--- description: Find out why Rafael Nadal is one of the 100 most influential people of 2022. title: Rafael Nadal: The 100 Most Influential People of 2022 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8540c2e4d139daaa/698a3203929fad5cb1bf89ca/Rafael-Nadal-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 23, 2022 # Rafael Nadal by Tom Brady  Rafael Nadal Alana Holmberg—The New York Times/Redux Rafael Nadal Alana Holmberg—The New York Times/ReduxAlana Holmberg—The New York Times/Redux From the moment he stepped onto the court [as a young player](https://time.com/5619254/wimbledon-top-seed-winner-age/ "undefined"), Rafael Nadal had an unrivaled charisma. He has the mental and physical toughness to do what all great athletes do: play their best in the biggest moments. He elevates his emotional state to a place where he can be insanely focused on the smallest thing to create an edge over his opponent, willing himself to victory. It has paid off. When he [won the 2022 Australian Open](https://www.cbssports.com/tennis/news/australian-open-2022-mens-final-rafael-nadal-wins-record-breaking-21st-grand-slam-with-five-set-victory/ "undefined"), Rafa earned his 21st Grand Slam singles title—the most of any male [tennis](https://time.com/tag/tennis/ "undefined") player in history.  Rafael Nadal Alana Holmberg—The New York Times/Redux Alana Holmberg—The New York Times/Redux I admire athletes who push themselves to the limit, and I’m absolutely inspired every time Rafa takes the court. There’s something to be learned from watching his determination, his strategy, everything that it takes for him to never take any moment for granted. He’s forever going to be remembered as one of the very best athletes in all of sports. _Brady is a seven-time NFL champion_ Rafael Nadal Is on the 2022 TIME 100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177746/rafael-nadal/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177746/rafael-nadal/"},"headline":"Rafael Nadal","datePublished":"2022-05-23T10:06:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:57.030Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177746/rafael-nadal/","keywords":["TIME 100","franchise","TIME100 2022"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8540c2e4d139daaa/698a3203929fad5cb1bf89ca/Rafael-Nadal-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8540c2e4d139daaa/698a3203929fad5cb1bf89ca/Rafael-Nadal-time100-2022.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/100-most-influential-people-2022/6177746/rafael-nadal/","name":"Rafael Nadal"}}]}] ```