Rafael Nadal hasn’t left top 10 of ATP rankings in 17 years as remarkable record continues

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Rafael Nadal’s streak inside the world’s top 10 has officially reached 17 years. The current world No 4 has sat in the elite standing of the rankings since he was 18-years-old and has never dropped out, despite injury woes throughout his career.

Monday marks 17 years since Nadal entered the world’s top 10 for the first time, on February 25 2005. Then 18-years-old, the Spaniard broke the ranking milestone after winning his first of 12 Barcelona Open titles the previous day, defeating former world No 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-1 7-6 6-3, back when the final was played as best of five sets.

It means the 21-time Grand Slam champion has stayed in the top 10 of the rankings for a monumental 866 consecutive weeks. Eight of the nine players who were in the top 10 alongside Nadal have all since retired, with then-world No 1 Roger Federer the only player standing alongside the Spaniard, though the 40-year-old has been sidelined since Wimbledon last year after undergoing a third knee surgery.

Nadal himself has managed to stay inside the elite group in the rankings throughout multiple injury layoffs in his career, most recently having taken the back-end of 2021 off to recover from a foot injury. He is currently in the midst of a four to six week recovery period from a rib injury he picked up in Indian Wells but is set to return at the upcoming Madrid Masters.

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The Spaniard’s ranking milestone anniversary also comes as one of his compatriots, who many believe will be the successor to Nadal, has broken into the top 10 aged 18 on the exact same day as the 35-year-old did at the same age. 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz made his top 10 debut as the new world No 9 on April 25 2022, 17 years after Nadal did the same at his age.

In even more of a coincidence, both men made their respective top 10 debuts after winning the Barcelona Open title. Then 18, Nadal beat fellow Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero – who is now Alcaraz’s coach – to lift the title on February 24 2005, the first of his 12 at the tournament.

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Seventeen years later, Alcaraz beat compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta to lift the Barcelona trophy for the first time. While Nadal is yet to comment on his 17th consecutive year in the top 10, the new world No 9 has addressed mirroring his idol’s achievements.

“I’m happy to know that at 18 years old I’m in the Top 10, and to do it [at] the same age as my idol Rafa is impressive,” he said. And the teenager is hoping to replicate more of Nadal’s success as a five-time year-end No 1, a 21-time Grand Slam champion and an Olympic champion in both singles and doubles, as he added: “I’d like to be World No 1, a Grand Slam champion, winner of Olympic medals… I dream big.” 

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