Since turning professional as a 15-year-old in 2001, Nadal has spent 2,543 hours and 15 minutes on court in 1,307 ATP Tour matches, winning 1,080.
He won the first title of his career in 2004 on the clay courts of Sopot, a small town in northern Poland, before rising to fame the following season.
In 2005, Nadal made it into the top 10 in the world – and held there for a record of 912 consecutive weeks.
Nadal would go on to win a further 91 ATP Tour titles, including 22 Grand Slams – 14 at the French Open, four at the US Open and two at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
The US Open eluded him for the longest time, but when he conquered New York in 2010, he became the youngest man in the Open era to complete a career Grand Slam.
Since he already had Olympic singles gold from Beijing 2008 in his cupboard, this victory at the US Open also crowned the golden Grand Slam of his career.
It's a feat only achieved by four other players – Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi, Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic.