Nadal's Facebook profile reaches 10 million Likes

Tennis world #2 Rafael Nadal's Facebook page now has more than 10 million LIKES, the second tennis player's Facebook profile to achieve the milestone. Several weeks earlier, it was 16-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer who reached more than 10 million likes. As of this writing, Nadal has more than 10.192 million fans liking his Facebook profile while Federer has 10.282 million. Based on their timeline, Federer first created a Facebook profile in 2010 while Nadal created his in 2009.

Nadal's latest Facebook post was done through his iPhone where he wished the Spanish Davis Cup team luck in their 2012 quarterfinal over Austria this weekend. Nadal posted, "Good Luck to the Spanish tennis team for the match against Austria!! Gooo to the semifinals!". Spain's Davis Cup team, the 2011 champions, are currently led by #5 David Ferrer and #12 Nicolas Almagro. Heavily favored in their tie against Austria, the Spaniards won their first two singles matches to have a commanding 2-0 lead going into the second day where they can win the tie by being victorious in the doubles match for an unbeatable 3-0 lead. Somehow, Spain has a losing record against Austria as the Austrians lead their head-to-head record 3-1.

Earlier this week, Nadal informed his fans that he is now in his hometown of Mallorca. On an April 2 Facebook post, Nadal posted "Hi all. Already in Mallorca wanted to send a message to all my fans. Went to one of my doctors today and the knee is doing well. I expect to be soon practicing and ready to the next competition. Thanks all for your support!!". Nadal withdrew from his semifinal match in his last tournament when he was supposed to face world #4 Andy Murray in the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami due to a knee injury. After his withdrawal, Nadal posted an apology to his fans and the public in his Youtube account entitled "A gift for your support. Thanks to all!". Watch Nadal's apology at the bottom of this post.

Currently, Nadal's website is under renovation with the main page displaying the message "Spirit of improvement in and out of the court." There are no indications as to when he will be fit to return to tennis although he is still considered an entry in the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tennis tournament in Monte-Carlo, Monaco to be held from 14 - 22 April 2012. Nadal is the defending champion in Monte Carlo where he beat fellow Spaniard Ferrer in the finals last year. In the next two months, Nadal is the ATP player with the most tournament ranking points to defend having won three of five clay court titles including the 2011 French Open in the same period last year. In this period, he is defending 4,700 ranking points which is almost half of his current total ranking points. He will most likely be dislodged by Roger Federer as world #2 as Federer trails Nadal by just 900 points as of the last rankings. Nadal has not won a single tournament in 2012 while Federer has already won three. His fans are raring for his return to healthy competition and will be relying heavily on Facebook updates for news on his recovery.