Nadal's Nemesis - who's next?
In the last five years, world tennis has seen only two grand slam winners without the Nadal or Federer surname.
If not for Federer, Andy Roddick could have had more than one grand slam titles under his belt. Roddick has fallen to Federer on three occasions in Wimbledon Championship finals after dominating the earlier rounds. He was clearly head and shoulders above
all other tennis players except one – the great Roger Federer. Lleyton Hewitt would have won more than just one Wimbledon and US Open title if Federer had not been Federer and Andy Murray would have won the 2009 US Open had he not run into the Fed express.
If not for Rafael Nadal, Fernando Verdasco would have reached the finals of the Australian Open 2009 after playing arguably the best tennis of his life. Tomas Berdych, playing a breathtaking quarter-final match against Federer and defeating him in four sets,
ran into Nadal only to lose the tournament once again. Robin Soderling registering his first hard fought win against Federer in 14 matches in the 2010 Roland Garros semi-final would have enjoyed his first grand slam title if his opponent’s name had not been
Nadal. Novak Djokovic played excellent ground stokes, served brilliantly, returned extremely well but still ended up losing to Nadal in the final of the US Open 2010.
The story of unfortunate losses continues...
The game of tennis has gone through many era’s dominated by just one player. The 1990’s was ruled by Pete Sampras, then came the unbelievable era of the Swiss Roger Federer and now Spaniard Rafael Nadal is looking to shatter the grand slam dreams of many
hopefuls.
In the last five years, only on two occasions has a player other than Nadal and Federer been able to claim a grand slam title. Novak Djokovic won the 2008 Australian Open title where he defeated Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the final and Juan Martin Del Potro won
the 2009 US Open title after defeating Roger Federer.
Looking at this total domination by two players, one cannot help but wonder if other players are just not good enough or are Nadal and Federer in a class of their own. There are players whose game has presented some challenges for the Swiss and the Spaniard.
They possess the talent and skills to make it to the top but do not have the same mental strength as has been shown by Nadal and Federer match after match.
As the sun is almost setting on the Federer era, it is shining brightly on Nadal’s. The question that comes to light is this – who will challenge and give Nadal a run for his money?
As the British rest their hopes on Andy Murray to be “the man”, Argentineans are keeping their fingers crossed for Del Potro to come back after his injury and pick up from where he left - a grand slam victory. After winning the US Open 2009, Del Potro seemed
to be the next big thing in tennis but unfortunately, due to a wrist injury, he has not been able to participate in a grand slam since then. Andy Murray on the other hand has had a problem with controlling his nerves at the biggest junctures of the game. Robin
Soderling and Novak Djokovic have shown promise but have so far failed to make a real mark. Men’s tennis has been dominated by Spanish players for the last two years, but even among them, no one has posed a threat to Nadal’s unbelievable winning streak.
After playing one of the most amazing matches of the tournament against Djokovic, Nadal won the US Open title (the only title to have eluded him up until now) and completed his career grand slam. "That's more than I dreamt,” said the world number 1.
Federer era has seen the demise of many great talents until Nadal made his mark by breaking into the tennis scene, but it seems Nadal will be the only king in tennis for some years to come. After winning five Roland Garros, two Wimbledon and one US Open
and an Australian Open, the world number one seems unstoppable at just 24.
Are the tennis fans in for another decade of straight set victories at the grand slam finals or are they going to get more tennis than that. Everyone is waiting for someone to step up and take on the job of being “the real contender” or are the fans looking
at another decade of one player dominating the sport of tennis.
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