The 2005 Rafael Nadal tennis season is regarded as one of the greatest seasons of all time by a teenager. Nadal won a career-best 11 singles titles, including then-season-record 4 Masters 1000 titles and his maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open on his first attempt, making him the first teenager since Pete Sampras (1990 US Open) to win a major. He finished the year with 79 calendar match wins, the most by any teenager in ATP Tour history, and the world No. 2 ranking. He was awarded the ATP Most Improved Player of the Year award.

Australian Open At the 2005 Australian Open, Nadal lost in the fourth round to eventual runner-up Lleyton Hewitt.

Hard court Nadal reached the final of the 2005 Miami Masters, and despite being two points from a straight-sets victory, he was defeated in five sets by Roger Federer.

Clay court Nadal dominated the 2005 clay court season. He won 24 consecutive singles matches, which broke Andre Agassi's Open Era record of consecutive match wins for a male teenager. Nadal won the Torneo Conde de Godó in Barcelona and beat 2004 French Open runner-up Guillermo Coria in the finals of the 2005 Monte Carlo Masters and the 2005 Rome Masters. During the Rome quarterfinals against Radek Štěpánek, Nadal hit what is considered by many as the greatest shot of his career, a no-look, running passing shot near the net. These victories raised his ranking to world No. 5 and made him one of the favorites at his career-first French Open. On his 19th birthday, Nadal defeated Federer in the 2005 French Open semifinals, as one of only four players who defeated the world No. 1 that year (along with Marat Safin, Richard Gasquet, and David Nalbandian). Two days later, he defeated Mariano Puerta in the final, becoming the second male player after Mats Wilander to win the French Open on his first attempt. He also became the first male teenager to win a Grand Slam singles title since Pete Sampras won the 1990 US Open at age 19. Winning the French Open improved Nadal's ranking to world No. 3.

Reflecting on Puerta's confirmed doping during the 2005 final, Nadal later stated that as the rightful champion, he was not overly concerned by this revelation. He acknowledged, however, that Puerta's previous opponents may have felt robbed of their opportunity to compete fairly.https://www.lanacion.com.ar/deportes/fue-mentira-a-15-anos-su-doping-nid2410713/

Grass court Three days after his victory in Paris, Nadal's 24-match winning streak was snapped in the first round of the grass court Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany, where he lost to the German Alexander Waske. He then lost in the second round of 2005 Wimbledon to Gilles Müller of Luxembourg.

Summer hard court Immediately after Wimbledon, Nadal won 16 consecutive matches and three consecutive tournaments, bringing his ranking to world No. 2 on 25 July 2005. Nadal started his North American summer hard-court season by defeating Agassi in the final of the 2005 Canada Masters, but lost in the first round of the 2005 Cincinnati Masters. Nadal was seeded second at the 2005 US Open, where he was upset in the third round by world No. 49 James Blake in four sets.

In September, he defeated Coria in the final of the China Open in Beijing and won both of his Davis Cup matches against Italy. In October, he won his fourth ATP Masters Series title of the year, defeating Ivan Ljubičić in the final of the 2005 Madrid Masters. He then suffered a foot injury and was diagnosed with Mueller–Weiss syndrome, which prevented him from competing at the Paris Masters and the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup.

Both Nadal and Federer won eleven singles titles and four ATP Masters Series titles in 2005. Nadal broke Mats Wilander's previous teenage record of nine in 1983. Eight of Nadal's titles were on clay, and the remainder were on hard courts. Nadal won 79 matches, second only to Federer's 81.

Singles Matches

Tournament Match Round Opponent Rank Result Score Qatar OpenDoha, QatarATP World Tour 250Hard, outdoor3–9 January 2005 1 / 75 1R Mikhail Youzhny 16 6–3, 7–6(7–3) 2 / 76 2R Fernando Verdasco 36 6–2, 6–4 3 / 77 QF Ivan Ljubičić 22 2–6, 7–6(3–7), 3–6 Heineken OpenAuckland, New ZealandATP World Tour 250Hard, outdoor10–16 January 2005 4 / 78 1R Dominik Hrbatý 20 3–6 RET Australian OpenMelbourne, AustraliaGrand SlamHard, outdoor17–30 January 2005 5 / 79 1R Julien Benneteau 65 6–0, 6–4, 6–2 6 / 80 2R Mikhail Youzhny 15 6–1, 4–6, 4–6, 7–5, 6–3 7 / 81 3R Bobby Reynolds 283 6–1, 6–1, 6–3 8 / 82 4R Lleyton Hewitt 3 5–7, 6–3, 6–1, 6–7(3–7), 2–6 ATP Buenos AiresBuenos aires, ArgentinaATP World Tour 250Clay, outdoor7–13 February 2005 9 / 83 1R Agustín Calleri 61 7–6(7–2), 6–3 10 / 84 2R Potito Starace 66 6–1, 6–3 11 / 85 QF Gastón Gaudio 8 6–0, 0–6, 1–6 Brasil OpenSão Paulo, BrazilATP World Tour 250Clay, outdoor15–20 February 2005 12 / 86 1R José Acasuso55 7–6(7–1), 6–3 13 / 87 2R Álex Calatrava 86 6–3, 6–3 14 / 88 QF Agustín Calleri 60 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 6–4 15 / 89 SF Ricardo Mello 56 2–6, 6–2, 6–4 16 / 90 W Alberto Martín 61 6–0, 6–7(2–7), 6–1 Abierto Mexicano TelcelAcapulco, MexicoATP World Tour 500Clay, outdoor21–27 February 2005 17 / 91 1R Álex Calatrava 81 6–4, 6–4 18 / 92 2R Santiago Ventura 77 7–6, 6–2 19 / 93 QF Guillermo Cañas 12 7–5, 6–3 20 / 94 SF Mariano Puerta 74 6–4, 6–1 21 / 95 W Albert Montañés 95 6–1, 6–0 Miami OpenKey Biscayne, United StatesATP World Tour Masters 1000Hard, outdoor21 March – 3 April 2005 – 1R Bye 22 / 96 2R Rainer Schüttler 39 6–4, 7–6(7–5) 23 / 97 3R Fernando Verdasco 45 6–2, 6–2 24 / 98 4R Ivan Ljubičić 14 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–3 25 / 99 QF Thomas Johansson 27 6–2, 6–4 26 / 100 SF David Ferrer 44 6–4, 6–3 27 / 101 F Roger Federer 1 6–2, 7–6(7–4), 6–7(5–7), 3–6, 1–6 Open de Tenis Comunidad ValencianaValencia, SpainATP World Tour 250Clay, outdoor4–10 April 2005 28 / 102 1R Juan Carlos Ferrero 68 6–2, 6–1 29 / 103 2R Guillermo García López 80 6–1, 6–4 30 / 104 QF Igor Andreev 47 5–7, 2–6 Monte Carlo MastersMonte Carlo, MonacoATP World Tour Masters 1000Clay, outdoor11–17 April 2005 31 / 105 1R Gaël Monfils 106 6–3, 6–2 32 / 106 2R Xavier Malisse 38 6–0, 6–3 33 / 107 3R Olivier Rochus 42 6–1, 6–2 34 / 108 QF Gastón Gaudio 6 6–3, 6–0 35 / 109 SF Richard Gasquet 101 6–7(6–8), 6–4, 6–3 36 / 110 W Guillermo Coria 9 6–3, 6–1, 0–6, 7–5 Torneo GodoBarcelona, SpainATP World Tour 500Clay, outdoor18–24 April 2005 – 1R Bye 37 / 111 2R Gilles Müller 64 6–0, 6–2 38 / 112 3R Dominik Hrbatý 25 6–1, 6–2 39 / 113 QF Agustín Calleri 99 6–2, 3–0 RET 40 / 114 SF Radek Štěpánek 22 7–5, 6–2 41 / 115 W Juan Carlos Ferrero 58 6–1, 7–6(7–4), 6–3 Internazionali BNL d'ItaliaRome, ItalyATP World Tour Masters 1000Clay, outdoor2–8 May 2005 42 / 116 1R Mikhail Youzhny 26 6–0, 6–2 43 / 117 2R Victor Hănescu 85 6–1, 6–1 44 / 118 3R Guillermo Cañas 13 6–3, 6–1 45 / 119 QF Radek Štěpánek 17 5–7, 6–1, 6–1 46 / 120 SF David Ferrer 25 4–6, 6–4, 7–5 47 / 121 W Guillermo Coria 11 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6, 7–6(8–6) French OpenParis, FranceGrand SlamClay, outdoor23 May – 5 June 2005 48 / 122 1R Lars Burgsmüller 96 6–1, 7–6(7–4), 6–1 49 / 123 2R Xavier Malisse 46 6–2, 6–2, 6–4 50 / 124 3R Richard Gasquet 31 6–4, 6–3, 6–2 51 / 125 4R Sébastien Grosjean 24 6–4, 3–6, 6–0, 6–3 52 / 126 QF David Ferrer 21 7–5, 6–2, 6–0 53 / 127 SF Roger Federer 1 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 54 / 128 W Mariano Puerta 37 6–7(6–8), 6–3, 6–1, 7–5 Gerry Weber OpenHalle, GermanyATP World Tour 250Grass, outdoor6–12 June 2005 55 / 129 1R Alexander Waske 147 6–4, 5–7, 3–6 The Championships, WimbledonWimbledon, United KingdomGrand SlamGrass, outdoor20 June – 3 July 2005 56 / 130 1R Vincent Spadea 39 6–4, 6–3, 6–2 57 / 131 2R Gilles Müller 69 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6 Swedish OpenBåstad, SwedenATP World Tour 250Clay, outdoor4–10 July 2005 58 / 132 1R Juan Mónaco 66 6–1, 6–1 59 / 133 2R Alberto Martín 50 6–2, 6–4 60 / 134 QF Juan Carlos Ferrero 31 6–3, 6–3 61 / 135 SF Tommy Robredo 20 6–3, 6–3 62 / 136 W Tomáš Berdych 20 2–6, 6–2, 6–4 Stuttgart OpenStuttgart, GermanyATP World Tour 500Clay, outdoor18–24 July 2005 – 1R Bye 63 / 137 2R Hugo Armando 167 6–1, 6–2 64 / 138 3R Fernando Verdasco 58 6–3, 6–2 65 / 139 QF Tomáš Zíb 57 4–6, 6–4, 6–3 66 / 140 SF Jarkko Nieminen 66 6–2, 7–5 67 / 141 W Gastón Gaudio 13 6–3, 6–3, 6–4 Rogers CupMontreal, CanadaATP World Tour Masters 1000Hard, outdoor8–14 August 2005 68 / 142 1R Carlos Moyá 32 6–3, 6–7, 6–3 69 / 143 2R Ricardo Mello 56 6–1, 6–2 70 / 144 3R Sébastien Grosjean 34 6–4, 6–4 71 / 145 QF Mariano Puerta 11 6–3, 6–1 72 / 146 SF Paul-Henri Mathieu 63 6–4, 7–5 73 / 147 W Andre Agassi 7 6–3, 4–6, 6–2 Cincinnati MastersOhio, United StatesATP World Tour Masters 1000Hard, outdoor15–21 August 2005 74 / 148 1R Tomáš Berdych 36 7–6(7–4), 2–6, 6–7(3–7) US OpenMelbourne, AustraliaGrand SlamHard, outdoor29 August – 11 September 2005 75 / 149 1R Bobby Reynolds 132 6–3, 6–3, 6–4 76 / 150 2R Scoville Jenkins 352 6–4, 7–5, 6–4 77 / 151 3R James Blake 49 4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 1–6 China OpenBeijing, ChinaATP World Tour 250Hard, outdoor12–18 September 2005 78 / 152 1R Jimmy Wang 100 6–2, 6–4 79 / 153 2R Justin Gimelstob 95 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 80 / 154 QF Peter Wessels 115 7–6(7–3), 6–2 81 / 155 SF Juan Carlos Ferrero 23 6–4, 6–4 82 / 156 W Guillermo Coria 8 5–7, 6–1, 6–2 Davis Cup, ITA v/s ESP World Group Play Offs Davis Cup Clay, outdoor 19–25 September 2005 83 / 157 RR Daniele Bracciali 69 6–3, 6–2, 6–1 84 / 158 RR Andreas Seppi 78 6–1, 6–2, 5–7, 6–4 Madrid OpenMadrid, SpainATP World Tour Masters 1000Hard, indoor17–23 October 2005 – 1R Bye 85 / 159 2R Victor Hănescu 42 7–6(7–5), 6–3 86 / 160 3R Tommy Robredo 17 6–2, 6–4 87 / 161 QF Radek Štěpánek 14 7–6(11–9), 6–4 88 / 162 SF Robby Ginepri 21 7–5, 7–6(7–1) 89 / 163 W Ivan Ljubičić 7 3–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(7–3)

See also 2005 ATP Tour 2005 Roger Federer tennis season

References

External links

ATP tour profile