2016 Rafael Nadal tennis season

2016 Rafael Nadal tennis season
Name	Rafael Nadal Parera
Country	Spain
Calendar prize money	$2,197,224 + $24,427
Singles
Season record	29–8 (78.38%)
Calendar titles	2
Current ranking	No. 5
Ranking change from previous year
Grand Slam results
Australian Open	1R
Doubles
Season record	2–2 (50%)
Current ranking	145
Ranking change from previous year	59
Injuries
Injuries	Wrist injury suffered on May 28
	Last updated on: 5 May 2016.

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The 2016 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on 4 January 2016 with the start of the 2016 Qatar Open.

Year in detail

Australian Open Series

Qatar Open

Nadal began his year at the Qatar Open. He faced compatriot Pablo Carreño Busta in the first round and managed a comeback by defeating him in three sets. He then defeated Robin Haase in straight sets but then required three sets to defeat Andrey Kuznetsov in the quarter-finals. Nadal then defeated Illya Marchenko in the semifinals in straight sets to advance to the final, where he faced Novak Djokovic for the title. Nadal lost in straight sets, winning just three games, and thus lost his lead in his head-to-head record against Djokovic for the first time.

Australian Open

Nadal suffered a shocking defeat in the first round of the 2016 Australian Open at the hands of his compatriot Fernando Verdasco in five gruelling sets. This marked only the second time in his entire professional career that he has lost in the first round of a grand slam singles tournament. The only other first round loss was to Steve Darcis at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships.

South American Clay Court Season

Argentina Open

After receiving a bye in the first round, Nadal reached the semifinals of the Argentina Open by defeating Juan Monaco and Paolo Lorenzi respectively in straight sets. However, he lost to an in-form young-gun Dominic Thiem in the semifinals in three sets after squandering 2 match points.

Rio Open

Nadal opens his Rio Open campaign by defeating compatriots Pablo Carreno Busta and Nicolas Almagro respectively in straight sets to book his place in the quarterfinals. He got a walkthrough to the semifinals after Alexandr Dolgopolov withdrew due to a right-shoulder injury. He eventually lost to Pablo Cuevas in the semifinals.

March Masters

Indian Wells Masters

After receiving a bye in the first round, Nadal recorded his first win after changing back to his old racket against Gilles Müller in three tight sets and booked his place in the fourth round winning his rematch against Fernando Verdasco in straight sets. Nadal reaches the quarterfinals for the second straight year after saving a match point against rising star Alexander Zverev to beat him in three gruelling-sets. He defeated Kei Nishikori in straight sets for his first top 10 win of the season to advance to the semifinals. He lost to Novak Djokovic 7–6, 6–2 in the semifinal after squandering a set point on Djokovic's serve in the first set making their head-to-head record 25–23 in Djokovic's favor.

Miami Masters

After a bye in the first round, Nadal lost to Damir Džumhur in the second round, retiring in the third set of their match citing dizziness due to the extreme heat at the end of the first set.

European Clay Court Season

Monte-Carlo Masters

After receiving a bye in the first round, Nadal defeated Aljaz Bedene in straight sets and faced a more stringent test in the third round against the in-form talented Dominic Thiem. After two hours on the court, Nadal came out victorious, beating Thiem in straight sets 7–5, 6–3. Nadal reached the semifinals of the Monte Carlo Rolex Masters for the 2nd straight year after a dominant straight sets win in the quarterfinals against 2015 French Open champion Stan Wawrinka. After dropping the first set in the semifinals 2–6 to world #2 Andy Murray, Nadal rallied to beat Murray 6–4, 6–2, upping his head-to-head record against Murray to 17–6. In the final, Nadal defeated an in-form Gaël Monfils in three tough sets, winning 7–5, 5–7, 6–0 to claim his 9th Monte Carlo masters trophy, ending a nearly 2-years Masters 1000 title drought since his last Masters title in Madrid 2014. After leading the Masters 1000 title tally for several years Nadal was surpassed by Novak Djokovic in Miami 2016 but the Monte Carlo win ensures that Nadal is again tied with Djokovic for a record of 28 masters titles.

Barcelona Open

After a first round bye, Nadal continued his dominant form by dispatching compatriots Marcel Granollers and Albert Montanes in straight sets to proceed to the Quarterfinals. Nadal faced his last year nemesis Fabio Fognini who defeated him 3 times last year and, despite a comeback from a more competitive Fognini in the 2nd set, managed to close out the match in the 2nd set tiebreak in straight sets. Nadal reaches his 101st final beating German Philipp Kohlschreiber in a one-sided contest, winning in straight sets. He defeated two-time defending champion Kei Nishikori in the final 6–4, 7–5, winning the tournament without dropping a single set and winning a record 9th Barcelona Open and equalling the record of most clay court titles won with Guillermo Vilas with 49 clay court titles.

Madrid Open

After receiving a first round bye, Nadal put on a superb display against Russian Andrey Kuznetsov, beating him in straight sets along with Sam Querrey, dispatching him in a hard-fought straight sets win, nearly going 1–5 down in the first set after fending off a break point in his own serve in the 5th game and then winning 5 straight games to clinch the first set and reach the quarterfinals. Nadal progresses to the semis beating an in-form Joao Sousa in three-sets despite winning the first set in a bagel. He lost to Andy Murray in the semifinal with a score of 7–5, 6–4.

Italian Open

Nadal received an unfavorable draw and, after a bye in the first round, Nadal faced Phillip Kohlschreiber and beat him 6–3, 6–3. Nadal then faced Nick Kyrgios who famously beat Nadal at the 2014 Wimbledon and, despite Kyrgios winning the first set in a tiebreak, Nadal swooped the last 2 sets, breaking Kyrgios 3 times and winning in three sets to book his place in the quarterfinals, where he was beaten by Novak Djokovic in what was one of the best matches they've had since the 2014 Roland Garros final, despite Nadal losing in 2 tight straight sets.

French Open

Nadal gained a top 4 seeding for his French Open campaign after Federer withdrew with a back injury which guaranteed he won't be meeting Djokovic until the semifinals. Nadal defeated Sam Groth in the first round 6-1 6-1 6-1. In the second round, Nadal defeated Facundo Bagnis. However, Nadal was forced to withdraw a day before his 3rd round match due to a wrist injury.

All matches

**Key**
W	F	SF	QF	R#	RR	Q#	A	P	Z#	PO	G	F-S	SF-B	NMS	NH

(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent from tournament; played in a (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; won a (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; or (NH) tournament not held.

To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated either at the conclusion of a tournament, or when the player's participation in the tournament has ended.

Singles matches

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent (Seed or Key)	Rank	Result	Score
Qatar Open Doha, Qatar Template:Tennis category name Hard, outdoor 4 – 10 January 2016
	1 / 928	1R	Pablo Carreño	67	Win	6–7^(5–7), 6–3, 6–1
	2 / 929	2R	Robin Haase	66	Win	6–3, 6–2
	3 / 930	QF	Andrey Kuznetsov	79	Win	6–3, 5–7, 6–4
	4 / 931	SF	Illya Marchenko	94	Win	6–3, 6–4
	5 / 932	F	Novak Djokovic (1)	1	Loss (1)	1–6, 2–6Template:Tennis sm match last
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Template:Tennis category name Hard, outdoor 18 – 31 January 2016
	6 / 933	1R	Fernando Verdasco	47	Loss	6–7^(6–8), 6–4, 6–3, 6–7^(4–7), 2–6Template:Tennis sm match last
Argentina Open Buenos Aires, Argentina Template:Tennis category name Clay, outdoor 8 – 14 February 2016
	–	1R	Bye
	7 / 934	2R	Juan Mónaco	55	Win	6–4, 6–4
	8 / 935	QF	Paolo Lorenzi	52	Win	7–6^(7–3), 6–2
	9 / 936	SF	Dominic Thiem (5)	19	Loss	4–6, 6–4, 6–7^(4–7)Template:Tennis sm match last
Rio Open Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Template:Tennis category name Clay, outdoor 15 – 21 February 2016
	10 / 937	1R	Pablo Carreño	66	Win	6–1, 6–4
	11 / 938	2R	Nicolás Almagro	53	Win	6–3, 7–5
	–	QF	Alexandr Dolgopolov	33	Walkover	N/A
	12 / 939	SF	Pablo Cuevas	45	Loss	7–6^(8–6), 6–7^(3–7), 4–6Template:Tennis sm match last
BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells, United States Template:Tennis category name Hard, outdoor 10 – 20 March 2016
	–	1R	Bye
	13 / 940	2R	Gilles Müller	45	Win	6–2, 2–6, 6–4
	14 / 941	3R	Fernando Verdasco	65	Win	6–0, 7–6^(11–9)
	15 / 942	4R	Alexander Zverev	58	Win	6–7^(8–10), 6–0, 7–5
	16 / 943	QF	Kei Nishikori (5)	6	Win	6–4, 6–3
	17 / 944	SF	Novak Djokovic (1)	1	Loss	6–7^(5–7), 2–6Template:Tennis sm match last
Miami Open Miami, United States Template:Tennis category name Hard, outdoor 24 March – 3 April 2016
	–	1R	Bye
	18 / 945	2R	Damir Džumhur	94	Loss	6–2, 4–6, 0–3 ret.Template:Tennis sm match last
Monte-Carlo Masters Monte-Carlo, Monaco Template:Tennis category name Clay, outdoor 11 – 17 April 2016
	–	1R	Bye
	19 / 946	2R	Aljaz Bedene	60	Win	6–3, 6–3
	20 / 947	3R	Dominic Thiem (12)	14	Win	7–5, 6–3
	21 / 948	QF	Stan Wawrinka (4)	4	Win	6–1, 6–4
	22 / 949	SF	Andy Murray (2)	2	Win	2–6, 6–4, 6–2
	23 / 950	W	Gaël Monfils (13)	16	Win (1)	7–5, 5–7, 6–0Template:Tennis sm match last
2016 Barcelona Open Barcelona, Spain Template:Tennis category name Clay, outdoor 18 – 24 April 2016
	–	1R	Bye
	24 / 951	2R	Marcel Granollers	50	Win	6–3, 6–2
	25 / 952	3R	Albert Montanes	104	Win	6–2, 6–2
	26 / 953	QF	Fabio Fognini (12)	31	Win	6–2, 7–6^(7–1)
	27 / 954	SF	Philipp Kohlschreiber (10)	27	Win	6–3, 6–3
	28 / 955	W	Kei Nishikori (2)	6	Win (2)	6–4, 7–5Template:Tennis sm match last
Madrid Open Madrid, Spain Template:Tennis category name Clay,outdoor 1 – 8 May 2016
	–	1R	Bye
	29 / 956	2R	Andrey Kuznetsov	39	Win	6–3, 6–3
	30 / 957	3R	Sam Querrey	37	Win	6–4, 6–2
	31 / 958	QF	Joao Sousa	35	Win	6–0, 4–6, 6–3
	32 / 959	SF	Andy Murray (2)	2	Loss	5–7, 4–6Template:Tennis sm match last
Italian Open Rome, Italy Template:Tennis category name Clay,outdoor 9 – 15 May 2016
	–	1R	Bye
	33 / 960	2R	Philipp Kohlschreiber	26	Win	6–3, 6–3
	34 / 961	3R	Nick Kyrgios	20	Win	6–7^(3–7), 6–2, 6–4
	35 / 962	QF	Novak Djokovic (1)	1	Loss	5–7, 6–7^(4–7)Template:Tennis sm match last
French Open Paris, France Template:Tennis category name Clay,outdoor 22 May – 5 June 2016
	36 / 963	1R	Sam Groth	95	Win	6–1, 6–1, 6–1
	37 / 964	2R	Facundo Bagnis	99	Win	6–3, 6–0, 6–3
	–	3R	Marcel Granollers	56	Withdrew	N/ATemplate:Tennis sm match last

Doubles matches

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponents (Seed or Key)	Ranks	Result	Score
Qatar Open Doha, Qatar Template:Tennis category name Hard, outdoor 4 – 10 January 2016 Partner: Fernando Verdasco
	1 / 190	1R	Teymuraz Gabashvili / Albert Ramos	#130 / #605	Loss	7–6^(7–3), 4–6, [9–11]Template:Tennis sm match last
BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells, United States Template:Tennis category name Hard, outdoor 10 – 20 March 2016 Partner: Fernando Verdasco
	2 / 191	1R	Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan	#5 / #6	Loss	6–3, 5–7, [8–10]Template:Tennis sm match last
Miami Open Miami, United States Template:Tennis category name Hard, outdoor 24 March – 3 April 2016 Partner: Fernando Verdasco
	3 / 192	1R	Simone Bolelli / Andreas Seppi	#22 / #80	Win	6–3, 6–4
	4 / 193	2R	John Isner / Nicholas Monroe	#120 / #53	Withdrew	N/ATemplate:Tennis sm match last
Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Monaco Template:Tennis category name Clay, outdoor 9-17 April 2016 Partner: Fernando Verdasco
	5 / 194	1R	Philipp Kohlschreiber / Viktor Troicki	#250 / #177	Win	6–4, 6–2
	6 / 195	2R	Pierre-Hugues Herbert / Nicolas Mahut	#8 / #5	Withdrew	N/ATemplate:Tennis sm match last

Tournament schedule

Singles schedule

Nadal's 2016 singles tournament schedule is as follows: (Bolded letter indicates better or same result at the tournament)

Date	Tournament	Location	Category	Surface¹	Outcome 2015	Outcome 2016	Prev. Pts	New Pts²
04 – 10 Jan 2016	Qatar Open	Doha, Qatar	ATP World Tour 250	Hard	1R	F	0	150
18 – 31 Jan 2016	Australian Open	Melbourne, Australia	Grand Slam	Hard	QF	1R	360	10
08 – 14 Feb 2016	Argentina Open	Buenos Aires, Argentina	ATP World Tour 250	Clay	W	SF	250	90
15 – 21 Feb 2016	Rio Open	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	ATP World Tour 500	Clay	SF	SF	180	180
10 – 20 Mar 2016	Indian Wells Masters	Indian Wells, United States	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard	QF	SF	180	360
24 Mar – 3 April 2016	Miami Masters	Miami, United States	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard	3R	2R	45	10
9-17 April 2016	Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters	Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Monaco	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Clay	SF	W	360	1000
16 – 24 April 2016	Barcelona Open	Barcelona, Spain	ATP World Tour 500	Clay	3R	W	45	500
29 April – 8 May 2016	Madrid Open	Madrid, Spain	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Clay	F	SF	600	360
9 – 15 May 2016	Italian Open	Rome, Italy	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Clay	QF	QF	180	180
16 May – 05 June 2016	French Open	Paris, France	Grand Slam	Clay	QF	3R	360	90
04 – 12 June 2016	Stuttgart Open	Stuttgart, Germany	ATP World Tour 250	Grass	W	'	250
13 – 19 June 2016	Queen's Club Championships	London, United Kingdom	ATP World Tour 500	Grass	1R	'	0
27 June – 10 July 2016	Wimbledon Championships	London, United Kingdom	Grand Slam	Grass	2R		45
9 - 17 July 2016	German Open	Hamburg, Germany	ATP World Tour 500	Clay	W	'	500
23 – 31 July 2016	Canadian Open	Montreal, Canada	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard	QF	'	180
04 – 14 Aug 2016	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil		Hard	N/A	'	0
13 – 21 Aug 2016	Cincinnati Masters	Cincinnati, United States	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard	3R	'	90
29 Aug – 11 Sep 2016	US Open	New York City, United States	Grand Slam	Hard	3R	'	90
03 – 9 Oct 2016	China Open	Beijing, China	ATP World Tour 500	Hard	F	'	300
08 – 16 Oct 2016	Shanghai Masters	Shanghai, China	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard	SF	'	360
24 - 30 Oct 2016	Swiss Indoors	Basel, Switzerland	ATP World Tour 500	Hard (i)	F	'	300
31 Oct – 06 Nov 2016	Paris Masters	Paris, France	ATP World Tour Masters 1000	Hard (i)	QF	'	180
13 – 20 Nov 2016	ATP World Tour Finals	London, United Kingdom	ATP World Tour Finals	Hard (i)	SF	'	600
Total							5230	2840

¹ The symbol (i) = indoors means that the respective tournament will be held indoors.

² The ATP numbers between brackets = non-countable tournaments.

Yearly records

Head-to-head matchups

Rafael Nadal has a 29–8 (78.38% of wins) match win-loss record in the 2016 season. His record against players who were part of the ATP Rankings Top Ten at the time of their meetings was 4–4 (50% of wins). The following list is ordered by number of wins: (Bolded number marks a top 10 player at the time of match, Italic means top 30)

3

Finals

Singles: 3 (2–1)

Category
Grand Slam (0–0)
Summer Olympic Games (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (1–0)
ATP World Tour 500 (1–0)
ATP World Tour 250 (0–1)

Titles by surface
Hard (0–1)
Clay (2–0)
Grass (0–0)

Titles by conditions
Outdoors (2–1)
Indoors (0–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Runner-up	32.	January 10, 2016	Qatar Open, Qatar	Hard	Novak Djokovic	1–6, 2–6
Winner	68.	April 17, 2016	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Clay	Gaël Monfils	7–5, 5–7, 6–0
Winner	69.	April 24, 2016	Barcelona Open	Clay	Kei Nishikori	6–4, 7–5

Earnings

Bold font denotes tournament win

#	Venue	Singles Prize Money	Year-to-date
1.	2016 Qatar ExxonMobil Open	$105,940	$105,940
2.	2016 Australian Open	A$38,500	$132,347
3.	2016 Argentina Open	$26,570	$158,917
4.	2016 Rio Open	$70,735	$229,652
5.	2016 Indian Wells Masters	$251,500	$481,152
6.	2016 Miami Masters	$19,530	$500,682
7.	2016 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters	€717,315	$1,317,919
8.	2016 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell	€460,000	$1,836,753
9.	2016 Mutua Madrid Open	€225,300	$2,094,586
10.	2016 Internazionali BNL d'Italia	€90,010	$2,197,224
11.	2016 French Open	€	$

References

v t e Rafael Nadal
Entourage	Miguel Ángel Nadal (uncle) Toni Nadal (uncle and coach)
Career	Achievements Big Four Statistics Rivalry with Roger Federer Rivalry with Novak Djokovic Rivalry with Andy Murray
Milestones	46-match winning streak at the Monte-Carlo Masters
Notable matches	2007 Wimbledon final 2008 Wimbledon final 2009 Australian Open final 2012 Australian Open final 2012 French Open final
Exhibition matches	Battle of Surfaces Match for Africa and Joining Forces for the Benefit of Children
Seasons	2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Australian Open	2009
French Open	2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Wimbledon	2008 2010
US Open	2010 2013
World Tour Finals	Nil
Indan Wells	2007 2009 2013
Miami	Nil
Monte Carlo	2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2016
Roma	2005 2006 2007 2009 2010 2012 2013
Madrid	2008 2010 2013 2014
Toronto / Montreal	2005 2008 2013
Cincinnati	2013
Shanghai	2005
Paris	Nil
Olympics Gold	2008
Davis Cup	2004 2008 2009 2011
Rafael Nadal Official Website