Nadal likely to lose 18-year-streak with no return likely until clay court season

Rafael Nadal isn't likely to return until the clay season which puts his iconic 18-year streak of being ranked inside the top 10 in jeopardy and it's likely that it will end.

Nadal is the owner of many records but not many speak to his greatness as much as one particular one. He has been ranked inside the top 10 for basically 18 years, never leaving it in that time. It's something that takes a moment to truly understand because it's just never been done this way and likely won't ever be done.

You don't achieve something like this without being exceptional at tennis but not only that, consistency is another thing. Being consistently good and competitive is the hardest thing you can be and many tennis players will often say that they hope to be competitive consistently as a goal. Nadal has been that for the past 18 years.

He's also been somewhat lucky with injuries although he had plenty but never one major one that saw him miss so much time that he dropped points. Being able to count one grand slam per year at least with Roland Garros is another reason. That's likely going to change in the next few weeks as he likely won't play until clay and he will lose the Acapulco and Indian Wells points which is over 1000.