The 2006 Rafael Nadal tennis season started in February as Nadal missed the Australian Open because of a foot injury. Nadal won five singles titles in 2006.

Hard court In February, Nadal lost in the semifinals of the first tournament he played, the Open 13 tournament in Marseille, France. Two weeks later, he handed Roger Federer his first loss of the year in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships (in 2006, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray were the only two men who defeated Federer), thus ending Federer's 56-match winning streak on hard courts. To complete the spring hard-court season, Nadal was upset in both the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters by James Blake, and in the second round of the Miami Masters by Carlos Moyá, who thus ended Nadal's 22-match win streak over fellow Spaniard players.

Clay season On European clay, Nadal won all four tournaments he entered and 24 consecutive matches. He defeated Federer in the final of the Monte Carlo Masters in four sets. The following week, he defeated Tommy Robredo in the final of the Open Sabadell Atlántico tournament in Barcelona. After a one-week break, Nadal won the Italian Masters, defeating Federer in a fifth-set tiebreaker in the final, after saving two match points and equaling Björn Borg's tally of 16 ATP titles won as a teenager. Nadal 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. Vilas presented Nadal with a trophy, but commented later that Nadal's feat was less impressive than his own because Nadal's winning streak covered two years and was accomplished by adding easy tournaments to his schedule.

Nadal went on to face Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, the first-ever meeting of their historic rivalry, which Nadal won via a retirement from Djokovic after Nadal took the first two sets. He then beat Ivan Ljubičić to set up a final against Federer. The first two sets of the match were hardly competitive, as the rivals traded 6–1 sets. Nadal won the third set easily and served for the match in the fourth set before Federer broke him and forced a tiebreaker. Nadal won the tiebreaker and became the first player to defeat Federer in a Grand Slam tournament final.

Nadal injured his shoulder while playing a quarterfinal match against Lleyton Hewitt at the Artois Championships, played on grass at the Queen's Club in London. Nadal was unable to complete the match, which ended his 26-match winning streak.

Wimbledon Nadal was seeded second at Wimbledon, but was two points from defeat against American qualifier Robert Kendrick in the second round before coming back to win in five sets. In the third round, Nadal defeated world No. 20 Andre Agassi in straight sets in Agassi's last career match at Wimbledon. Nadal also won his next three matches in straight sets, which set up his first Wimbledon final, which was against Federer, who had won this tournament the three previous years. Nadal was the first Spanish man since Manuel Santana in 1966, to reach the Wimbledon final, but Federer won the match in four sets to win his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.

US Open Series During the lead up to the US Open, Nadal played the two Masters Series tournaments in North America. He was upset in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto and in the quarterfinals of the Cincinnati Masters by Juan Carlos Ferrero. Nadal was seeded second at the US Open, but lost in the quarterfinals to world No. 54 Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in four sets.

Nadal played only three tournaments for the remainder of the year. Joachim Johansson, ranked world No. 690, upset Nadal in the second round of the Stockholm Open. The following week, Nadal lost to Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals of the year's last Masters Series tournament, the Madrid Masters. During the round-robin stage of the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup, Nadal lost to James Blake but defeated Nikolay Davydenko and Robredo. Because of those two victories, Nadal qualified for the semifinals, where he lost to Federer. This was Nadal's third loss in nine career matches with Federer.

Singles matches

Tournament Match Round Opponent Rank Result Score Open 13Marseille, FranceATP World Tour 250Hard, indoor13–19 February 2006 1 / 164 1R Olivier Rochus 30 4–6, 6–2, 7–5 2 / 165 2R Gilles Simon 80 7–5, 6–4 3 / 166 QF Paul-Henri Mathieu 35 7–5, 6–4 4 / 167 SF Arnaud Clément 65 6–2, 3–6, 5–7 Dubai Tennis ChampionshipsDubai, U. A. E.ATP World Tour 500Hard, outdoor27 February – 5 March 2006 5 / 168 1R Paul-Henri Mathieu 34 6–7(5–7), 6–1, 6–2 – 2R Younes El Aynaoui 211 (W/O) 6 / 169 QF Tim Henman 49 7–6(7–1), 6–1 7 / 170 SF Rainer Schüttler 98 6–4, 6–2 8 / 171 W Roger Federer 1 2–6, 6–4, 6–4 Pacific Life OpenIndian Wells, United StatesATP World Tour Masters 1000Hard, outdoor6–19 March 2006 – 1R Bye 9 / 172 2R Jan Hernych 87 6–4, 6–4 10 / 173 3R Mardy Fish 294 6–1, 6–4 11 / 174 4R Sébastien Grosjean 22 6–4, 6–2 12 / 175 QF Marcos Baghdatis 27 7–5, 6–0 13 / 176 SF James Blake 14 5–7, 3–6 Sony Ericsson OpenMiami, United StatesATP World Tour Masters 1000Hard, outdoor20 March – 2 April 2006 – 1R Bye 14 / 177 2R Carlos Moyá 35 6–2, 1–6, 1–6 Monte Carlo MastersMonte Carlo, MonacoATP World Tour Masters 1000Clay, outdoor15–23 April 2006 15 / 178 1R Arnaud Clément 56 6–4, 6–4 16 / 179 2R Jean-Rene Lisnard 154 6–4, 6–1 17 / 180 3R Kristof Vliegen 57 6–3, 6–3 18 / 181 QF Guillermo Coria 9 6–2, 6–1 19 / 182 SF Gastón Gaudio 8 5–7, 6–1, 6–1 20 / 183 W Roger Federer 1 6–2, 6–7(2–7), 6–3, 7–6(7–5) Torneo GodoBarcelona, SpainATP World Tour 500Clay, outdoor24–30 April 2006 – 1R Bye 21 / 184 2R Feliciano López 38 6–4, 6–2 22 / 185 3R Iván Navarro 164 6–4, 6–2 23 / 186 QF Jarkko Nieminen 16 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 24 / 187 SF Nicolás Almagro 57 7–6(7–2), 6–3 25 / 188 W Tommy Robredo 15 6–4, 6–4, 6–0 Internazionali BNL d'ItaliaRome, ItalyATP World Tour Masters 1000Clay, outdoor8–14 May 2006 28 / 189 1R Carlos Moyá 33 6–1, 2–6, 6–2 27 / 190 2R Filippo Volandri 46 6–1, 6–2 28 / 191 3R Tim Henman 70 6–2, 6–2 29 / 192 QF Fernando González 9 6–4, 6–3 30 / 193 SF Gaël Monfils 35 6–2, 6–2 31 / 194 W Roger Federer 1 6–7(0–7), 7–6(7–5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(7–5) French OpenParis, FranceGrand SlamClay, outdoor29 May – 11 June 2006 32 / 195 1R Robin Söderling 50 6–2, 7–5, 6–1 33 / 196 2R Kevin Kim 116 6–2, 6–1, 6–4 34 / 197 3R Paul-Henri Mathieu 32 5–7, 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 35 / 198 4R Lleyton Hewitt 14 6–2, 5–7, 6–4, 6–2 36 / 199 QF Novak Djokovic 63 6–4, 6–4 RET 37 / 200 SF Ivan Ljubičić 4 6–4, 6–2, 7–6(9–7) 38 / 201 W Roger Federer 1 1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6(7–4) Stella Artois ChampionshipsLondon, United KingdomATP World Tour 250Grass, outdoor12–18 June 2006 – 1R Bye 39 / 202 2R Mardy Fish 86 7–6(7–1), 6–1 40 / 203 3R Fernando Verdasco 30 2–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–3) 41 / 204 QF Lleyton Hewitt 13 6–3, 3–6 RET The Championships, WimbledonWimbledon, United KingdomGrand SlamGrass, outdoor26 June – 9 July 2006 42 / 205 1R Alex Bogdanovic 135 6–4, 7–6(7–3), 6–4 43 / 206 2R Robert Kendrick 237 6–7(4–7), 3–6, 7–6(7–2), 7–5, 6–4 44 / 207 3R Andre Agassi 20 7–6(7–5), 6–2, 6–4 45 / 208 4R Irakli Labadze 166 6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–3 46 / 209 QF Jarkko Nieminen 18 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 47 / 210 SF Marcos Baghdatis 16 6–1, 7–5, 6–3 48 / 211 F Roger Federer 1 0–6, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–2), 3–6 Rogers CupMontreal, CanadaATP World Tour Masters 1000Hard, outdoor7–13 August 2006 49 / 212 1R Nicolás Massú 38 6–3, 6–2 50 / 213 2R Hyung-Taik Lee 85 6–4, 6–3 51 / 214 3R Tomáš Berdych 14 1–6, 6–3, 2–6 Western & Southern Financial Group MastersCincinnati, United StatesATP World Tour Masters 1000Hard, outdoor14–20 August 2006 52 / 215 1R Sam Querrey 178 6–7(5–7), 6–2, 6–3 53 / 216 2R Hyung-Taik Lee 73 6–4, 6–3 54 / 217 3R Tommy Haas 17 7–6(7–5), 6–3 55 / 218 QF Juan Carlos Ferrero 31 6–7(2–7), 6–7(3–7) US OpenNew York, USAGrand SlamHard, outdoor28 August – 10 September 2006 56 / 219 1R Mark Phillipoussis 113 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 57 / 220 2R Luis Horna 61 6–4, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2 58 / 221 3R Wesley Moodie 82 6–4, 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–5) 59 / 222 4R Jiří Novák 179 6–1, 7–6(7–3), 6–4 60 / 223 QF Mikhail Youzhny 54 3–6, 7–5, 6–7(5–7), 1–6 Davis Cup, ITA v/s ESP World Group Play Offs Davis Cup Clay, outdoor 18–24 September 2006 61 / 224 RR Andreas Seppi 69 6–0, 6–4, 6–3 62 / 225 RR Filippo Volandri 38 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–3 If Stockholm OpenStockholm, SwedenATP World Tour 250Hard, indoor9–15 October 2006 63 / 226 1R Raemon Sluiter 90 6–4, 6–2 64 / 227 2R Joachim Johansson 690 4–6, 6–7(4–7) Mutua Madrileña Masters MadridMadrid, SpainATP World Tour Masters 1000Hard, indoor 16–22 October 2006 – 1R Bye 65 / 228 2R Mardy Fish 54 6–4, 6–2 66 / 229 3R Tommy Haas 13 6–4, 6–3 67 / 230 QF Tomáš Berdych 11 3–6, 6–7(6–8) Tennis Masters Cup Shanghai, China Year-end Championships Hard, indoor 13–19 November 2006 68 / 231 RR James Blake 8 4–6, 6–7(0–7) 69 / 232 RR Tommy Robredo 6 7–6(7–2), 6–2 70 / 233 RR Nikolay Davydenko 3 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 71 / 234 SF Roger Federer 1 4–6, 5–7

Year end ranking Nadal went on to become the first player since Andre Agassi in 1994–95 to finish the year as the world No. 2 in consecutive years.

See also 2006 ATP Tour 2006 Roger Federer tennis season

References

External links

ATP tour profile