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Why Rafa is the G.OA.T

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Rafa Nadal is a deserving year end no. 1 for 2013

Rafa Nadal has confirmed the year end no. 1 ranking with his victory over Wawrinka in the World Tour Finals.

Rafa had the 2 biggest periods of dominance this year, where he won many big titles in a row, including 2 Grand Slam titles.

The first one started in Barcelona in April 2013 and it continued till Roland Garros finals in June. During this period, he won 22 matches in a row, including two Masters 1000 titles at Rome and Madrid and topped it with the French Open crown.

His 2nd period of dominance was surprisingly on the North American hard courts where he had struggled in the past. He won back to back titles in the masters events at Montreal and Cincinati. Rafa continued that momentum to defeat Djokovic in the US Open finals. Thus he remained undefeated on the North American hard court swing.

During these two periods of dominance, he beat all the top players in the world, and most notably his biggest rival Djokovic in both the French Open as well as the U S Open.

Djokovic, it can be argued had an equally great year. He had a great start to the season: (17-0) till he first lost in Miami, as well as a great end streak from October 2013 where he has won 19 matches in a row including two masters titles at Shanghai and Paris.

However, between them, it was clearly Nadal who won the most important battles and beat Djokovic in their 2 Grand Slam battles of the year. For winning those , and for winning a record 5 masters titles for the season, it would be right to say that Nadal truly deserves the year end no. 1 ranking. 



Sunday, November 3, 2013

Analyzing the draw at the ATP World Tour Finals

The draw for the ATP World Tour Finals is bound to leave its impressions on the fight for the year end no.1 ranking between Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

The draw has put Rafa in the same half with Ferrer, Wawrinka and Berdych. Against these players, he has an overall record of 47-8. This makes it highly likely that Rafa would easily sail through to the semis from this half of the draw, with the remaining spot being evenly contested between the other three.

The other half of the draw is the tougher one, with six time champion Federer, the defending champion and the hot on heels Novak Djokovic, and the resurgent Del Potro all in same group. Considering Djokovic’s current form, he should most likely make it to the semis. However Del Potro and Federer both have huge serves and on the fast indoor courts of London, they may cause an upset or two.

Rafa needs to win 2 of his matches in the league stage to ensure he ends the year ranked no. 1 in the world. That is assuming Novak wins all of his matches in the tournament, which won’t be an easy task considering the level of competition. All this indicates that Rafa would create history by becoming the first man to regain the year end no. 1 ranking twice after losing it.