Rafael Nadal – A Real Champion
Rafael Nadal took yet another stride forward in his illustrious professional tennis career this week, with his first victory at Flushing Meadows; the 24 year old Spaniard defeated World Number 3 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to win his first ever US Open singles tournament.
Rafael Nadal turned pro in 2001, also the year in which he beat former Grand Slam Champion Pat Cash on a clay surface. At the age of 15 in 2002, he had won his first ATP match against Ramon Delgado, making him one of the nine players in the Open Era to do so before turning 16. By the age of 17, he was one of the World’s Top 50 players. He has won five French Open titles, and his success on clay has led many to regard him, along with Bjorn Borg, as the greatest clay player of all time.
This week at the US Open singles tournament 2010, Rafa achieved yet another significant victory with his defeat of Djokovic to win the title for the first time. This match was important for Rafa, who, as the ‘King of Clay’, reputedly has difficulty with different surfaces sometimes. Nadal himself stated about his performance in the match: "For the first time in my career, I played a very, very good match in this tournament."
This triumph hikes up his Grand Slam singles titles to nine, with a 2008 Olympic Gold Medal, a record 18 ATP World Tour Masters 1000. He was also part of the Spain Davis Cup team in 2004, 2008 and 2009.
This US Open 2010 title also makes Rafa the 7th and youngest player of the Open Era to achieve the career Grand Slam. This coup also makes Rafael Nadal the second male player, after legend Andre Agassi, to complete the Career Golden Slam; winner of four Grand Slams and the Olympic Gold medal. The young Spaniard is, some say, on the fast track to become the greatest tennis player in all history; he is already in pursuit of Roger Federer’s record of 16 Grand Slam titles, and has already passed Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi and Ivan Lendl in this endeavour.
Nadal, however, retains his humility and brushes away critics who compare him with Federer. The champion said, after this week’s success: “The talk about if I am better or worse than Roger is stupid, because the titles say he's much better than me. That's true at that moment. I think that will be true all my life.”
The class reflected in the above statement is what sets Nadal apart from his rivals and makes him a true champion. His ninth career title has done the opposite of making him cocky or overconfident; he respects the distance which he has covered, he gives credit to his opponents and remains humble. To this end, Rafa also declared: “I improved a lot since last year, but it is never enough. I am not a perfect player, so everybody can improve.”
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