Rafa Nadal recalls top moments of 2017

Rafa Nadal won his tenth French Open in 2017.

Rafa Nadal had a great 2017 season in which he won two Grand Slam titles – French Open and US Open – after an injury plagued 2016 with multiple knee injury concerns. He, like his long-time rival Roger Federer, dominated the field in a year which saw the usual suspects in Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray bear the brunt of long tennis seasons and suffer injuries of their own.

In an Instagram post, the Spaniard recounted the key moments and “great memories” of 2017 which feature his 10th French Open title – to make him the first player to win ten of the same Grand Slam. To further highlight the magnitude of this achievement, no player has won more than eight of the same Grand Slam titles – Federer won his eighth Wimbledon in the year.

Earlier in the year, in the tune up the Roland Garros event, he won a tenth Barcelona Open title. A week prior, he won the Monte Carlo crown for a tenth time to further highlight his sheer dominance over clay.

Later in the season, he moved on to win the US Open to pick up his 16th Grand Slam title. In the final, he beat Kevin Anderson in straight sets to pick up his third Slam title at Flushing Meadows.

During the year, he also played in the Laver Cup – a concept similar to golf’s Ryder Cup which pit Team Europe against Team World in which the former emerged triumphant. Nadal partnered Federer in one of the the doubles matches which generated plenty of interest.

He finished the season as World No 1, to reach the pinnacle of men’s tennis for a fourth time, at the age of 31 to become the oldest player to finish at the top. The Spaniard bagged the World No 1 ranking in Paris.

But at this stage, the knee injuries returned and he withdrew from Paris Masters. Having already qualified for the year-ending ATP Finals in London, he played the round robin match against David Goffin but withdrew right after. As the season enters 2018, he has not played in Abu Dhabi, Brisbane and Sydney but is slated to play at an exhibition tournament on January 10.