- published: 30 Apr 2016
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Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera (Catalan: [rəfəˈɛɫ nəˈðaɫ pəˈɾeɾə], Spanish: [rafaˈel naˈðal paˈɾeɾa]; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked world No. 5. He is widely regarded as one of the finest clay-court players in history, and is considered by some in the sport to be the greatest clay-court player of all time; due to his dominance and success on the surface, he has been titled "The King of Clay". His evolution into an all-court threat has established him as one of the greatest players in tennis history, with some considering Nadal to be the greatest player of all time.
Nadal has won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, the 2008 Olympic gold medal in singles, a record 27 titles in ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, and 16 ATP World Tour 500 tournaments. He was also a member of the winning Spain Davis Cup team in 2004, 2008, 2009, and 2011. In 2010, he became the seventh player in history and youngest of four in the Open Era to achieve the Career Grand Slam at age 24. He is the second male player, after Andre Agassi, to complete the singles Career Golden Slam. In 2011, Nadal was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
Novak Djokovic (Serbian: Novak Đoković / Новак Ђоковић, pronounced [nôʋaːk d͡ʑôːkoʋit͡ɕ]; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is generally considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He is coached by former Slovak tennis player Marián Vajda and former German tennis player and six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker.
Djokovic has won 11 Grand Slam singles titles which is ranked fourth in the open era tied with Björn Borg and has held the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for a total of 186 weeks. By winning three Grand Slam titles in 2011, Djokovic became the sixth male player to win three Grand Slams in a calendar year. He repeated this achievement in 2015. In Grand Slams, Djokovic has won an all-time record six Australian Open titles (tied with Roy Emerson), including an open era record of three consecutive titles from 2011–2013 (the first and only player to achieve this). He has also won three Wimbledon titles and two US Open titles.