Rafael Nadal lost the final of the Madrid Open to Roger Federer. This was the first time that Nadal had lost to Federer since the semifinals of the 2007 Tennis Masters Cup. By beating Lleyton Hewitt in the third round of French Open, Nadal set a record of 31 consecutive wins at Roland Garros, beating the previous record of 28 by Björn Borg. This run came to an end on 31 May 2009, when Nadal lost to eventual runner-up, Robin Söderling in the 4th round. This was Nadal's first and, until 2015, only loss at the French Open. After his surprise defeat
2012 Rafael Nadal tennis season 2012 Rafael Nadal tennis season The 2012 Rafael Nadal tennis season officially began on January 2 with the start of the 2012 ATP World Tour. Nadal began his World Tour season at the Qatar Open. He beat Philipp Kohlschreiber and qualifier Denis Gremelmayr in rounds one and two and then won against seventh-seeded Mikhail Youzhny. In the semifinal he played poorly and lost to Gaël Monfils in two routine sets. In the Australian Open Nadal began the tournament by breezing past qualifier Alex Kuznetsov of United States. The second round against Tommy Haas, who has never won a set against