By Hannah Jane Farron
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Rafael Nadal Parera (born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the world No. 1 in men’s singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 209 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. Nadal won 92 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including 22 major titles (among which a record 14 French Open titles), as well as 36 Masters titles and an Olympic gold medal. Nadal is one of three men to complete the career Golden Slam in singles. His 81 consecutive wins on clay constitute the longest single-surface win streak in the Open Era.
For nearly two decades, Nadal was a leading figure in men’s tennis, alongside Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, collectively known as the Big Three. Early in his career, Nadal became one of the most successful teenagers in ATP Tour history, reaching No. 2 in the world and winning 16 titles before turning 20, including his first major title at the 2005 French Open. Nadal became the world No. 1 for the first time in 2008 after defeating Federer in an historic Wimbledon final, his first major championship off clay. He followed with an Olympic singles gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. By defeating Djokovic in the 2010 US Open final, Nadal became the youngest man in the Open Era to achieve the career Grand Slam at 24, and the first man to win majors on three different surfaces in the same year.
Nadal won major singles titles in 10 consecutive years from 2005 to 2014, and again in a four-year span from 2017 to 2020. He also won 11 doubles titles during his career, including an Olympic gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Nadal surpassed his joint-record with Djokovic and Federer for the most Grand Slam men’s singles titles at the 2022 Australian Open, and became one of four men in history to complete the double career Grand Slam in singles. Nadal retired from the sport after playing for Spain in the 2024 Davis Cup Finals.
As a left-handed player, one of Nadal’s main strengths was his forehand, delivered with heavy topspin. He frequently ranked among the tour leaders in return games, return points, and break points won. His game was especially well-suited for clay courts, on which came 63 of his 92 singles titles. Nadal won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award five times and was the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2011 and 2021. Time named Nadal one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022. Representing Spain, he won two Olympic gold medals, and led the nation to five Davis Cup titles. Nadal has also opened a tennis academy in Mallorca, and is an active philanthropist.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Jefferson Davis (president of the Confederacy) –
- Ransom Eli Olds (automobile manufacturer) –
- Roland Hayes (tenor) –
- Tony Curtis (actor) –
- Allen Ginsburg (poet) –
- Francis “Frank” Gouin (plant physiologist) –
- Anderson Cooper (television journalist) –
- Rafael Nadal (tennis legend) – 1986
- Lalaine Vergara-Paras (actress) –
Died
- Johann Strauss, the Younger (composer) –
- The Marquess of Lansdowne (Canadian Governor General 1883-1888) –
- Pope John XXIII –
- Ozzie Nelson (actor) –
- Lew Wasserman (old time movie mogul) –
- David Carradine (actor) –
- Rue McClanahan (actress) –
- Dr. Jack Kevorkian (pathologist known as Dr. Death” due to his role in assisting the suicides of terminally ill people”) –
- Muhammad Ali (boxer) –
HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY
Events
- John Adams became the first U.S. president to live in Washington, D.C.. –
- The poem “Casey at the Bat” was published in the San Francisco Examiner –
- The New York Times won its first Pulitzer Prize –
- Ernest Poole became the first to win a Pulitzer Prize in the category of novels (now known as fiction) –
- Baseball player Lou Gehrig hit 4 home runs in 1 game –
- Astronaut Edward H. White II was the first American to perform a spacewalk” when he stepped outside of his spacecraft Gemini 4” –
- The Royal Canadian Mint announced that nickel would replace silver in coins –
- Sally Jane Priesand became the first American female to be ordained as a rabbi –
- Frances Bay, James Cameron, k.d. lang, The Kids in the Hall, Steve Nash, and Daria Werbowy were announced as being inducted into the Canada Walk of Fame –
Weather
- Early hurricane wreaked havoc along the Atlantic coast from June 3 through 5. –
- Seattle received 1.42 inches of rain within 24 hours, a June record –
- Flood caused major devastation in Pueblo, Colorado –
- Golfball-size hail fell in northeast Colorado –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
