Last year, tennis was starting to get interesting at the end of the year. Juan Martin del Potro had become the second player in recent memory that had won a Slam who wasn't named Nadal or Federer (the other was Novak Djokovic in the 2008 Australian Open). Nikolay Davydenko was having a resurgence late in
It's almost unheard of. Nadal is almost always good to the quarterfinals of every event he plays. Hot off the heels of his win in Tokyo, Nadal faced veteran Jurgen Melzer, a lefty that Nadal last beat at Roland Garros. One could argue that Nadal's toughest match came against Melzer who pushed him to a
Nadal, it seems, doesn't like it when he plays poorly. If he plays a match, and it's as close as his near-loss to Victor Troicki, he gets upset, and sometimes, the next opponent pays the price. That opponent was Gael Monfils. Sporting mini-dreads, Monfils had few answers for Nadal in the first set as Nadal
When the temperature starts dipping from the infernal heat and humidity of summer, when American collegiates put on football helmets on and their professional counterparts do the same, the American tennis-watching public tunes off tennis and turn their attentions elsewhere. It's the post-season in baseball. College and pro (American) football is starting up. Basketball and
Everyone understands how you must be beat Nadal. You've got to take the game to him. Even a player like Andy Murray, more inclined to defense than offense, knows to play Nadal, you must take charge. Nadal is better than anyone in the world punishing you for mistakes. Leave a ball short, and he'll pulverize
I remember, during the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, watching beach volleyball. Volleyball has long been a staple of the Olympics back to the days when diving Japanese women were a daring novelty, showing women could throw their bodies around in pursuit of a win. However, beach volleyball is more of a surfer culture
It was the third final played on a Monday in a row. In 2008, rain on a Saturday pushed the Nadal-Murray semis to a Sunday which pushed the finals to a Monday. In 2009, Nadal-Gonzalez was rained out on a Thursday, but Friday was washed out so despite a 34 minute conclusion, Nadal was not
It took Novak Djokovic five sets and two saved match points to beat Roger Federer. By that point, Rafael Nadal had a nice break having won his match over Mikhail Youzhny in straight sets. The US Open is the only Slam that plays semifinals and finals on back-to-back days, ostensibly for TV, realizing far fewer
For Novak Djokovic, it was Groundhog Day, a day that kept repeating itself year after year with the same result. In 2007, Novak Djokovic had had a breakout year. He reached the semis of the French Open and Wimbledon. He rushed up the ranks and entrenched himself at number 3. Then, at the US Open,
When Nadal raised the Wimbledon trophy for a second time, he knew that there was only one achievement he needed: win the US Open. He won the Australian Open once. He won Wimbledon twice. He's won the French 5 times. Twice, he's reached the US Open semifinals. Historically, Nadal's clay court victories has meant that
