Twenty-seven years ago today, Ana Maria Parera gave birth to a little boy in Mallorca. Little did anyone know at the time that one of the world's greatest ever tennis players had been born.

Having risen through the junior ranks under the guidance of his uncle Tony, Nadal handed the tennis community a sign of what was to come at his first ever Wimbledon in 2003. Despite the fact that he had only just turned 17, the Spaniard became the youngest player to reach the third round in London since Boris Becker back in 1984.

However, what he produced two years later in Paris left the men's circuit wondering if the French Open title was ever going to be up for grabs again.

With the famous band in his long hair, Nadal swatted aside all who stood in his way, including world number one Roger Federer in the semi-finals, to win his first Grand Slam title at the French Open. It was this form that also saw him rise to second in the world rankings.

Twelve months later he achieved the feat of becoming the first player to defeat Federer in the final of a Grand Slam at the same venue - Roland Garros was starting to feel like home for the left-hander.

In fact, between then and now, the only year Nadal has not triumphed in the French capital was in 2009 when he lost to Robin Soderling in round four. At the time of writing, 'The King of Clay' has seven French Open titles to his name, but could well make that eight this coming weekend.

Not that Nadal is a one-trick pony - he has also won the Australian Open (2008), Wimbledon (2008, 2010) and the US Open (2010), as well as Olympic gold at the Beijing Games five years ago.

Only four men have collected more Slams than Nadal, who has 11 overall, but at the age of 27, the current world number four still has time to catch his old nemesis Federer's total of 17.