navboxes|title=Rafael Nadal in the Grand Slam Tournaments |list1= }} {{navboxes|title=Rafael Nadal Achievements |list1= }}

Category:1986 births Category:Australian Open (tennis) champions Category:French Open champions Category:Laureus World Sports Awards winners Category:Living people Category:Olympic gold medalists for Spain Category:Olympic medalists in tennis Category:Olympic tennis players of Spain Category:People from Manacor Category:Spanish agnostics Category:Spanish football chairmen and investors Category:Spanish male tennis players Category:Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Category:Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Category:United States Open champions (tennis) Category:Wimbledon champions Category:World No. 1 tennis players

af:Rafael Nadal ar:رافاييل نادال ast:Rafael Nadal az:Rafael Nadal bn:রাফায়েল নাদাল zh-min-nan:Rafael Nadal be:Рафаэль Надаль be-x-old:Рафаэль Надаль bg:Рафаел Надал bs:Rafael Nadal br:Rafael Nadal ca:Rafael Nadal Parera cv:Рафаэль Надаль cs:Rafael Nadal cy:Rafael Nadal da:Rafael Nadal de:Rafael Nadal et:Rafael Nadal el:Ραφαέλ Ναδάλ es:Rafael Nadal eo:Rafael Nadal eu:Rafael Nadal fa:رافائل نادال fr:Rafael Nadal ga:Rafael Nadal gv:Rafael Nadal gl:Rafael Nadal gu:રફેલ નડાલ ko:라파엘 나달 hi:रफ़ाएल नडाल hr:Rafael Nadal io:Rafael Nadal id:Rafael Nadal it:Rafael Nadal he:רפאל נדאל ka:რაფაელ ნადალი lv:Rafaels Nadals lt:Rafael Nadal hu:Rafael Nadal mk:Рафаел Надал mg:Rafael Nadal ml:റാഫേൽ നദാൽ mr:रफायेल नदाल arz:رافاييل نادال ms:Rafael Nadal mn:Рафаэл Надал my:ရာဖယ် နာဒယ် nl:Rafael Nadal ja:ラファエル・ナダル no:Rafael Nadal oc:Rafael Nadal nds:Rafael Nadal pl:Rafael Nadal pt:Rafael Nadal ro:Rafael Nadal rm:Rafael Nadal ru:Надаль, Рафаэль sq:Rafael Nadal scn:Rafael Nadal simple:Rafael Nadal sk:Rafael Nadal sl:Rafael Nadal sr:Рафаел Надал sh:Rafael Nadal fi:Rafael Nadal sv:Rafael Nadal tl:Rafael Nadal ta:ரஃபயெல் நதால் te:రాఫెల్ నాదల్ th:ราฟาเอล นาดาล tr:Rafael Nadal uk:Рафаель Надаль ur:رافیل نڈال vi:Rafael Nadal yo:Rafael Nadal zh:拉斐爾·拿度

Angela Gheorghiu (; born Angela Burlacu September 7, 1965) is a Romanian soprano opera singer. Since her professional debut in 1990, she has sung as soprano leading roles at New York's Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden's Royal Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, Milan's La Scala, and many other opera houses in Europe and the United States. She has a substantial discography primarily with EMI Classics and Decca.

Biography

Gheorghiu was born in 1965 in Adjud, Romania. Along with her sister Elena Dan, she sang opera music from an early age. At age 14, Gheorghiu began to study singing at the National University of Music Bucharest, primarily under Mia Barbu. Her graduation in 1990 coincided with the overthrow and execution of Nicolae Ceaușescu the previous year, enabling her to seek an international career immediately. Her professional opera debut took place at the Cluj-Napoca Romanian National Opera as Mimì in ''La bohème'' in 1990, the same year she won the Belvedere International Competition.

Gheorghiu made her international debut in 1992 at the Royal Opera House as Zerlina in ''Don Giovanni''. She debuted at the Vienna State Opera as Adina in ''L'elisir d'amore'' and at the Metropolitan Opera as Mimì in ''La bohème''. In 1994, she was auditioned by the conductor Sir Georg Solti for a new production of ''La traviata'' at the Royal Opera House. Her debut as Violetta led her to international stardom.

Gheorghiu has concentrated her repertoire on several different roles: Violetta, Mimì, Magda, Adina, and Juliette. In 2003, she debuted as Nedda in ''Pagliacci'' and as Marguerite in ''Faust''. A soprano with a large range and a dark coloured voice, Gheorghiu is also able to sing ''spinto'' roles. She has recorded ''Tosca'' (also made into a film directed by the French Benoît Jacquot) and Leonora in ''Il trovatore'' for EMI and sang in her first Tosca at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in 2006. Her performance was an overall success, although because the famous Zeffirelli production of 1964 was replaced by a new production (which premiered with her), there was comparison between the Toscas of Gheorghiu and Maria Callas, for whom the Zeffirelli production was designed.

Angela Gheorghiu took part in many concerts, singing alone or together with her colleagues. Among the most important ones, the reopening of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden (1999) and Teatro Malibran in Venice (2001) and at the opening the new Opera House in Valencia, in the presence of the Queen Sofia of Spain (2005). She sang at the "Prom at the Palace" (2002), the event that marked the Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, a concert that is available on DVD. She also sung at the Queen Beatrix's Jubilee Gala in Amsterdam (2005), at the New Year's Eve Concert at Palais Garnier in Paris (2006), at the "Met Summer Concert" in Prospect Park, New York (2008) or at the Memorial Concert for Luciano Pavarotti in Petra (2008). In 2009 Gheorghiu was invited to honor Grace Bumbry during the 32nd Annual Kennedy Center Honors, in Washington DC. She performed Vissi d'Arte from Puccini's Tosca in the presence of Barack Obama, the President of the United States.

In December 2000 Angela Gheorghiu performed the title role in Tosca, the movie directed by Benoit Jacquot, together with Roberto Alagna and Ruggero Raimondi. The film was released in theatres around the world and on DVD and received popular and critical acclaim: "She is one of the most sensuous Toscas imaginable… Angela Gheorghiu's passion and beauty are ideal for Tosca." (Opera News, USA). Gheorghiu attended the Venice Film Festival in 2001 when the movie was premiered. One year later, in 2002, Angela Gheorghiu interpreted Juliette in the movie ''Roméo et Juliette'', alongside Roberto Alagna and Tito Beltrán, also released on DVD.

In November 2010 Gheorghiu made her debut in Cilea’s ''Adriana Lecouvreur'', a new production of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. ''The Observer'' wrote: "It's hard to imagine anyone bettering Angela Gheorghiu in this part. Her voice, feather-light and creamy yet with a core of steel, matches the liquid way she moves on stage. She's a natural actress and made the improbable death scene heartbreakingly believable and her signature aria "Poveri fiori" simply unforgettable." The Telegraph wrote: "Adriana is known as a nice, easy sing for ageing or challenged prima donnas (no difficult top notes, and a tame orchestra), so Gheorghiu, in her vocal prime, should have found it a doddle. But her first aria was bumpy and nervous, and she fudged the end of the second. Elsewhere, in duet and declamation, she often sang exquisitely."

Awards and honors

She has recorded many recital albums and complete opera recordings and often appears on television and in concerts. The EMI recording of Massenet's ''Manon'' with Angela Gheorghiu in the title role won the 2001 Gramophone Award for "Best Opera Recording", was nominated for "Best Opera Recording" in the 2002 Grammy Awards. The EMI recording of Puccini's ''Tosca'' with Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna and Ruggero Raimondi in the title roles brought her the Deutscher Schallplattenpreis award in 2002. She also won Diapason d’Or Awards, Choc du Monde de la Musique in France, Cecilia Prize in Belgium, the Echo Award, the Italian Musica e dischi, Foreign Lyric Production Award, the USA Critics’ Award. Gheorghiu won the title of “Female Artist of the Year” at the Classical Brit Awards in 2001 and 2010. Ms. Gheorghiu was honoured with "La Medaille Vermeille de la Ville de Paris" and she was appointed an "Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres" and "Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres" by the French Ministry of Culture and by her native country Romania. In December 2010 Gheorghiu was awarded the honorific title of Doctor Honoris Causa by the University of Arts in Iasi (Romania) and the “Star of Romania”, the highest decoration given by the President of Romania.

Gheorghiu at the Met and elsewhere

On occasion, Gheorghiu has had difficult relationships with opera house managements and directors. Some, but not all, of them have stemmed from her opposition to directors who, as she put it in an interview with ''ABC'' "want to express their own fantasies, forgetting about the characters. At times, she says, what they put on stage goes against both the story and the music." She has attributed her outspokenness to her upbringing in Romania under the totalitarian regime of Nicolae Ceaușescu:

"Because I grew up in a country where there was no possibility of having an opinion, it makes me stronger now. Lots of singers are frightened about not getting invited back to an opera house if they speak out. But I have the courage to be, in a way, revolutionary. I want to fight for opera, for it to be taken seriously. Pop music is for the body, but opera is for the soul.".

Gheorghiu had a problematic relationship with former Metropolitan Opera General Manager Joseph Volpe after her debut there as Mimì in 1993. In 1996, Gheorghiu was cast as Micaela in a new production of ''Carmen'', opposite Waltraud Meier and Plácido Domingo. The production by Franco Zeffirelli called for Micaela to wear a blonde wig, which Gheorghiu disliked. When the Met toured the production in Japan in 1997, she refused to wear it on the first night to which Volpe famously declared, "The wig is going on, with you or without you" and replaced her with an understudy. She appeared at the Met again in 1998 for six performances of ''Roméo et Juliette'' with her husband, tenor Roberto Alagna as Roméo. Volpe had planned to engage Gheorghiu in Violetta Valery for a new production of ''La traviata'', to premiere in November 1998 and directed by Zeffirelli. Alagna was to sing the role of Violetta's lover, Alfredo Germont. According to Volpe, Gheorghiu and Alagna argued with the staff and the director over production details and continually delayed signing the contract. They eventually signed their contracts, and faxed them to the Met one day past their deadline. Volpe refused to accept them. The production opened with Patricia Racette and Marcelo Álvarez as the lovers.

In September 2007, Gheorghiu was dismissed from Lyric Opera of Chicago's production of ''La bohème'' by General Manager William Mason, for missing rehearsals and costume fittings, and generally "unprofessional" behavior. Gheorghiu said in a statement that she had missed some rehearsals to spend time with her husband, who was singing at the Met in ''Roméo et Juliette'' and rehearsing for Puccini's ''Madama Butterfly'' and added "I have sung 'Boheme' hundreds of times, and thought missing a few rehearsals wouldn't be a tragedy. It was impossible to do the costume fitting at the same time I was in New York.

Six weeks later, Gheorghiu made her debut at San Francisco Opera receiving favorable reviews for her Magda in that company's new production of ''La rondine''. The San Francisco Opera production originated with London's Royal Opera House, where it premiered on May 7, 2002 with Gheorghiu and Alagna as Magda and her lover Ruggero. It is one which she particularly admires:

"When the curtain opened on ''La rondine'' at Covent Garden, the audience gasped and applauded. People want to dream. If directors want to do something new with operas, why not do something beautiful?"

Despite these issues, Gheorghiu and Alagna returned to the Metropolitan Opera for five performances of ''L'elisir d'amore'' in 1999 and for four performances of ''Faust'' in 2003. Gheorghiu also performed at the Met as Liù in ''Turandot'' in 2000; as Violetta in ''La traviata'' opposite Jonas Kaufmann in 2006 and 2007; as Amelia in ''Simon Boccanegra'' in 2007; as Mimì in ''La bohème'' in 2008; as Magda in the 2008/09 season in the ROH/SFO production of ''La rondine'', the Met's first performance of the opera since 1936; and for the 2009/10 season she appeared as Violetta, replacing her previous engagement as Marie Antoinette in a rare revival of John Corigliano's ''The Ghosts of Versailles'' which was replaced due to the recession.

On December 31, 2008, Angela Gheorghiu premiered the new production of ''La rondine'' at the Met, together with Roberto Alagna, Marius Brenciu, Lisette Oropesa and Samuel Ramey. The opera was last performed at the house over 70 years ago. She received some favorable reviews for her Magda: "Gheorghiu embodies the part, as actress and singer, with her natural charisma." The ''New York Times'' opinion was more mixed: "Vocally, both leads are somewhat disappointing. Ms. Gheorghiu, as Magda, sings with gleaming sound and wonderfully dusky colorings in the strong top register of her voice. But the earthy richness of her mid-range singing sometimes turns breathy, and her low voice is curiously weak."

In August, 2009, Gheorghiu canceled all her scheduled 2010 Met performances of ''Carmen'', for "personal reasons". It was to be her first public performance of the title role (normally sung by mezzo-sopranos). She also cancelled other Met performances scheduled near the end of 2010. In March 2011 she cancelled all her scheduled performances of Gounod's ''Roméo et Juliette'' at the Met, citing illness. Only days later she cancelled all her performances in the scheduled new production of ''Faust'' during the Met's 2011/2012 season. According to her manager the singer felt that "She felt uncomfortable in the concept". Peter Gelb, the Met's general manager, said that her frequent cancellations have become "an increasingly difficult problem for (the Met)." Gelb went on to say that, as of now, plans are still in place for Gheorghiu's return to the Met stage. He also went on the record to say "this has nothing to do with wigs."

Personal life

Divorced from her first husband, from whom she retained her surname, Gheorghiu married tenor Roberto Alagna in 1996. The couple have sung together often on stage and on studio recordings. She was once chosen the 74th "most beautiful" woman in the world by the magazine FHM. In October 2009, Alagna said in an interview in ''Le Figaro'' that he and Angela Gheorghiu had separated. This had been confirmed on Gheorghiu's website where she has made it clear that she and Alagna have not been in a relationship for over two years. Following the separation, she declined to appear opposite Alagna in ''Carmen'' at the Metropolitan Opera in December 2009. The divorce, however, was then called off, only a few months after announcing it, in December 2009. In a March 2011 interview with the ''Daily Express'' she stated that she and Alagna were back together, and they were seen together in March 2011 backstage at London's Royal Opera House where Alagna was performing in ''Aida''. She also stated in the interview that although she still wanted to sing separately from her husband for a while, she was looking forward to the day when they could retire together and have their own pets.

Recordings

: See Angela Gheorghiu discography

References

External links

Angela Gheorghiu: Official website

Official Angela Gheorghiu page on EMI Classics (Biography, discography, schedule)

Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:People from Adjud Category:Romanian female singers Category:Romanian opera singers Category:Romanian sopranos Category:Operatic sopranos

ca:Angela Gheorghiu de:Angela Gheorghiu es:Angela Gheorghiu fr:Angela Gheorghiu it:Angela Gheorghiu la:Angela Gheorghiu hu:Angela Gheorghiu nl:Angela Gheorghiu no:Angela Gheorghiu pl:Angela Gheorghiu pt:Angela Gheorghiu ro:Angela Gheorghiu ru:Георгиу, Анджела sl:Angela Gheorghiu fi:Angela Gheorghiu sv:Angela Gheorghiu zh:安琪拉·基柯基沃