Nadal clinches top spot in ATP rankings
After an emphatic victory in the 2010 US Open Championship, tennis superstar Rafael Nadal clinched the top spot in the year-end ATP rankings for the second time in the past three years.
The 24-year old tennis sensation is fresh from a triumphant campaign in Flushing Meadows this week after defeating Serbian star Novak Djokovic in the finals. With the win, the Spanish star
finally completed his career Grand Slam and took home his ninth major title.
"It has been an incredible season – one of my best ever, if not the best,” Nadal said. “Winning the US Open together with Roland Garros and Wimbledon, as well as the three back-to-back (ATP
World Tour) Masters 1000s in Europe, was not easy. I worked very hard to get back to the top and it feels really good to know I will end the year as No.1.”
Nadal became the seventh player to achieve the impressive feat of winning all the Grand Slam titles in their career, and he’s also the first player to rule three Grand Slam events in the
same year, since Rod Laver’s incredible sweep of the four events in 1969.
Nadal, who won six titles and holds a 59-7 match record this year, also became the youngest player ever to complete a career grand slam, a feat achieved by Roger Federer when he was 27 years
old, three years older than Nadal.
The current top-ranked player in the world has been on a roll since April, winning 43 of his 46 matches, highlighted by three consecutive clay court events, ruling the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters,
Rome Masters, and the Madrid Masters. He also bagged his fifth Roland Garros title in the last six years, and following it up with his second Wimbledon title in the past three years.
Despite all of his achievements in this year and his entire career, Nadal still believes that he still has a lot to learn if he wants to become the best tennis player in history. For him,
Federer is still the best, and the Swiss star’s 16 Grand Slam title is a concrete proof, but he’s looking forward to achieving or even surpassing that feat.
“The talk about if I am better or worse than Roger is stupid, because the titles say he's much better than me,” said Nadal, but Djokovic has his own opinion about it.
“I think Nadal is playing the best tennis that I've ever seen him play on hard courts. He has improved his serve drastically,” the current world number two said. “He has the capabilities
already to become the best player ever”
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