Road to Glory: Nadal wins his 8th Grand Slam Title
Rafael Nadal won his second consecutive grand slam title of the year by beating Tomas Berdych in straight sets with 6-3, 7-5 and 6-4 to become the Wimbledon Champion 2010. The Spaniard cruised through the tournament as he outclassed the very best in professional tennis at the All England club in London.
Nadal went into the match as the obvious favourite and dominated the match against the 12th seeded Berdych in the final that lasted for 133 minutes. Nadal did not take part in Wimbledon’s last edition in 2009 due to a calf injury and could not defend his title after winning it in 2008 for the first time in his career. Currently, Nadal’s record has stretched to 14 wins on the trot in Wimbledon Championships.
This was the 8th Grand Slam win for Nadal which include 5 French Open, 2 Wimbledon along with an Australian Open title. After the match, a jubilant Nadal claimed that Wimbledon was more than just a grand slam for him. Nadal further added that it was like a dream that had come true. The Spaniard went through a tumultuous time last year when he was recovering from his knee injury. As a result, all sorts of thoughts were going through his head when he entered Wimbledon after a gap of one year. However, by winning back-to-back grand slam titles after his return to international tennis, Nadal has been assured that his fears were misplaced.
Nadal said that he was very dejected that he did not get a chance to defend his title in 2009. As a result, the player was more than determined to win this years’ title in London. The worries expressed by Nadal during the period of injury were also shared by some experts, who feared that the Spaniard may not be the same player after an injury-prone 2009. Nadal proved his critics wrong by winning the French Open 2010 without dropping a single set. With this win in Wimbledon, there is no doubt that Nadal most certainly is the best player in the world of tennis at the moment. He is only 24 years old and has time on his side in order to break Federer’s record of 16 Grand Slams.
Berdych for his part was unlucky to have come across Nadal in the final, who was not willing to give an inch. His road to the final was not an easy one either. The Czech Republic player got the better of world number two by defeating former Wimbledon Champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals. He then went ahead to beat world number six Novak Djokovic in the semi-final, but could not hold his ground against Nadal who was in devastating form at Centre Court.
Nadal was in supreme form even in the semi-final against Andy Murray on Friday and he had a clear advantage over Berdych with 7 wins in their previous 10 encounters. The match started evenly and the first set saw a competitive game of tennis. Nadal had the first window of opportunity in the seventh game and he took it with both hands. Nadal converted his second break point, courtesy of a brilliant return and broke Berdych to take the set at 7-5.
Berdych looked quite unsettled and could not keep up with the pace with his more accomplished opponent, as his confidence dropped. Consequently, his serve percentage went down to 50%. Nadal offered a slight window of opportunity to Berdych at the start of second half with 3 break points, but Berdych could not capitalize on the opportunity. Nadal bounced back with two lightening serves to get firm control on to serve. That turned out to be the only chance for Berdych in the set as Nadal cruised through to win the second set.
There was no catching up for Berdych in the third set as Nadal dominated Berdych throughout the rest of the match to claim the third set at 6-4 and sealed his second Wimbledon title of his career. After regaining his world number one status, Nadal has only lost the top spot to Roger Federer, mainly due to an injury in 2009. However, if he can stay fit and continue with his exquisite form, it sure will be a task and a half for Federer to reach the top spot.
Tags: