Career Slam & Infinity - Rafael 'Sphere'

[Sanjeevi]

US open truimph panni 10 GS thandattum, appuram compare pannalam

cha Del porto engada poitta intha Nadal fan thollai thangalappa and Novak he beated Roger illaina

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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ten...-New-York.html

US Open 2010: Rafael Nadal claims all of his dreams have come true in New York

Nadal had never won the title at Flushing Meadows and despite some outstanding tennis from Djokovic, the Spainard was just too good in every department for his opponent to stage a comeback.

Thrilled with the 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win and to have completed his career grand slam, Nadal said: "(Winning the US Open) is more than I dreamt, just to arrive to the final was amazing and to have the trophy in my hands in a few seconds with my heart beating is going to be unbelievable.

"I played my best match in the US Open at the most important moment, so I am very, very happy for that, for sure.

"To win in here I think is the more difficult tournament for me to play, more difficult conditions to adapt, to adjust my game on this court, for the balls, for the court, for everything.

"I improved a lot since last year, but never is enough. I am not a perfect player, so everybody can improve."

Even with improvement, Nadal was loathe to speculate on whether catching Roger Federer was realistic.

Federer, 29, has a record 16 grand slam championships to Nadal's nine, but the Spaniard's victory at Flushing Meadows was extra special compared to his previous wins.

"I think talking about if I am better or worse than Roger (Federer) is stupid," he said. "Because the titles say he's much better than me, so that's true at that moment. I think that will be true all my life. We will see what happens in the future. I am not a genius."

Reflecting on the match with Djokovic during which he was pushed hard for three hours 22 minutes, Nadal added: "First thing, I would like to congratulate Novak and all his team for a great tournament, you're a great player and you're going to win this trophy very soon, I'm sure of that.

"I want to congratulate you for a great attitude after losing a Grand Slam final, that's a great example for the kids."



A gracious champion who has only good things to say about his fellow players.

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http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/DEUCE-Tennis/Nadal-Grand-Slam/Nadal-Slam-Tribute.aspx

Nadal A Man In A Hurry

Rafael Nadal has always been a man in a hurry, so it’s little surprise that he is now the youngest player in the Open Era, at just 24, to complete a career Grand Slam following his four-set victory over Novak Djokovic in the US Open final.

Nadal is redefining the way the game is being played and has earned the right to be included in the debate about who is the greatest player of all-time. Yes, he’s still seven Grand Slam titles shy of Roger Federer’s record haul of 16 – not that Grand Slam titles should be the only consideration – but it would be a brave observer to suggest the Spaniard won’t eventually approach or break Federer’s record, which may itself continue to grow in coming years. Nadal has won his nine Grand Slam titles in his first 26 appearances at the majors. By comparison, Bjorn Borg won nine in his first 22; Federer won nine in his first 30 and Sampras nine in his first 31.

Could it be just five months ago that Nadal was enduring an 11-month title drought before he began his clay-court campaign at Monte-Carlo? How things have changed! Between mid April and mid September Nadal won three consecutive Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open and became the first man ever to make a sweep of the three clay court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in the one season when he won Monte-Carlo (for the loss of just 14 games!), Rome and Madrid. His Madrid triumph, at age 23, earned him a record 18th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title, beating the 17th title that Andre Agassi won at 34 years of age.

At 18, Nadal was already giving every indication that he would one day be regarded as one of the greatest clay courters of all time, winning Monte-Carlo, Rome and (days after turning 19) Roland Garros. In all, in 2005 he won eight clay court tournaments among 11 titles – the most ever won in one season by a teenager.

But there we also signs in 2005 that Nadal was not a Spanish clay court stereotype. He won ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles indoors in Madrid and on a fast hard court in Montreal, where in the final he took out no less than Agassi, one of the greatest hard court players in history. When Nadal made a stunning run to the Wimbledon final in 2006 to prove his versatility on grass, the tennis world had all the proof it needed that Federer was not the only player capable of completing a career Slam.

That Nadal has won all four majors is not really a surprise, but the speed of his achievement perhaps is. Let’s not forget that Federer was 28 when he completed his career Slam at Roland Garros. And what a golden era for tennis to have these two all-time greats playing at the same time. There was a 30-year gap between Rod Laver winning his Open Era calendar-year Grand Slam in 1969 and when Andre Agassi completed a career Grand Slam in 1999. Tennis fans had to wait little more than one year for Nadal to clinch his career Slam after Federer did it in 2009 at Roland Garros.

What is the secret of his success? Many things, of course, but above all a unrivaled mental toughness and unrelenting determination to keep getting better. Once regarded as having little more than a handy serve, Nadal is now firing 135 mph cannons and proved during the US Open that he is one of the toughest players to break, dropping serve just twice en route to the final. Raised as a baseliner with extreme grips, Nadal has worked tirelessly to become one of the most reliable volleyers in the game. And let’s not forget the resilience he’s shown to recover from long-standing knee tendinitis, which kept him from defending his Wimbledon title in 2009.

Nadal's next missions are likely to be more like a marathon than a sprint: trying to top Federer's haul of 16 majors and perhaps Sampras' all-time mark of 286 weeks spent as World No. 1. But, at 24, time is on his side.

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Berlin- Rafael Nadal stretched his lead atop the men's tennis rankings courtesy of Monday's US Open crown while beaten finalist Novak Djokovic moved into second place.

Spain's Nadal, who became the seventh man in tennis history to win all four majors, leads the ATP list issued on Tuesday with 12,025.

He holds a massive lead over the Serb Djokovic (7,145) and dethroned US Open champion Roger Federer of Switzerland (6,735).

ATP top 10 as of September 14 (previous ranking in parenthesis):

1. (1) Rafael Nadal, Spain, 12,025 points

2. (3) Novak Djokovic, Serbia, 7,145

3. (2) Roger Federer, Switzerland, 6,735

4. (4) Andy Murray, Britain, 5,035

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Rankings/Singles.aspx

[Nerd]

thollai thangalappa

Same here.

[littlemaster1982]

For Nadal fans,

[html:0730a3e1da][/html:0730a3e1da]

Found this in another forum.

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thanks LM

[MADDY]

superb pic LM thanks

i think the "non-dominant" hand point is a bit sore - naangala aada sonnom appadinnu ketpaanga - its his choice

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http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/nirmal_shekar/article669260.ece

The nice guy who finishes first

Rafael Nadal is a genuinely nice guy. The sport would be very much diminished without him, writes Nirmal Shekar

HISTORIC moments in sport often tend to divert our attention from things that are at the heart of the greatness of the men and women who author those moments.

Take Rafael Nadal, for instance.

We've heard so much about his greatness over the last couple of days since he became the youngest man in the Open Era (post-1968) to complete a career Grand Slam.

A courageous conquistador with legendary fighting skills, a forbiddingly gifted athlete who has improved his game almost unbelievably to become a versatile all-surface champion, a man who, at age 24, can confidently look up to the game's Everest with the hope of one day setting foot there…

But through all the acres of newsprint awash with adjectives, amidst the adulatory zeitgeist sweeping across the media, there were few — if any — references to a simple virtue that makes Nadal a unique champion, arguably one without a match at his level of accomplishment.

His humility.

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said that modesty was “a hypocrisy” when it was displayed by men of great talent. Nobody in modern sport — not just tennis — has proved the great German wrong quite as emphatically as has Nadal.
Not a mask

With Rafa, modesty isn't a mask, for he is a very poor actor. He doesn't do modesty to win over fans, or the media. There is not a whiff of the imposter about him. His humility defines him as a human being. That's really who he is.

“The talk about if I am better or worse than Roger (Federer) is stupid, because the titles say he's much better than me. That's true at the moment. I think that will be true all my life.''

This from a man who won't turn 25 until June 2011, from a player who has already won nine Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold medal.

From this column's standpoint, Federer will occupy a place higher than Nadal in the pantheon of greats even if the gladiatorial Spaniard goes on to beat the Swiss alpinist's Grand Slam record. That's because nobody has ever played tennis like Federer did — or still does, if not quite as consistently as in his peak.

To say that Federer won a record 16 Grand Slam titles is like saying Mozart's compositions are so many dots of ink on paper. This is easy enough to state from an aesthetic perspective.

But for a man who has mastered the maestro 14 times out of 21, and five of those occasions being Grand Slam finals, to say that a fading (arguably?) Federer is “much better than me” is something else.

Humility comes in different hues. Spinoza believed that it was an emotion that arose from the contemplation of one's weakness. That could hardly be true in Nadal's case. But no matter what all the moral theories regarding humility might have to say, especially when the humble person is a celebrated high achiever, the virtue that Nadal possesses is utterly genuine.
The truth

Nadal says what he does about Federer simply because he believes that to be the truth. This is hardly Schopenhaeur's definition of humility as hypocrisy. It is, on the other hand, unornamented candour, truth telling of the noblest order — saying it like it is even if it meant belittling oneself.

Sport and snobbery often appear to be made for each other at the highest levels, but Nadal is probably — and in my own case, certainly — the nicest, classiest champion in modern tennis. In my 30-plus years of covering the sport, I have not come across a more gracious world-beater.

“It is not the titles that honour men but men that honour titles,'' wrote Niccolo Machiavelli. This is very much true in Nadal's case.

Celebrated sportsmen don't get to live in clandestinity. In the event, it is not easy to put on a choir boy act week after week, year after year. Nadal is a class act, period.

The writer of this column has met him and interacted with him in vastly different tournaments, in places such as Chennai, London and Melbourne. He never once struck me as a person who was doing the Nice Guy bit to impress anyone. He always came across as the person he really was.

Going after great records in sport is a lot like chasing happiness in life. In the unlikely event that you did reach the goal, there would still be the question ‘Is there all there is to it?'

On the other hand, if you found fulfilment in becoming a better and better person, a better and better champion, happiness/records will knock on your door. Nadal perhaps knows this better than a lot of other champions.

Forget, for a moment, his stature as a tennis player. Rafa is a great guy. The sport would be very much diminished without him.

[MADDY]

humility tag vera poettangala - avalavudhaan .....