Rafael Nadal is the this year's comeback story of tennis and possibly in all of sports. It is enough to end the year at number one. Next year though, he can step into the conversation of being the greatest of all time.

Tennis season has ended, and the next year will open with the Australian Open. The defending champion is Novak Djokovic. This makes it all the more exciting for Nadal, as another Australian Open win will give him the distinction of winning all four Grand Slam titles at least twice. Only Rod Laver has the bragging rights to this one right now.

Nadal has won the French Open eight times in his career. He also has the distinction of having nine consecutive years with a grand slam win when he took the French Open this year. He also distinguished himself as the only male player to win a grand slam tournament for nine consecutive years. The previous record of eight was shared by Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.

Nadal did not compete in the Australian Open as he had a Knee injury that forced him to sit for seven months. His hard work and intensity has allowed him to make the historic comeback. His career was almost in jeopardy when 2013 started. He finished the year with a 75-7 record. As we start 2014, he is on the verge of history with his sights set on rival Djokovic's Aussie Open title.

Former Spanish no. 1 player and now a revered sports icon Manolo Santana believes Nadal can become the greatest ever by matching Roger Federer's Grand Slam numbers. In the 75^th anniversary event of Spanish Sports magazine MARCA:

"Nadal is every Spanish athlete's favorite. He's writing not only tennis' history." Santana said. "I think he'll stay at these levels for at least four more years. I hope injuries will spare him and that he can equal Roger Federer on the slams number."

The context: Nadal has 13, Sampras has 14 and Federer has 17. Federer is still active but he's 32 years old. Nadal is only 27.