Rafael Nadal calls 2010 “most emotional year” of his career
In his acceptance speech after the 2010 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, the season-ending tournament, Roger Federer said, “I hope... I know I didn’t spoil his vacation after this because he’s had an amazing year, a year that any player dreams of.”
The maestro need not have worried about Rafa’s state of mind after the loss. Even if the 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 defeat stings for Nadal, he can look back on 2010 as one of his most successful seasons so far. The Spanish pro, who became the seventh man in tennis history
to win a career Grand Slam this year, said, “I tried my best this afternoon. But he was better than me.”
However, the 24-year-old Nadal has no reason to be dejected. This season, Rafa won seven titles including a “Clay slam”, which comprises of victories at the Masters events in Madrid, Rome and Monte Carlo, as well as a Roland Garros victory. Rafa achieved
all of the above, and managed to win his fifth French Open this year. He followed his success up with victory at Wimbledon in London, and added a final win at the US Open in New York.
By September, Nadal had already received his qualification for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena, as well as managing to take away the World Number 1 ranking at the end of the year. His dominance this season was reminiscent of Federer’s
in previous years.
Consequently, Rafael Nadal has described this year as not just his best, but his “most emotional” to boot. Perhaps this has as much to do with his success as the previous lack of it; the Spaniard ended 2009 with three consecutive losses at last year’s ATP
World Tour finals, without managing to win so much as a single set. Although, this season got off to a good start, it was interrupted by reoccurring knee problem which forced him to pull out of his quarterfinal with Andy Murray at the Australian Open.
While his victory at the Monte Carlo Masters was the end of an 11-month period without titles, it is undoubtedly that lack of success which has made Rafa grateful for the past eight months of his career. He says, “When you spend 11 months without a victory,
when you pass some difficult moments, you really know how difficult [it] is [to] win a tournament, how difficult [it] is [to] be there, how difficult [it] is [to] be competitive every week.”
Nadal also added that his Monte Carlo win had definitely given him his confidence back, saying, “So when I started to win the first time... everything was more easier... after that I started to play really well.”
With his typical optimism, Rafa even numbers the week at London as a success. He is not afraid to admit that the ATP World Tour Finals' surface is one of his worst nightmares. Despite this, he emerged victorious against Andy Murray in three sets despite
the fact that the British Number 1 was in top form. He even pushed Federer one set down.
Nadal added that he lost because he “played against a very good Roger Federer on one of his favourite surfaces”. He also said, “Was very difficult final for me. I still won a set. I am more happy about the week. [Beating] four top-eight players in the same
week on a difficult surface for me. I think [that] never happens in the past. So that’s very good news for me.”
This just might be bad news for other players in 2011, as Nadal begins the year with one goal in mind: to do better than he did in 2010.
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