2013 Rafael Nadal tennis season
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The 2013 Rafael Nadal tennis season is regarded as one of the greatest comeback seasons of all time. After not playing since June of the previous year, his season began on February 5 with the Chile Open, where he finished as the runner-up. Nadal rebounded with title victories at
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and
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. He then won the first Masters event of the year at Indian Wells. Nadal next finished runner-up to
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
at
Monte-Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
, breaking his consecutive win streak for the first time in nine years. He followed that with victories at
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
,
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, and
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, he defeated Djokovic in an epic semifinal, before defeating
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
to win his eighth French Open crown. He was then stunned by Steve Darcis in the first round of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, in what would be his only defeat prior to the semifinals of a tournament all season. Limping in the final set of the match, many thought his season was over. However, a strong hardcourt summer saw Nadal sweep
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,
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, and then the US Open (def. Djokovic), thus achieving the Summer Slam and clinching the US Open Series. He became the third player in history, after Patrick Rafter and Andy Roddick, to win all three events in succession. This granted him US$3.6 million in prize money, the most money earned by a male tennis player at a single tournament. A few days after the US Open final, he flew to Madrid to help the
Spanish Davis Cup team The Spain men's national tennis team has represented Spain internationally since 1920. Organised by the Real Federación Española de Tenis (RFET), it is one of the 50 members of International Tennis Federation's European association (Tennis Euro ...
secure their World Group Playoff spot for 2014, with a singles victory against Sergiy Stakhovsky and a doubles victory with
Marc López Marc López Tarrés (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish retired professional tennis player and coach. His career-high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ATP rankings, ranking was world No. 106 (May 2004) and world No. 3 in doubl ...
.


Year summary


South American clay court season

Following 222 days injured, Nadal returned to the tennis court on February 5 at the Chile Open. He played both single and double-events and reached the final in both tournaments. At the double-event he partnered up with the Argentine Juan Mónaco. The next event for Nadal was the
Brasil Open The Brasil Open was a tennis tournament held annually in São Paulo, Brazil. It was part of the ATP Tour 250 series, and was one of the main events in the Brazilian tennis calendar alongside ATP Tour 500 Rio Open. Since 2004, it was a part of th ...
. He again played both the singles and doubles events, in which he partnered up with David Nalbandian who also was his opponent in the final of the singles event. Nadal managed to overcome Nalbandian to win his first title in 2013. Two weeks later Nadal played the Mexico Open, where he beat
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
in the final to win his second title in a row. Following the
Golden Swing The Golden Swing is a series of four tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour, held every February in Latin America. The four tournaments have been termed the ‘Golden Swing’ in honour of Chilean Oly ...
Nadal confirmed his participation for the hardcourt event
BNP Paribas Open The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
in Indian Wells in the USA taking place from March 4 to March 18.


Indian Wells

In Indian Wells Nadal received a Bye in the first round. In the second round he faced Ryan Harrison and managed to beat him in straight sets. Nadal was drawn to face Leonardo Mayer next, but Mayer withdrew from the tournament due to an injury. Nadal's next opponent was Ernests Gulbis who was on a thirteen match winning streak before Nadal defeated him in three tight sets to reach the quarterfinals where he played against his long-time rival Roger Federer. Nadal was able to overcome Federer in two sets. In the semifinals he played the World No. 6 Tomáš Berdych and managed again to win in two sets, which helped him to reach the final for the fourth time in his career. His opponent was Juan Martín del Potro who had previously beaten world No. 1
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
in the semifinals. Nadal defeated del Potro in three sets, winning his record-breaking twenty-second ATP Masters 1000 event and his third Indian Wells title. Nadal subsequently withdrew from the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami in order to rest and prepare for the clay court season.


European Clay Court Season

At
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Nadal reached his ninth straight final but lost in two sets to Djokovic. He won in Barcelona in straight sets and then won the Madrid title for a record-breaking 23rd Masters 1000 title, before extending the record to 24 with three top 6 wins in a row against Ferrer, Berdych, and then Federer in an easy two set victory at the 2013 Rome Masters. Nadal capped off his streak with a ninth straight final this year at the
2013 French Open The 2013 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 117th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 26 May to 9 June. It consisted of e ...
, defeating Djokovic in an epic match that finished 9–7 in the fifth set. Nadal won the first set and led in the second by a break, but Djokovic then took four straight games to win the set. Nadal responded by dominating the third and led twice by a break in the fourth, but Djokovic broke back on both occasions. As a result, Nadal failed to serve out the match and faltered in the subsequent tiebreak. The momentum seemed to be with Djokovic, who broke at the beginning of the fifth and led 4–2 before Nadal made an impressive comeback. The match was reminiscent of their 2012 encounter at the Australian Open final. This time the match time was 4:37. In the final Nadal thrashed an in-form Ferrer in straight sets, breaking his own record and winning an unprecedented 8th French Open Championship. During the European clay season, Nadal earned a total of 5,100 points, making it (as of 2023) its most successful year in his entire career.


Grass Court Season

Nadal withdrew from Halle and played at Wimbledon. He was on a 22 match winning streak, when for the first time in his career, he lost a first round match at a Grand Slam, losing in three sets to lower-ranked Steve Darcis of Belgium. Many people speculated that this was the end of the year for Nadal, who was limping and visibly uncomfortable in his match.


American Hard Court Season

Nadal took a break after Wimbledon. He regained his form in Montreal, destroying dangerous server
Jerzy Janowicz Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Noted for his very powerful serv ...
in the first round. He then put up a strong performance to beat No.1 Djokovic on the hard courts during the semifinal, beating him in the tie-breaker in the final set. He defeated Milos Raonic in the final in straight sets to win his third title in Montreal and a record 25th masters title. Nadal broke his own record yet again and won his 26th ATP Masters 1000 in
Cincinnati Masters The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, beating Benjamin Becker, Dimitrov, Federer in the QF, Tomas Berdych, and finally John Isner in the final on Sunday 18 August.Nadal captures Cincinnati crown
/ref> Nadal entered the final Major of the year having missed the previous edition last year due to injury. Cruising through the first three rounds, he defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber in 4 sets in the 4th round, and then reached the final in winning the rest of matches in straight sets. In the final, Nadal yet again faced Djokovic. This was their 6th meeting in a Major final. Rafa took the first set, Novak took the second. But Rafa then gained momentum and won the next two sets to win the title. Thus Rafael Nadal won his second US Open Championship, and his 13th Major overall, putting him third on the all-time list behind Federer (17) and Sampras (14). He became the 3rd player after Patrick Rafter and Andy Roddick to win the Summer Slam (Won Canada, Cincinnati, and the US Open in the same year). He remained undefeated so far on Hard Courts in 2013.


Asian Fall & Indoor Hard Court Season

At the China Open Nadal returned to the No.1 ranking by reaching the final. He had a noteworthy comeback in the quarter-finals against
Fabio Fognini Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. He is currently ranked (July 2022) in 64th place by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
, where he fought back from a set and break down to secure the victory. In the final he lost to Djokovic in two sets. Nadal was defeated at the Shanghai Masters by del Potro in the semi-finals. Nadal's final tournament of the year before the World Tour Finals was at the Paris Masters. In Paris, Nadal reached the semifinals where he was defeated by compatriot David Ferrer for the first time in their last 10 head-to-head meeting. At the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Nadal was unbeaten (3–0) in round robin play and by winning his first 2 matches sealed the Year End ATP World No. 1 Ranking in the process. In the semifinals Nadal faced long time rival Roger Federer, and recorded his first indoor win against the Swiss at the ATP World Tour Finals in straight sets. In the final he faced Novak Djokovic but lost in straight sets.


All matches


Singles matches


Doubles matches


Tournament schedule


Singles schedule

Nadal's 2013 singles tournament schedule is as follows: 1 The symbol (i) = ''indoors'' means that the respective tournament will be held indoors. 2 The ATP numbers between brackets = non-countable tournaments. 3 Since Rafael Nadal withdrew from the Swiss open in the final part of the season this tournament became countable and the points were eligible for rankings.


Yearly records


Head-to-head matchups

''Ordered by number of wins'' * Tomáš Berdych 5–0 *
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
5–1 * Roger Federer 4–0 * Stanislas Wawrinka 4–0 *
Philipp Kohlschreiber Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Cha ...
3–0 *
Fabio Fognini Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. He is currently ranked (July 2022) in 64th place by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
3–0 * Carlos Berlocq 3–0 *
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
3–3 * Richard Gasquet 2–0 *
Nicolás Almagro Nicolás Almagro Sánchez (; born 21 August 1985 in Murcia, Spain) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2008, 2010 and 2012 (losing each time to Rafael Nadal, the eventual ch ...
2–0 * Milos Raonic 2–0 *
Jerzy Janowicz Jerzy Filip Janowicz Jr. (; born 13 November 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Janowicz is best known for becoming the first Polish man to reach a major semifinal at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. Noted for his very powerful serv ...
2–0 * Grigor Dimitrov 2–0 * Ernests Gulbis 2–0 *
Benoît Paire Benoît Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player. His best result in a Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, at the 2015 Swedish Open, t ...
2–0 * Marinko Matosevic 2–0 * Ryan Harrison 2–0 *
Martín Alund Martín Alund (; sv, Ålund; born 26 December 1985) is a retired Argentine professional tennis player. He reached the semifinals of the 2013 Brasil Open; has won seven ATP Challenger events in doubles; and achieved a career-high singles ranking ...
2–0 * David Nalbandian 1–0 * Juan Martín del Potro 1–1 * Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 1–0 *
Tommy Robredo Tomás Robredo Garcés, known as Tommy Robredo (, ; born 1 May 1982), is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the Hamburg Masters ea ...
1–0 *
Mikhail Youzhny Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...
1–0 * John Isner 1–0 * Kei Nishikori 1–0 *
Alexandr Dolgopolov Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the ...
1–0 *
Marcel Granollers Marcel Granollers Pujol (; ; born 12 April 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 19 in July 2012, and his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in February 2013. Granollers h ...
1–0 * Jérémy Chardy 1–0 * Martin Kližan 1–0 * Ivan Dodig 1–0 * Santiago Giraldo 1–0 * Sergiy Stakhovsky 1–0 *
Pablo Andújar Pablo Andújar Alba (; born 23 January 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. Andújar has won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32 in July 2015. His best results are reaching the fourth ...
1–0 * Benjamin Becker 1–0 * Daniel Brands 1–0 *
Albert Ramos Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert C ...
1–0 *
Federico Delbonis Federico Delbonis (; born 5 October 1990) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 33 achieved on 9 May 2016. He also has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 110 achieved on 22 July 2019. Pro ...
1–0 *
Daniel Gimeno-Traver Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
1–0 * Leonardo Mayer 1–0 *
João Souza João Olavo Soares de Souza (; born 27 May 1988) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player. Before receiving a lifetime ban for match-fixing, Souza competed mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour, both in singles and doubles. He reached his hi ...
1–0 * Rogerio Dutra Silva 1–0 *
Jesse Levine Jesse Levine (born October 15, 1987) is an American-Canadian former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles rank of world No. 69 on October 1, 2012. Levine represented the United States through 2012, and he represented Can ...
1–0 *
Diego Schwartzman Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has won four ATP singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist, his be ...
1–0 * Horacio Zeballos 0–1 * Steve Darcis 0–1


Finals


Singles: 14 (10–4)


Exhibition matches

Rafael Nadal took part in the annual
BNP Paribas Showdown The BNP Paribas Showdown (formerly NetJets Showdown, Billie Jean King Cup) was an annual one-night exhibition tennis event operated by GF Sports and held at Madison Square Garden in New York City in February or March from 2008 through 2017. The S ...
, where he faced Juan Martín del Potro in a rematch of their 2009 US Open semi-final. Nadal was defeated in straight sets.


Earnings

*Bold font denotes tournament win
2013 ATP World Tour Finals The 2013 ATP World Tour Finals, also known as the 2013 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for sponsorship reasons, was a men's tennis tournament that was played on indoor hard courts at the O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom, between 4 and 11 Novemb ...


See also

* 2013 Roger Federer tennis season *
2013 Novak Djokovic tennis season The 2013 Novak Djokovic tennis season officially commenced on 31 December 2012 with the start of the 2013 ATP World Tour. Yearly summary Novak Djokovic began the 2013 season in Australia. Alongside Ana Ivanovic, he represented Serbia at the ...
*
2013 Andy Murray tennis season The 2013 Andy Murray tennis season officially began at the Brisbane International where he was the defending champion. He successfully defended that title, defeating Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the final. After a quarterfinal showing at ...
*
2013 ATP World Tour The 2013 ATP World Tour was the global elite professional tennis circuit organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2013 tennis season. The 2013 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments (supervised by t ...


References


External links

*
ATP tour profile
{{Big Three tennis seasons 2013 Rafael Nadal tennis season Nadal tennis season