What did men's tennis look like just before Rafael Nadal made it into the top 10?

Rafael Nadal has been in the Top-10 of the ATP rankings for 6152 days straight

On 18 April 2005, Rafael Nadal was ranked World No. 11. The 10 players ahead of him in the ATP rankings were (from 1-10): Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, Andy Roddick, Guillermo Coria, Tim Henman, Carlos Moya, Gaston Gaudio, David Nalbandian and Andre Agassi.

Nadal was 18 years old at that point. Of those ahead of him, the closest to him in age was Roddick at 22 while Nalbandian, Coria and Federer were 23. Agassi, on the other hand, was almost twice as old, at 34 years of age. A week later, the Spaniard moved into the top 10 for the first, and only ever, time.

ATP Top 10, last time Rafael Nadal was not there https://t.co/bklvUhelLu

Almost 17 years later - 6,152 days to be exact - the 21-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop out of the top 10. He came very close in 2015, briefly towing the line with his No. 10 ATP ranking before bouncing back to safety.

What happened of the 10 players who had the honor of being ahead of the former World No. 1 just one week before he managed to get into the top 10? Let's take a look!

Players #10 to #6 - Where are they now, and how did they fare against Rafael Nadal?

Carlos Moya is now part of Rafael Nadal's entourage and has helped him win seven Grand Slams

In his defense, eight-time Grand Slam champion Andre Agassi was already on his last legs when Nadal broke into the top 10. The American, among the very few who have completed a Career Grand Slam, retired a few months later in 2006. Nadal leads the pair's head-to-head 2-0, with both wins coming after his break into the top 10.

Only four years older than the Mallorcan, David Nalbandian retired in October 2013. The Argentinian soared as high as World No. 3 and had a better career than most tennis players dream of. He is the only male player from Argentina to reach at least the semifinal of every Grand Slam.

Nalbandian started strong against the World No. 5, winning their first two encounters. But the Spaniard won the next five matches on the trot to close out their head-to-head with a comfortable 5-2 lead.

Gaston Gaudio's solitary Grand Slam title came at the 2004 French Open, before he was overtaken by the former World No. 1. The Argentinian played his last match in October 2010, and never went past the fourth round in any Major other than his title run.

Interestingly, his head-to-head with Nadal is tied at 3-3, one of very few players who can boast of such an achievement. The first three matches, which took place before 25 April 2005 were won by Gaudio while the last three were taken by the Mallorcan.

Carlos Moyà’s 7th Slam since taking over as Rafa’s coach.

What a team 👏🏾💪🏽

🏆 x4 French Open
🏆 x2 US Open
🏆 x1 Australian Open https://t.co/F0qIm5tj4A

Like Agassi, Carlos Moya's fall coincided with his compatriot's rise. Moya retired in November 2010, having reached only one Grand Slam semifinal following his 1998 Roland Garros triumph.

Moya has served as Nadal's coach over the past few years and has overseen seven Grand Slam titles. His protege led the head-to-head between the two 5-2, having won their last four matches in a row.

Tim Henman retired in August 2007 with the last three years of his career being a very poor representation for the rest of his playing days. After reaching at least the quarterfinals of the last three Majors in 2004, the Brit failed to get past the third round at any Slam for the remainder of his career. He played two matches against the Mallorcan in 2006 and lost both encounters in straight sets.

@AnnaK_4ever Head To Head Record of Rafael Nadal against 18-Apr- 2005 Top 10

24-16 Federer
7-4 Hewitt
2-0 Safin
7-3 Roddick
4-1 Coria
2-0 Henman
6-2 Moya
3-3 Gaudio
5-2 Nalbandian
2-0 Agassi

Impressive record! 💪🎾🐐

Players #5 to #1 - Where are they now, and how did they fare against Rafael Nadal?

Roger Federer is almost as successful as Rafael Nadal, winning only one fewer Grand Slam till date.

Guillermo Coria's career-best ranking of World No. 3 came in May 2004, after he reached the final of the French Open. The Argentine played only eight more Grand Slams across four years after that, reaching just a solitary quarterfinal.

The pair played five matches and only once before April 2004, which was won by Coria. The other four went in favor of the 21-time Grand Slam champion.

Andy Roddick is one of the most successful players on this list. He reached the World No. 1 spot during an excellent career and progressed to four Grand Slam finals in addition to winning the 2003 US Open. Roddick remained in the top 10 for nine consecutive years until 2011, the year after which he retired.

Nadal leads the head-to-head against the American 7-3. The record gets shortened to 4-2 if only matches after April 2005 are taken into consideration.

Marat Safin won two Grand Slams and reached the World No. 1 ranking before the Mallorcan entered the top 10. After that, he reached the semifinals of a Major only once in 15 attempts and retired at the end of 2009.

The pair have met only twice in their careers, with both wins going in favor of the current World No. 5 in straight sets.

Another former World No. 1, Lleyton Hewitt stuck around for a long time after his prime. After reaching the semifinals of the last two Grand Slams of 2005, the Australian played another 37 Majors across 11 years. However, he progressed to the quarterfinals only thrice in those tournaments.

Hewitt took a handsome lead in the head-to-head against Nadal, winning four out of their first five matches. The last six, however, were won by the 21-time Grand Slam champion.

Next up on Centre Court...

Nadal v Federer

The tale of the tape:

#⃣ Age: 33 | 37
🌍 World ranking: 2 | 3
📄 Wimbledon record: W53 L11 | W100 L12
🏆 Wimbledon titles: 2 | 8
📄 Grand Slam record: W265 L37 | W352 L56
🏆 Grand Slam titles: 18 | 20
👥 Head-to-head record: 24 | 15 https://t.co/Y7KC378sNK

And finally, we have Roger Federer, the only player from this list who still remains active today. Almost as successful as the 21-time Grand Slam champion himself, the Swiss has 20 Majors to his name. Federer has also previously been at the pinnacle of the ATP rankings for a total of 310 weeks.

The pair have met a whopping 40 times, 24 of which have been won by Nadal. Interestingly, the pair met only twice before April 2005, with both players winning one encounter apiece.