On This Day: Rafael Nadal breaks Roger Federer's dominance to debut at No. 1

No 1 Club

On This Day: Nadal breaks Federer dominance to debut at No. 1

Spaniard spent 46 weeks atop the PIF ATP Rankings in his first No. 1 stint

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images Rafael Nadal's 2008 Toronto title helped him rise to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time. By Arthur Kapetanakis

Rafael Nadal was an ever-present near the top of the PIF ATP Rankings from the time he began racking up Grand Slam and ATP Masters 1000 titles in 2005. Knocking on the door of World No. 1, he spent 160 consecutive weeks at No. 2 as Roger Federer kept him from the pinnacle until 2008.

Nadal took the tennis world by storm in his first full ATP Tour season, winning Roland Garros and four ATP Masters 1000s in 2005. Even winning what stood up as a career-high 11 titles that season — as a teenager, no less — was not enough to displace Federer.

Three years later, he finally found the formula that added up to No. 1.

On 18 August 2008, he passed his Swiss friend and rival for tennis’ ultimate honour at the age of 22. “I had been winning a lot of points every year, but I had a player that was winning more than me. That was Roger,” Nadal explained in a 2018 interview.

Nadal laid the foundation for his move to No. 1 with two major crowns at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, beating Federer 9-7 in the fifth set at the All England Club to win his first major outside Roland Garros and become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to claim the French Open-Wimbledon double in the same season. He was further boosted by three ATP Masters 1000 titles (Monte-Carlo, Hamburg, Canada) and two more tour-level trophies (Barcelona, Queen’s Club) over the preceding 52 weeks.

The finishing touch on Nadal’s No. 1 charge came at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when the 400 PIF ATP Rankings points he earned by winning the gold clinched his No. 1 debut. Adding to the magnitude of the feat was the rise of another player who would soon join the GOAT conversation: Novak Djokovic.

“That year [2008], Novak started to play so well. For me it was another tough rival, so I thought, well, I have been there [at the top level], but I didn’t achieve the World No. 1. Now another great player is coming, so maybe I will never be No. 1,” Nadal reflected.

“So for me that’s why it was so important for me to achieve that. I believe that I deserved it after having a very high level almost in every week during three and a half years.”

In his first stint atop the PIF ATP Rankings, Nadal held on to the No. 1 spot for 46 weeks.

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