The 2005 season witnessed the emergence of numerous young Tennis talents who climbed up the world rankings and placed themselves among the top players. Despite the fact that Switzerland's Roger Federer maintained his position as the world number one, the 24-year old ace faced some serious challenge from rising stars like Spain's Rafael Nadal, France's Richard Gasquet and Great Britain's Andy Murray. The season saw 13 ATP titles going to teenagers, 11 of which were captured by the ferocious Nadal who finished the season in second place. French youngsters, Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils also managed to win an ATP title each. Teenagers who highlighted the action in 2005: Spain's Raging Bull: Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal was born in Mallorca, Spain on June 3rd, 1986. The young Spaniard, who turned pro in 2001 and earned the ATP Newcomer of Year in 2003, ended his 2004 season at number 46 in the INDEST ATP Race after capturing his first singles title at the Sopot Open in August. Not even Nadal himself could have imagined what was in line for him in 2005. The 18-year-old commenced the season by reaching the quarterfinals in Doha and reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open on only his second appearance. The teenage sensation then went on to clinch his first title in 2005,second of his career, in Costa Do Sauipe, Brazil and from then on, the titles just kept on coming. Nadal moved on to grab the title in Acapulco, Mexico and it wasn't long before he won an ATP Masters Series shield in Monte Carlo where he ousted Gaston Gaudio, Richard Gasquet and Guillermo Coria on his way to the title. Nadal's winning streak on clay continued to stretch as the young star captured back-to-back titles in Barcelona and the ATP Masters Series in Rome where he overcame Guillermo Coria in a final that lasted 5 and a half hours. The young Spaniard earned his first Grand Slam title in the French Open at Roland Garros where he posted victories over Richard Gasquet, Sebastien Grosjean and David Ferrer, and edged past Federer in the semifinals. He became the second player in history to win the French Open on debut after Mats Wilander. After an unsuccessful grass-court season Nadal resumed his winning ways on clay as he captured back-to-back titles in Bastad and Stuttgart where he registered his 8th title of the season without dropping a single set. In August, Nadal collected his first title on hard-court at the Montreal Masters Series where he outplayed American veteran Andre Agassi in the final. Nadal then went on to win the Beijing Open and his fourth Masters Series shield in Madrid where he made a miraculous comeback against Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic. He also helped Spain qualify to the 2006 Davis Cup World Group by scoring two of three valuable points for the Iberians against rivals Italy. Nadal ended the season occupying the number two spot in both the ATP entry rankings and the ATP 2005 Race, as he maintained an ATP-best 50-2 clay court record, finishing with 36 consecutive match wins on clay and winning 11 singles titles, 8 on clay and 3 on hard-court. Along with a whole set of records Nadal broke this season, he also became the youngest player to clinch a berth at the ATP circuit finale, the Masters Cup in Shanghai, since Andrei Medvedev qualified. However, the Spanish prodigy was forced to miss the grand event due to injury. French Conqueror: Richard Gasquet French star, Richard Gasquet was born June 18th, 1986 in Beziers, France. Gasquet finished as the world number one junior and was named World Junior Champion in 2002 after clinching both the French and the US Open junior titles, in addition to reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open. Gasqu
