[17][18] In 1998 Nadal reached the final of the U14 Spanish championship at the age of 12, a feat that remains unmatched, losing to Juan Sanchez de Luna in straight sets.

[27][28] In July, Nadal won the U14 Spanish championships, beating his friend and training partner Tomeu Salvá in the final,[17][29] despite breaking a finger on his left hand during the first round.

[9][35] Nadal made his pro debut in the main draw at the Futures in Madrid on 11 September 2001, wasting 13 match points against Guillermo Platel-Varas in the opening round.

[54] Nadal won his first ATP title (doubles or singles) at Umag, partnering Álex López Morón to beat Todd Perry and Thomas Shimada in the final.

[62][63] At Estoril, Nadal suffered a stress fracture in his left ankle during his round of 16 victory over Richard Gasquet, causing him to miss 3 months of play, the French Open, and Wimbledon.

[85] Nadal then 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.

[116][117] At 4 hours and 48 minutes, they played the longest final (in terms of time on court, surpassed in 2019) in Wimbledon history, and because of rain delays, Nadal won the fifth set 9–7 in near-darkness.

[182] Nadal won the Japan Open after saving two match points against Viktor Troicki in the semi-finals and then beating Gaël Monfils in the final for his seventh title of the season.

[187] At the Qatar Open, Nadal lost in straight sets to Nikolay Davydenko in the semi-finals but went on to win the doubles title alongside Marc López.

[188][189] At the Australian Open, Nadal suffered a hamstring injury against David Ferrer early in his quarterfinal match and lost in straight sets, thus ending his attempt to win four major tournaments in a row.

[233] At the Indian Wells, he lost only one set en route to the title, defeating Roger Federer, Tomáš Berdych and Juan Martín del Potro in the final.

He beat David Ferrer, Stan Wawrinka, and Tomáš Berdych in the round-robin and Roger Federer in the semis before losing in straight sets to Djokovic in the final.

[283] Following the victory, Nadal had to withdraw from competition owing to a left wrist injury initially suffered during the Madrid Open,[284] handing Marcel Granollers a walkover into the fourth round.

Partnering Marc López, he won the gold medal in men's doubles event for Spain by defeating Romania's Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau in the final.

[294] Nadal won every set that he played in the tournament, dropping a total of only 35 games in seven matches, which is the second-fewest by any male player en route to a major title in the Open Era.

[297] On 11 September 2017, Nadal and Garbiñe Muguruza made Spain the first country since the United States 14 years earlier to simultaneously top both the ATP and the WTA rankings.

[302] He won his 11th title in Barcelona, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, becoming the first player in the Open Era to win 400 matches on clay and hard.

Nadal extended his winning streak in Davis Cup singles matches to 29 (29–1 record overall), without dropping a set or having his serve broken;[326][327][328] he also won the tournament's Most Valuable Player award.

[334] At the Paris Masters, Nadal defeated Feliciano López in the second round to get his 1,000 victory on the ATP Tour, becoming the fourth man in the Open Era to achieve that milestone.

[342] On 25 April, Nadal won a record-extending twelfth Barcelona Open trophy with a three-set victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final, saving a championship point in the third set.

[377][378] After the conclusion of the tie, Nadal gave a speech and a video montage was played of career highlights and personal messages, including from Federer, Djokovic, Serena Williams, Andy Murray, footballer Andrés Iniesta and golfer Sergio García.

[437] Although his forehand was based on heavy topspin, he hit the ball deep and flat with a more orthodox follow through for clean winners, but instead of being admired for his finesse and angles, it was the brutality of his groundstrokes that caught the public eye.

[450] For instance, in 2007, Nadal would often interrupt his training sessions on the public courts of Manacor, just to hit a few balls with fans and foreign tourists that had asked him to, even though they were not very good, and even against his uncle Toni’s wishes.

[453] His water-bottle routine was so well-known that when they fell over during a match at the 2015 Australian Open, a ball boy dashed over to return the bottles to their upright position, with the labels facing the court as Nadal had intended.

[462] Cotorro, who also worked with Juan Martín del Potro and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, helped him play after facing injuries and his suggestions were pivotal to his game.

[483] In 2021, prior to the tournament, the French Open paid tribute to Nadal by installing a 3-metre tall steel statue at Stade Roland Garros, created by Spanish sculptor Jordi Díez Fernández.

[489] He participated in a follow-up charity exhibition during the 2010 Indian Wells Open, pairing with Andre Agassi in an eventual loss to Roger Federer and Pete Sampras; it raised $1 million.

[501] On the International Day of Sport on 6 April 2023, the Fundación Rafa Nadal announced that they would partner with UNESCO through its Fit for Life project, a sport-based flagship program designed to tackle physical inactivity, such as accelerating the recovery from COVID-19, mental health issues, and inequality.

[545] Nadal had previously commented on not starting a family early and expressed a desire to have children in the future, reflecting on the unpredictability of life during his ongoing tennis career.

[549] Around the time he won the 2012 French Open, Nadal acquired a vacation home, a two-story villa in Playa Nueva Romana, in the Dominican Republic, for about 2 million euros.