Rafael Nadal was a teenager on a mission in 2005, winning 11 ATP titles in one of the most celebrated seasons of his age. Making his Roland Garros debut, Nadal clinched his first Major title after beating Roger Federer and Mariano Puerta, writing the history books as the last teenager to hold a trophy at that level.
Nadal saved his best tennis for the Masters 1000, reaching the Miami final and winning the first ATP premium tour crown in Monte Carlo, followed by another in Rome. After Wimbledon, Rafa won two clay court titles and became the world No.
2 before Montreal. In Canada, the young Spaniard was the first seed in the absence of Roger Federer, seeking the first hard court title. Playing at a high level, Rafa only suffered a break against Carlos Moyá, Ricardo Mello, Sebastien Grosjean and Paul-Henri Mathieu to advance to the fourth Masters 1000 final of the season, where he faced an eight-time Grand Slam champion.
Andre Agassi. Youth trumped experience as Nadal posted a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 victory in one hour and 58 minutes to clinch the third Masters 1000 trophy. Rafa became the first teenager with nine ATP titles in a single season since Mats Wilander in 1983.
Rafa suffered only one break in the second set, and started again in the decider to beat the crowd favorite with three breaks. They had a similar number of winners, while Agassi made too many unforced errors. Rafa had a slight advantage in the longest exchanges against one of the best point guards in history, scoring ten more points in the shortest distance to forge the win.
“Winning the first ATP hard court tournament is important.”
Rafa Nadal had a fantastic season
Former World No. 7 Barbara Schett has shed light on Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer’s career longevity. Speaking to Eurosport, Schett said, “We all know that the way Rafa plays is very physical and the way he moves, the way he chases the ball like no one else.
And I think his willpower and his way of overcoming injuries and his pain threshold is so high that I never, I never thought his career would be so long. But, yes, i mean: he proved me wrong once again and i think a lot of people did too.
If you look at Roger Federer’s style of play compared to Rafa Nadal’s style of play, we always thought Roger was going to have a much longer career than Rafa Nadal, but that is not the case. And that’s the beautiful thing of tennis, you can’t foresee anything,” she added.
