When Rafa Nadal dropped to the blue surface of Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows having defeated Novak Djokovic to win the US Open, the world number one’s third Grand Slam victory of the year, he laid to rest one of the debates surrounding his leviathan rivalry with Roger Federer. There is now little doubt that at present, the Spaniard is the best tennis player in the world, the year-end number one ranking already sown up with two months of the season to play. His ninth victory in the sport’s four showpiece tournaments elevated Nadal to a status occupied by few in history and only himself and Federer in actuality – that of a holder of the Career Grand Slam. That Nadal achieved tennis’ … [Read more...] about Rafa Nadal stakes all-court claim as the greatest
Rafael Nadal
Nadal seeks clay redemption
The Madrid Open has begun in earnest and for local favourite Rafa Nadal, in contrast to last year, it could not have come at a more opportune moment both physically and mentally. At Roland Garros in May 2009, Nadal ceded to Roger Federer the title he had dominated the previous four years, although it was Robin Söderling, in a harbinger of things to come for the now number seven-ranked Swede, who actually dispatched the reigning champion in the fourth round before reaching the final himself. Last year’s French Open was Nadal’s final tournament until the Montreal Masters in October. World number one at the time and coming off the back of an exceptional run of results – Nadal won the … [Read more...] about Nadal seeks clay redemption
Feet of clay give Spain Davis Cup edge
Much was made of the absence of the players ranked one and three in the world before Albert Costa and his counterpart Severin Luthi announced their teams for the opening round of Davis Cup World Group matches. Roger Federer was absent for the Swiss, recovering from a pulmonary complaint (although images showing a clearly unhindered world number one on the practice court on the day the tie began would have been greeted with some chagrin by his team mates), while Rafael Nadal was recovering from the knee injury he sustained at the Australian Open. And so it was left to Spain’s “reserve” players to see off Switzerland, which they did well enough, if not with the spectacular aplomb with which … [Read more...] about Feet of clay give Spain Davis Cup edge