Rafa Books His Place in History
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates his victory against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during the men's final at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, September 13, 2010. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT TENNIS)
Rafa Books His Place in History
by Parsa Samii, GEM Tennis (parsa@gemtennis.com)
New York, US Open — Spanish sensation, world #1 and now 2010 US Open champion Rafael Nadal cements himself in the record books forever. With his 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Serbian Novak Djokovic, Nadal becomes just the 7th player in the history of tennis to win all 4 Grand Slams. This year alone, Nadal has conquered Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open…. and he is only 24 years old.
The tennis in this championship match was played at a very high level. Djokovic, nickname Nole, continually pounded Rafa with his best shots and at moments it looked like Nadal was being pushed outside his comfort zone. The relentless, tenacious, and passionate Nadal refused to succumb to any pressure Djokovic placed on him. Rafa’s solution to difficult moments in the match was to torture his opponent by continually moving the ball around and engaging Nole into heart pounding, fitness testing rallies from the baseline. Many times Djokovic held his own, but the damage had more of a long term effect on the mind, body, and spirit of Djokovic. Everytime Nole looked across the net after one of those lengthy rallies, he saw a focused and driven Nadal who didn’t even think twice about the punishment he was putting his body through. Rafa was on a date with destiny, yet Nole battled over and over again trying to break the Spanish star, but on this night it wasn’t meant to be. This was Rafa’s moment and he took his opportunity just like he said he would in his press conference after his first round match here at the 2010 US Open. “Just enjoying that moment and trying to fight every ball,” Nadal explained, “because if there is any chance to win here, [I'll] convert this chance.” Mission accomplished, well done!
Congratulations to Rafael Nadal for winning his first US Open!
Fantastic coverage of this year’s US OPEN. Since I couldn’t be there I really appreciated getting the almost hourly updates on the players, the scores and the action.
Each time there was an update I felt like I was sitting there watching each set. The photos were great, too. Thanks to the people at GEMtennis for providing the best online tennis coverage.