2006 Rafael Nadal tennis season

2006 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Full name	Rafael Nadal Parera
Country	Spain
Calendar prize money	$3,746,360 (Singles $3,732,760, Doubles $13,600)[1][2]
Singles
Season record	59–12
Calendar titles	5
Year-end ranking	No. 2
Ranking change from previous year
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian Open	DNS
French Open	W
Wimbledon	F
US Open	QF
Injuries
Injuries	Knee injury
← 2005 2007 →

The 2006 Rafael Nadal tennis season started in February as Nadal missed the Australian Open because of a foot injury.^[3] Nadal won five singles titles in 2006.

In February, Nadal 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 Tennis Championships (in 2006, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were the only two men who defeated Federer), thus ending Federer’s 56-match winning streak on hard courts.^[4] To complete the spring hard-court season, Nadal was upset in both the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters by James Blake, and in the second round of the Miami Masters by Carlos Moyá, who thus ended Nadal's 22-match win streak over fellow Spaniard players.^[5]

On European clay, Nadal won all four tournaments he entered and 24 consecutive matches. He defeated Federer in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters in four sets.^[6] 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 Italian Masters, 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.^[7] Nadal broke Argentinian Guillermo Vilas's 29-year male record of 53 consecutive clay-court match victories by beating Robin Söderling in the first round of the French Open.^[8][9] 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.^[10]

Nadal went on to face Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, the first-ever meeting of their historic rivalry, which Nadal won via a retirement from Djokovic after Nadal took the first two sets.^[11] He then beat Ivan Ljubičić to set up a final against Federer. 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 tournament final.^[12]

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.^[13] 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.^[14] In the third round, Nadal defeated world No. 20 Andre Agassi in straight sets in Agassi's last career match at Wimbledon.^[15] 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 to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.^[16]

During the lead up 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 in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters by Juan Carlos Ferrero. Nadal was seeded second at the US Open, but lost in the quarterfinals to world No. 54 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in four sets.^[17]

Nadal played only three tournaments for the remainder of the year. Joachim Johansson, ranked world No. 690, upset Nadal in the second round of the Stockholm Open.^[18] The following week, Nadal lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals of the year's last Masters Series tournament, the Madrid Masters. 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. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer.^[19]

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent	Rank	Result	Score
Open 13 Marseille, France ATP World Tour 250 Hard, indoor 13–19 February 2006	1 / 164	1R	Olivier Rochus	30	Win	4–6, 6–2, 7–5
	2 / 165	2R	Gilles Simon	80	Win	7–5, 6–4
	3 / 166	QF	Paul-Henri Mathieu	35	Win	7–5, 6–4
	4 / 167	SF	Arnaud Clément	65	Loss	6–2, 3–6, 5–7
Dubai Tennis Championships Dubai, U. A. E. ATP World Tour 500 Hard, outdoor 27 February – 5 March 2006	5 / 168	1R	Paul-Henri Mathieu	34	Win	6–7(5–7), 6–1, 6–2
	–	2R	Younes El Aynaoui	211	Win	(W/O)
	6 / 169	QF	Tim Henman	49	Win	7–6(7–1), 6–1
	7 / 170	SF	Rainer Schüttler	98	Win	6–4, 6–2
	8 / 171	W	Roger Federer	1	Win (1)	2–6, 6–4, 6–4
Pacific Life Open Indian Wells, United States ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 6–19 March 2006	–	1R	Bye
	9 / 172	2R	Jan Hernych	87	Win	6–4, 6–4
	10 / 173	3R	Mardy Fish	294	Win	6–1, 6–4
	11 / 174	4R	Sébastien Grosjean	22	Win	6–4, 6–2
	12 / 175	QF	Marcos Baghdatis	27	Win	7–5, 6–0
	13 / 176	SF	James Blake	14	Loss	5–7, 3–6
Sony Ericsson Open Miami, United States ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 20 March – 2 April 2006	–	1R	Bye
	14 / 177	2R	Carlos Moyá	35	Loss	6–2, 1–6, 1–6
Monte Carlo Masters Monte Carlo, Monaco ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 15–23 April 2006	15 / 178	1R	Arnaud Clément	56	Win	6–4, 6–4
	16 / 179	2R	Jean-Rene Lisnard	154	Win	6–4, 6–1
	17 / 180	3R	Kristof Vliegen	57	Win	6–3, 6–3
	18 / 181	QF	Guillermo Coria	9	Win	6–2, 6–1
	19 / 182	SF	Gastón Gaudio	8	Win	5–7, 6–1, 6–1
	20 / 183	W	Roger Federer	1	Win (2)	6–2, 6–7(2–7), 6–3, 7–6(7–5)
Torneo Godo Barcelona, Spain ATP World Tour 500 Clay, outdoor 24–30 April 2006	–	1R	Bye
	21 / 184	2R	Feliciano López	38	Win	6–4, 6–2
	22 / 185	3R	Iván Navarro	164	Win	6–4, 6–2
	23 / 186	QF	Jarkko Nieminen	16	Win	4–6, 6–4, 6–3
	24 / 187	SF	Nicolás Almagro	57	Win	7–6(7–2), 6–3
	25 / 188	W	Tommy Robredo	15	Win (3)	6–4, 6–4, 6–0
Internazionali BNL d'Italia Rome, Italy ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 8–14 May 2006	28 / 189	1R	Carlos Moyá	33	Win	6–1, 2–6, 6–2
	27 / 190	2R	Filippo Volandri	46	Win	6–1, 6–2
	28 / 191	3R	Tim Henman	70	Win	6–2, 6–2
	29 / 192	QF	Fernando González	9	Win	6–4, 6–3
	30 / 193	SF	Gaël Monfils	35	Win	6–2, 6–2
	31 / 194	W	Roger Federer	1	Win (4)	6–7(0–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–5)
French Open Paris, France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 29 May – 11 June 2006	32 / 195	1R	Robin Söderling	50	Win	6–2, 7–5, 6–1
	33 / 196	2R	Kevin Kim	116	Win	6–2, 6–1, 6–4
	34 / 197	3R	Paul-Henri Mathieu	32	Win	5–7, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4
	35 / 198	4R	Lleyton Hewitt	14	Win	6–2, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2
	36 / 199	QF	Novak Djokovic	63	Win	6–4, 6–4 RET
	37 / 200	SF	Ivan Ljubičić	4	Win	6–4, 6–2, 7–6(9–7)
	38 / 201	W	Roger Federer	1	Win (5)	1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Stella Artois Championships London, United Kingdom ATP World Tour 250 Grass, outdoor 12–18 June 2006	–	1R	Bye
	39 / 202	2R	Mardy Fish	86	Win	7–6(7–1), 6–1
	40 / 203	3R	Fernando Verdasco	30	Win	2–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–3)
	41 / 204	QF	Lleyton Hewitt	13	Loss	6–3, 3–6 RET
The Championships, Wimbledon Wimbledon, United Kingdom Grand Slam Grass, outdoor 26 June – 9 July 2006	42 / 205	1R	Alex Bogdanovic	135	Win	6–4, 7–6(7–3), 6–4
	43 / 206	2R	Robert Kendrick	237	Win	6–7(4–7), 3–6, 7–6(7–2), 7–5, 6–4
	44 / 207	3R	Andre Agassi	20	Win	7–6(7–5), 6–2, 6–4
	45 / 208	4R	Irakli Labadze	166	Win	6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–3
	46 / 209	QF	Jarkko Nieminen	18	Win	6–3, 6–4, 6–4
	47 / 210	SF	Marcos Baghdatis	16	Win	6–1, 7–5, 6–3
	48 / 211	F	Roger Federer	1	Loss (1)	0–6, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–2), 3–6
Rogers Cup Montreal, Canada ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 7–13 August 2006	49 / 212	1R	Nicolás Massú	38	Win	6–3, 6–2
	50 / 213	2R	Hyung-Taik Lee	85	Win	6–4, 6–3
	51 / 214	3R	Tomáš Berdych	14	Loss	1–6, 6–3, 2–6
Western & Southern Financial Group Masters Cincinnati, United States ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 14–20 August 2006	52 / 215	1R	Sam Querrey	178	Win	6–7(5–7), 6–2, 6–3
	53 / 216	2R	Hyung-Taik Lee	73	Win	6–4, 6–3
	54 / 217	3R	Tommy Haas	17	Win	7–6(7–5), 6–3
	55 / 218	QF	Juan Carlos Ferrero	31	Loss	6–7(2–7), 6–7(3–7)
US Open New York, USA Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 28 August – 10 September 2006	56 / 219	1R	Mark Phillipoussis	113	Win	6–4, 6–4, 6–4
	57 / 220	2R	Luis Horna	61	Win	6–4, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2
	58 / 221	3R	Wesley Moodie	82	Win	6–4, 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5)
	59 / 222	4R	Jiří Novák	179	Win	6–1, 7–6(7–3), 6–4
	60 / 223	QF	Mikhail Youzhny	54	Loss	3–6, 7–5, 6–7(5–7), 1–6
Davis Cup, ITA v/s ESP World Group Play Offs Spain Davis Cup Clay, outdoor 18–24 September 2006	61 / 224	RR	Andreas Seppi	69	Win	6–0, 6–4, 6–3
	62 / 225	RR	Filippo Volandri	38	Win	3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–3
If Stockholm Open Stockholm, Sweden ATP World Tour 250 Hard, indoor 9–15 October 2006	63 / 226	1R	Raemon Sluiter	90	Win	6–4, 6–2
	64 / 227	2R	Joachim Johansson	690	Loss	4–6, 6–7(4–7)
Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid Madrid, Spain ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Hard, indoor 16–22 October 2006	–	1R	Bye
	65 / 228	2R	Mardy Fish	54	Win	6–4, 6–2
	66 / 229	3R	Tommy Haas	13	Win	6–4, 6–3
	67 / 230	QF	Tomáš Berdych	11	Loss	3–6, 6–7(6–8)
Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, China Year-end Championships Hard, indoor 13–19 November 2006	68 / 231	RR	James Blake	8	Loss	4–6, 6–7(0–7)
	69 / 232	RR	Tommy Robredo	6	Win	7–6(7–2), 6–2
	70 / 233	RR	Nikolay Davydenko	3	Win	5–7, 6–4, 6–4
	71 / 234	SF	Roger Federer	1	Loss	4–6, 5–7

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.

• 2006 ATP Tour
• 2006 Roger Federer tennis season

• Official website (in Spanish)
• ATP tour profile