Rafael Nadal follows in Andre Agassi’s footsteps with an attempt for a career Super Slam
This week, tennis marvel Rafael Nadal will bid for the chance to further cement his name as one of the all-time greats of tennis. He will attempt to achieve the same feat first accomplished by Andre Agassi.
If he succeeds, he will become the second Association of Tennis Professionals player since the advent of the Open Era to complete the legendary career Super Slam.
The irony of this occurrence is that the only person to accomplish this tennis milestone is a player, who has recently admitted to hating tennis, for his entire professional career. It is difficult to imagine that Andre Agassi, who is the only player in
the history of the Open Era to win all four Grand Slam events, the Olympic singles gold medal, the Davis Cup for America and the Barclay’s ATP World Tour Finals, could have hated his sport with, as he says, “a secret passion”.
Since 1999, the year that Agassi completed the Super Slam with a French Open victory, no player has been able to win as much as he has throughout the course of his career. Rafa is determined to try and follow in the (admittedly large) footsteps of the former
tennis player.
However, there is one major difference between the way Agassi achieved his Super Slam and how Nadal seems to be working towards his. While Agassi won all his titles over a time span of several years, Nadal seems to be in a hurry to grab all that he can.
Agassi started his victory spree in 1990, with the end of year championships. His other wins covered a time span of nine years. He won Wimbledon in 1992 and the US Open in 1994, which he followed up with the Australian Open in 1995. He followed this up with
the Olympic Gold Medal in 1996 and a Roland Garros victory in 1999.
On the other hand, Rafa has captured all trophies except for the WTF in only five years. He took the French Open in 2005, both Wimbledon and an Olympic Gold in 2008, the Australian Open in the following year, and in this year the US Open. If the Spanish
player takes away the end of year championships this year, he will have bested Andre Agassi by four years.
However, this is only one of the differences between the two players. The greatest discrepancy is perhaps their nature. While Agassi detested tennis, took it as a joke for many years and enjoyed media attention, Nadal loves his chosen sport. He calls it
his second love, beaten only by his family. He is a fan of the sport, and he enjoys both training and learning.
However, winning this tournament will not be easy for Nadal. Throughout his career, he has only had success at one indoor tournament out of 43 titles. This was achieved many years ago in Madrid in 2005, so it may be even more difficult for Nadal to conquer
the event.
However, he did take away the US Open this year so it is not at all entirely implausible, especially if his victory against Andy Murray yesterday is taken into account.
Even if he cannot make it big at the tournament this year, the fact remains that Nadal has had a magnificent year. He won three of four Grand Slams played and three back-to-back Masters titles on the red court. He also completed a career Grand Slam, and
finished the year with the World’s Number 1 ranking yet again.
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