Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal i Parera (IPA: [rafaˈel naˈðal]) (born June 3, 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player who has been ranked World No. 1 since 18 August 2008.

Nadal has won five Grand Slam singles titles and the 2008 Olympic gold medal. He captured four consecutive French Opens from 2005 through 2008 and Wimbledon in 2008. He is the only man other than Björn Borg to have won four consecutive French Open titles, one of only three men in the open era who won both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same calendar year, only the second male Spaniard to have won Wimbledon, and the only man who entered the Olympics ranked in the top five to win a gold medal in singles.

For much of his career, Nadal has had a rivalry with Roger Federer. He was ranked World No. 2 behind Federer for a record 160 weeks before earning the top spot.Nadal has won 12 of their 18 singles matches, including four of their six Grand Slam finals.

Nadal has been especially successful on clay courts. He has a 22–1 record in clay court tournament finals and is undefeated in 41 best-of-five-set matches on clay. In each of the last four years, he has won both the French Open and two clay court Masters Series tournaments. He also owns the longest single-surface winning streak in the open era, having won 81 consecutive matches on clay from April 2005 to May 2007. As a result, some tennis critics and top players already regard him as the greatest clay-court player of all time

Roger Federer

Roger Federer (pronounced /ˈrɒdʒə ˈfɛdərər/; born August 8, 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 2. He was the World No. 1 ranked player for a record 237 consecutive weeks from February 2, 2004 through August 17, 2008. Federer's success has prompted a number of tennis critics, legendary players, and current players to consider him to be the greatest tennis player in history.

Federer has won twelve Grand Slam singles titles (three Australian Open, five Wimbledon, four US Open), four Tennis Masters Cup titles, and fourteen ATP Masters Series titles. Federer holds many records in the game, including having appeared in ten consecutive Grand Slam men's singles finals (2005 Wimbledon Championships through the 2007 US Open) and eighteen consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals (2004 Wimbledon - 2008 US Open). He also holds the open era records for consecutive wins on both grass courts (65) and hard courts (56). At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Federer won the men's doubles gold medal for Switzerland, partnering with Stanislas Wawrinka. He has a storied rivalry with Rafael Nadal, who succeeded him as the World No. 1 player.