Dominating The World Of Men's Tennis
In the last five years, world tennis has seen only two grand slam winners other than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
If it had not been for Federer, Andy Roddick could have had more than one grand slam titles under his belt, Roddick has fallen thrice to Federer in the finals of Wimbledon after dominating the earlier rounds; he was clearly head and shoulders above all other
tennis players except one – the great Roger Federer.
Lleyton Hewitt would have won more than just one Wimbledon and US open title if Federer had not been Federer, Andy Murray would have won the 2009 US Open had he not run into Federer. If not for Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco would have reached the finals
of the Australian Open 2009 after playing arguably the best tennis of his life.
Tomas Berdych played a breath taking quarter final match against Federer and defeated him in four sets, but ran into Nadal only to then lose. Robin Soderling registered his first hard fought win against Federer in 14 matches in the 2010 Roland Garros semi
finals, and would have enjoyed his first grand slam title if his opponent had not been Nadal. Novak Djokovich played excellent ground stokes, served brilliantly, returned extremely well but still ended up losing to Nadal in the final of the US Open 2010.
Tennis has seen era after era get dominated by one player. The 90's were ruled by Pete Sampress, who won 14 grand slam singles’ titles, a number that has only been over taken by Roger Federer. He also ended six years in a row at world’s number 1 spot, a
record yet to be broken. Then came the unbelievable era of the Swiss Roger Federer – winner of 19 grand slam singles’ titles, and now the Spaniard Rafael Nadal is looking to shatter the grand slam dreams of many hopefuls.
In the last five years only on two occasions has a player other than Nadal or Federer been able to claim a grand slam title. Novak Djokovich won the 2008 Australian Open title when he defeated Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the final and Juan Martin Del Potro won
the 2009 US Open title after he won against Roger Federer.
Looking at this total domination by two players one cannot help but wonder if other players are just not good enough or if Nadal and Federer are in a class of their own. There are players whose game has presented some challenges for the Swiss and the Spaniard,
they possess the talent and skills to make it to the top but do not possess the same mental strength as has been shown by Nadal and Federer match after match.
As the sun is almost setting on the Federer era it is shining brightly on Nadal’s. The question now arises if there is going to be a challenger, who will come to stay and give Nadal a run for his money instead of showing tennis fans a few flashes of great
play.
As the English are resting their hopes on Andy Murray to be “the man”, Argentineans are keeping their fingers crossed for Del Potro to come back after his injury and pick up from where he left - a grand slam victory. After winning the US Open 2009, Del Potro
seemed to be the next big thing in tennis but unfortunately due to a wrist injury he has not been able to participate in a grand slam since then.
Andy Murray on the other hand has a problem with controlling his nerves at the biggest stages of the game. Robin Soderling and Novak Djokovich have shown promise but have so far failed to make a real mark. Men’s tennis has been dominated by Spanish players
for the last two years, but even among them no one has posed a threat to Nadal’s unbelievable winning streak. This year alone has brought the world’s number 1 three grand slam titles (Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open)
After playing one of the most amazing matches of the tournament against Djokovich, Nadal won the US Open title (the only title to have eluded him up until now) and completed his career grand slam. "That's more than I dreamt,” said the world number 1.
The Federer era saw the demise of many great talents until Nadal made his mark by breaking into the tennis scene, but it seems Nadal will be the only king in tennis for some years to come. Winning five Roland Garros, two Wimbledon and one US Open and Australian
open, the world number one seems unstoppable, and he is just 24.
Are tennis fans in for another decade of straight set victories at the grand slam finals, or are they going to get more tennis than that. Everyone is waiting for someone to step up and take on the job of being “the real contender” or are the fans looking
at another decade of one player dominating the sport of tennis?
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