Tennis Update: Rafael Nadal of Spain gets top seeding for U.S. Open
The USTA announced that the Rafael Nadal of Spain will be the top seeded man when the U.S. Open men’s single will start on Monday in New York. Although Nadal hasn’t made it to the past semi-finals of the U.S. Open, the Swiss professional tennis player Roger Federer is seeded second.
In the last three years, this is the second time that Nadal is the No.1 seed at the U.S. Open. Nadal is an eight-time Grand Slam Champion and has won 2008 Olympic Gold medal in singles. Similarly USTA announce that the Roger Federer of Switzerland is the No.2 seed at the U.S. Open, who is the five-time U.S. Open champion. He will be followed by 2008 Australia Open champion and 2007 U.S. Open runner-up, Novak Djokovic of Serbia. Andy Murray of the Great Britain is on No. 4, who was the U.S. Open runner-up 2008.
Nadal was not in an action last year as he missed much of 2009, with injuries and didn’t defend his French Open 2008 and Wimbledon titles. However, this year Nadal was in form and won five titles including his fifth French Open and second Wimbledon title. Now Nadal is seeking his first U.S Open title, which will make him just the seventh man to complete the career Grand Slam. In last two years, Nadal reached semi finals but couldn’t make it to finals.
Nadal has earned many nick names, one of his famous nicknames is “The King of Clay”, and it is due to his tremendous game on the clay court. He was honoured with the award of Price of Asturias for sports in 2008, due to his achievements in tennis. In 2009, Nadal was the first person who holds the Grand Slam singles titles on grass and hard courts.
According to many experts Nadal has taken many steps to make him better, he has improved his serves and volleys better, may be better than Roger Federer. Similarly very skilfully, Nadal won his French Open and second Wimbledon crown; he has shown formidable form in this season’s two previous grand slams.
Nadal is really famous for his aggressive, speedy footwork and tenacious court coverage playing style. He is an active defender. Nadal is also famous for his speedy off spins, which often forces the opponents to the back of the court and then acting smart, Nadal gives fine drop shots which result in the defeat of the opponent. He is basically a baseliner and seldom volleys, and he has been noted by many experts as an excellent volleyer. His back court style has helped him win many matches. However, his uncertain cruel injuries limited him in the past year and made it more difficult for him to perform well on the hard courts of Flushing Meadows.
However, many factors favour Nadal now, told by McEnroe during a conference call. He said in his conference call that, “He is really tried to pull back. He is trying to win it,” the former player of tennis said, “He’s playing just enough tennis so he has confidence and to intimidate the other players. He is also giving his body a break.” He also said, “Sometimes there’s seven weeks between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and sometimes there are eight. This year there’s eight and that gives him a chance to have five weeks off. It looks like a pretty promising situation for him.”
Although Nadal is a clay court specialist, he has shown great performance in the tournaments played on other surfaces, such as holding Grand Slams on grass, hard courts and clay courts. There have been many questions regarding the longevity in the sport, because his constant injuries always put a question mark on his performance. Nadal has also accepted his physical toll hard. Eyes of the whole world are on the Nadal now and people have raised their expectations in the U.S. Open 2010.
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