The choker that is Rafael Nadal...

[Fidel]

just became the new Nr.1 in tennis by beating Nicolas Lapentti in the quarters of the Cincinatti Masters event. He´ll pass Federer on 18th of August latest (an anomaly because of the Olympics). Well deserved as he truly is the best player on the tour right now and has steadily improved his game over the years. Especially on the faster surfaces. The last player to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year was Borg so that alone should give everyone a good indication of what kind of player Nadal is.

Also it´s a hard earned Nr.1 spot. Some of the former world ranking leaders just fell into that position for a lack of competition. Nadal beat very tough competion so he truly deserves to be at the top. He´s got one of the best games and he´s clearly above everyone else mentally.

Congrats to Rafa.

[Fidel]

August 01, 2008

Nadal Guaranteed King of Tennis Ranking

MASON - August 1, 2008 - Rafael Nadal is guaranteed to claim the No. 1 South African Airways ATP Ranking this month after reaching the semifinals at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters with a 7-6(3), 6-1 victory over Ecuadorian Nicolas Lapentti on Friday night.

The 22-year-old Spaniard will replace Roger Federer as the new World No. 1 player in the South African Airways ATP Rankings this month. The timing of Nadal's rise to No. 1 depends on his results in Cincinnati:

- If Nadal wins the title, he will become No. 1 this Monday.
- If Nadal loses in the final he will become No. 1 on August 11
- If Nadal loses in the semifinals he will become No. 1 on August 18

Federer has held the top ranking a record 235 consecutive weeks (since Feb. 2, 2004) and Nadal has been No. 2 for a record 158 straight weeks (since July 25, 2005). The last player to rank No. 1 before Federer's reign was Andy Roddick the week of Jan. 26, 2004.

The Spaniard will become the 24th player in the history of the South African Airways ATP Rankings (since 1973) to hold the No. 1 position. He will join countrymen Carlos Moya (1999) and Juan Carlos Ferrero (2003) to rank No. 1.

Nadal, who also won his career-best 32nd consecutive match on Friday, has reached the semifinals or better in all nine ATP Masters Series tournaments in his career. He will attempt to become the first player to reach the final in all nine when he plays World No. 3 Novak Djokovic in the semifinals on Saturday. Nadal leads the all-time series 9-3, winning the last three meetings this year.

[alby]

Fed's done.

This does set up for a very interesting US Open.