Across the last two weeks of December, Baseline will dish out awards for the greatest acts of 2018.
Rafael Nadal experienced one of the most abbreviated seasons of his illustrious career, as injuries limited him to only nine tournaments and a Davis Cup tie in 2018.
A peek at the standings, though, reveals that he made the most of his time on court.
The Spaniard, who sat atop the rankings for the majority of the year, finished at No. 2 and won five titles, which included his 11th French Open.
His 2018 campaign started off with promise as he advanced to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open with the loss of only one set. In the final eight, he was up two sets to one against Marin Cilic before the world No. 6 won the fourth and went up 2-0 in the fifth. Nadal was forced to retire due to health woes that kept him off the tour for more than two months.
He returned to action in the Davis Cup quarterfinals and won both of his matches. Nadal won his next 12 matches over three tournaments, taking the titles in Monte Carlo and Barcelona before Dominic Thiem stopped him in the quarters in Madrid. The 32-year-old then claimed his third and fourth triumphs on the year in Rome and Roland Garros, where he exacted a measure of revenge against Thiem in the final.