2017 Rafael Nadal tennis season

Having started the 2017 season defending his title in the World Tennis Championship, Nadal played his first competitive tournament of the season in Australia by taking part in the Brisbane International. His first match and win was against Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov. He beat Mischa Zverev in the next round, before losing to top-seed Milos Raonic in the quarter finals. He next played a FAST4 exhibition tournament in Sydney, which was run concurrently with the Apia International Sydney. He lost to Nick Kyrgios in his only match.

The 2017 Australian Open men's final

Nadal was seeded ninth in the first major of the year, the Australian Open. After two relatively easy rounds against Florian Mayer, and former finalist Marcos Baghdatis, he faced 19-year-old Alexander Zverev in the third round. He prevailed in a five-set match, twice coming back from one set down, after the youngster began suffering cramps in the final set. He defeated the French number one, and world number nine Gaël Monfils in four sets in the fourth round to reach his first quarterfinal since the 2015 French Open. In a rematch against Raonic, he won in straight sets. In the semifinal, he defeated rising Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov in a five-set match that lasted just under five hours to reach his first major final since the 2014 French Open. The Australian Open final was the 35th meeting between him and former world number one and long-time rival Roger Federer. Due to their storied rivalry, the advancing age of both players in their respective careers, critical speculation of this being their last Grand Slam finals contest against one another, and the potential tennis history made from either victory and subsequent implications on their respective legacies, the match, referred by the moniker 'Fedal XXXV',[1] was one of the most highly anticipated finals in not only the tournament's history but also all tennis history. The match went to five sets, but despite leading by a break in the final set, Nadal lost the match to Federer (who won his record-extending 18th major title) losing 5 games in a row.

Nadal's first scheduled tournament after the Australian Open was to be the Rotterdam Open in Rotterdam. However, he pulled out of this tournament citing fatigue. He decided to play the Mexican Open in Acapulco, and continued his impressive form by reaching the final without the loss of a set. In the first round, he defeated Mischa Zverev for the second time, before winning his second round match against Italian Paolo Lorenzi for the loss of just two games. In the quarterfinal, he eventually closed out Japanese upstart Yoshihito Nishioka despite struggling in the first set. He played eighth-ranked Croatian, Marin Čilić, in the semifinal, winning with the loss of only three games. However, he lost his second consecutive final of the season in two sets to American Sam Querrey.

In the first Masters 1000 of the season, the Indian Wells Masters, he was handed a difficult draw due to his low ranking, being placed in the same quarter as his closest rivals, Federer, and Novak Djokovic. He followed his opening round bye with relatively easy straight set victories over Guido Pella, and countryman Fernando Verdasco, before playing Federer once again; the Swiss winning in straight sets this time. He played his first competitive doubles matches of the year, partnering Bernard Tomic. They lost in the second round to the South African-American pairing of Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram.

Nadal then stayed in the United States to compete in the Miami Open. He won in straight sets against Israeli Dudi Sela, and then beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in three sets, despite winning no games in the first set. Two straight set victories over French doubles-specialist Nicolas Mahut, and Jack Sock took him to his first Masters 1000 semifinal since the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters last year. In the semifinal, he played world number 40, Fabio Fognini; the Italian famous for his comeback victory against Nadal at the 2015 US Open. The two had split their last six matches, but Nadal outclassed him in the first set, before winning a close second set, thereby reaching his fifth Miami Open final and setting up a third meeting between himself and Federer this season.[2] In the final, Nadal lost to Roger Federer, marking his fourth consecutive loss to the Swiss and his fifth final loss in the Miami Open.[3]

With the absence of Federer, the 5th-ranked Nadal, a nine-time former champion at the tournament, was seeded 4th. After an opening round bye, he played British rising star, Kyle Edmund, in his first competitive match on clay this season. Despite winning the first set comprehensively, Nadal had to overcome a shaky second set to win the match in three sets. Nadal fared better in his next match with Alexander Zverev, winning for the loss of just two games. Nadal took on Diego Schwartzman in the quarterfinal and despite a less-dominant display, rallied to win the match in straight sets. In the semifinal, Nadal made light work of David Goffin to reach his 11th Monte-Carlo final, with Goffin visibly affected by an incorrect line call. He won his first title of the year, and a record 10th Monte-Carlo Masters title by beating compatriot Albert Ramos Viñolas in the final in straight sets, and thus, became the first man in the Open Era to win a single tournament 10 times. The title was also his 50th on clay courts, surpassing the Open Era record for most clay titles previously held by Guillermo Vilas (49 titles). It was also his 29th ATP Masters 1000 title, one short of Novak Djokovic's all-time record of 30 ATP Masters 1000 titles.

Fresh from a landmark victory in Monte Carlo, Nadal proceeded to the Barcelona Open where he was seeded 3rd, and received a bye into the second round. He defeated Brazilian journeyman, Rogério Dutra Silva, for the loss of just three games, before beating Kevin Anderson. In his quarterfinal match, Nadal initially struggled against the upstart Korean, Chung Hyeon, before pulling through. Rafa managed to reach the finals with a straight set victory over Horacio Zeballos in the semifinals. A week after clinching his tenth title at Monte Carlo, he replicated that achievement at Barcelona, dominating Dominic Thiem in the final, winning in straight sets to grab his 10th title in Barcelona. The title was Nadal's record 18th ATP World Tour 500 title, his 71st tour-level crown and 51st on clay.[4]

Unbeaten on clay so far, Nadal proceeded to participate in the Madrid Open where he was seeded 4th. After an opening round bye, his second round match against Italian Fabio Fognini lasted three hours, with Nadal winning in three tight sets. He won his third round match versus the big-serving Australian, Nick Kyrgios, fairly easily; the Australian playing his first competitive tournament on clay this year. In a rematch of their Monte-Carlo semifinal, Nadal played David Goffin in the quarterfinal. Nadal won in straight sets yet again, and booked a semifinal clash with longtime nemesis and rival, World No. 2 Novak Djokovic for the 50th time in their careers. Nadal was riding a seven-match losing streak (15 consecutive sets) to the struggling Serb coming into the match. Their contrasting form continued as Nadal won in straight sets, losing just six games, for a spot in the final. The win improved Nadal's head-to-head record with Djokovic to 24-26. In the final, Nadal played Dominic Thiem for the second straight final. After saving two set points in the opening set tiebreak, Nadal recovered to win his third straight title of the season, and his fifth Madrid Open title by winning the final in straight sets. With the win, Nadal tied Djokovic's record of 30 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 singles titles.

Bidding for a 4th consecutive title of the season and riding a 15-match winning streak, Nadal was seeded 4th and received a bye into the second round in the Italian International. He reached the third round after compatriot Nicolas Almagro retired after three games with an apparent knee injury. A straight sets victory over American 13th seed, Jack Sock pushed him to his ninth consecutive quarterfinal in Rome. For the third tournament in a row, Nadal faced Dominic Thiem, this time in the quarterfinal, but his 17–match winning streak was put to an end with a straight sets loss to the young Austrian.

Despite being seeded 4th, Nadal came to the second Grand Slam of the year possessing a 17–1 win-loss record on clay for the season, and as a heavy favourite to win his 10th Roland-Garros title. His strong form continued, as he easily defeated home favourite Benoît Paire, and Dutchman Robin Haase, in the first two rounds. In the third round against top-ranked Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili, Nadal produced an absolute masterclass, winning the match for the loss of a sole game in the second set. In an all-Spanish affair in the fourth round, Nadal made light work of 17th-seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who managed to take just five games off the former champion. In the quarterfinal, another all-Spanish clash beckoned, Nadal facing Pablo Carreño Busta this time. After a dominant display in the first set, Nadal moved into the semifinals as his compatriot withdrew with an abdominal problem early in the second set. Bidding to reach his tenth final in Paris, and seventh final of the season, Nadal met Dominic Thiem in the semifinal. In the latest chapter to their budding rivalry, Nadal avenged his sole loss of the clay court season, as he beat the Austrian to reach the final. Having lost just 29 games on his road to the final, Nadal faced a Swiss for the second consecutive Slam final, this time World No. 3, Stan Wawrinka. In the final, Nadal continued his outstanding form, defeating Wawrinka to win La Décima (Spanish: the tenth; first used during Real Madrid's 2014 UEFA Champions League victory, and subsequently in the buildup to Nadal's 10th titles at Monte-Carlo, Barcelona, and Paris) at the French Open and consigning the Swiss to his first loss in a Slam final. With this landmark victory, Nadal became the first person in the Open Era to win 10 titles in single Grand Slam event. Nadal won the tournament for the loss of 35 games, thereby marking it as the second best performance, in terms of games lost, by a male tennis player in winning a Grand Slam singles title right after Björn Borg, who lost 32 games at the 1978 Roland-Garros. Nadal also passed Pete Sampras for sole second on the men's Grand Slam singles title list with the victory, his 15 titles only second to Roger Federer's 18 (since 20). It was also Nadal's 73rd Tour title, which ranks him 6th highest in the Open Era, one behind Rod Laver.

Nadal entered the grass court season not having played a match on grass since his loss to Dustin Brown in the 2015 Wimbledon Championships. He was scheduled to play the Aegon Championships, however withdrew citing a need for rest. Instead of an official tournament, Nadal played two matches in an exhibition tournament at The Hurlingham Club in London before his Wimbledon campaign, losing to Tomáš Berdych, but later defeating Tommy Haas.

Nadal was seeded 4th behind Federer, Djokovic and Murray for Wimbledon despite being ranked No. 2 and was in contention for the world No. 1 ranking at the start of the tournament.[5] He began his campaign to win a 3rd Wimbledon title by defeating Australia's John Millman in straight sets. In the round of 32, Nadal dominated the No. 30-seed, Karen Khachanov, defeating him in straight sets and bringing his streak to 28 consecutive grand slam sets won, which equaled his previous best and is the 3rd longest in the Open Era.[6] On 10 July 2017, Nadal faced Gilles Muller in the round of 16 and after coming back from being down 0-2 sets, Nadal then saved 4 match points in the deciding set, but came up short on the fifth match point.[7]

Nadal opened his campaign by beating Borna Coric in 2R but went on to lose his 3R encounter against 18 year old Canadian Denis Shapovalov. With this early exit, his chance to get back to top spot halted. Had he reached semifinals, he would have become the world No. 1.

Due to the last minute withdrawal of Roger Federer, Rafa ascended to the world No. 1-ranking for the 4th time in his career on 21 August 2017, his 142nd week at the pinnacle of men's tennis. With only 370 points to defend for the rest of 2017, there is a strong possibility that he can finish year-end No. 1 for a 4th separate stint (only two other players have ever finished year-end No. 1 in separate stints, but Federer and Ivan Lendl have only done it in 2 separate stints). Nadal was the No. 1 seed and began his campaign against Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Rafa defeated Gasquet in straight sets, improved his head-to-head record to 15-0 and has now won their last 25 consecutive sets. Due to heavy rain, Nadal was required to play 2 matches in a day, dispatching Albert Ramos in straight sets only to be sent packing by Nick Kyrgios in straight sets later on. Despite this loss, Nadal still was ranked No.1 in the following week.

Nadal was seeded No.1 in a grand slam for the first time since the 2014 French Open. Rafa opened the last major of the year against 85th-ranked Serbian Dušan Lajović whom he dismissed in straight sets. In the round of 64, Nadal faced Taro Daniel of Japan and despite trailing by a set and a break, he dispatched Daniel with the loss of just 7 games in the last three sets combined. Lucky loser Leonardo Mayer was up next for Nadal and for the second consecutive match, Rafa started slow and lost the first set in a tie break only to secure the next three sets to move into a round of 16 showdown with Alexandr Dolgopolov. Nadal advanced to his first US Open quarterfinal since he won his second US Open crown in 2013 with a dominant straight sets win in just over an hour and a half.[8] His quarterfinal opponent would be NextGen 19-year old Andrey Rublev of Russia who grew up idolizing Nadal.[9] Nadal successfully defeated the rising star in a one-sided match lasting only 96 minutes with the loss of just 5 games. He next faces Juan Martin del Potro who defeated Federer in 4 sets in the QF, preventing another Federer–Nadal meeting in the US Open and thus allowing Nadal to retain his No.1 ranking.[10] He defeated del Potro in four sets to reach his 23rd major final where he faced Kevin Anderson. Nadal clinches his 16th Grand Slam title and 3rd USO title beating Anderson in straight sets, and also his first hardcourt singles title since Doha 2014. This victory brought him closer to 3 short of Federer's 19 major titles. This win also secured a fourth season where Federer and Nadal won all the Grand Slams (2006, 2007, 2010, 2017).

Nadal opened his Asian swing with a tough draw at the Beijing Open, saving two match points in the 2nd set tiebreak to beat Lucas Pouille in his opening round match. He breezed through his next 2 matches against Karen Khachanov and big-serving John Isner in straight sets to set a blockbuster semifinal with Grigor Dimitrov. Nadal won the semifinal in three sets before defeating Nick Kyrgios in straight sets to win his 75th career title and 2nd title at Beijing following his 2005 crown. It was also Nadal's Tour-leading 6th title of the season and separated him from Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev who each have 5 titles this season. This was Rafa's 2nd consecutive hard court title after losing his last 8 consecutive hard court finals.

Nadal continued his run of form in the Shanghai Masters, reaching the quarterfinals with the loss of only 7 games against Jared Donaldson and Fabio Fognini. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Grigor Dimitrov for the 2nd time in 2 weeks in three tight sets to reach the semifinals where he faced Marin Cilic, winning the encounter in two grueling sets after saving two set points in the first set, reaching his 10th final of the year and 3rd consecutive tournament final. Nadal was beaten in straight sets by nemesis Roger Federer in the final, ending his winning streak of 16 matches and also marking his 5th consecutive loss to Federer for the first time in their 38 rivalry meetings.

Following Federer's withdrawal from the final Masters 1000 tournament, Nadal clinched the year-end No.1 ranking for the 4th time in his career, also becoming the oldest man to finish the year on top of the rankings since its formation in 1973 at the age of 31, after beating Hyeon Chung in his first match in straight sets. Having previously finished at the top in 2008, 2010 and 2013, Nadal becomes the first player to hold, lose and regain the year-end No. 1 on three occasions. He also became the first player to finish No. 1 four times in non-consecutive years, the first aged over-30 and the first to finish in the top spot four years since he last achieved the feat (2013). The nine-year gap between his first year-end No. 1 season (2008) and his last (2017) is also a record. Nadal managed to reach quarterfinals by beating Pablo Cuevas in the next round, but withdrew from the tournament due to an injured right knee.

Nadal' s final event of the year was at the ATP World Tour Finals. His first round robin match was against David Goffin. Nadal struggled with his knee injury, and ended up losing the match in three tight sets. Following the loss, he withdrew from the tournament, ending his 2017 season.

Rafael Nadal has a 68–12 (85.0%) match win-loss record in the 2017 season. His 2017 record against top-10 players is 12–6 (66.7%). The following list is ordered by number of wins: (Bolded number marks a top 10 player at the time of match, Italic means top 20)

• Bold font denotes tournament win