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 2^nd 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. 

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.

Analyzing impact of Novak Djokovic’s victory at the Shanghai Masters

Novak Djokovic has regained his crown at the Rolex Shanghai Masters by beating Del Potro in a tightly contested final. With this victory, he has displayed his hunger to get back to the no.1.

The victory has given Djokovic a slim chance at regaining the no.1 ranking if Nadal continues his performance slide since the US Open. Ever since that defeat, Djokovic looks like a man on a mission. And that is to show that he is indeed the best tennis player on the planet at the moment, and he wants the crown back. His intensity and aggression were on a different level altogether in Shanghai as he defended his title.

This also means Rafa needs to get his act together and perform well in the 3 remaining tournaments of the year which will be all indoor tournaments. The fact that he has 0 points to defend compared to 1500 for Djokovic at the WTF, gives him a good chance to end the year as no. 1, but any further slips in performance may prove costly.

He currently leads Djokovic by about 400 points, and with Basel, Paris and London to come, he must win around 1000 points in order to ensure his stay at the top of the rankings. Whatever happens, we are all set for a cracker of a season end tennis championships this time.

Rafa Nadal’s 3rd reign at No.1 would be a long one

Rafa Nadal has regained the no.1 ranking after reaching the finals of Beijing Open. Several factors indicate this would be a long reign at no.1. 

Rafa’s currently has a healthy lead of about 2700 points over Djokovic in the year to date ATP rankings. Rafa has 0 points to defend till the Australian Open next year. In the same period, Djokovic defends around 4500 ATP points. This should give Rafa a healthy lead over Novak by beginning next year.

Also, Rafa’s  form at hard courts has been almost impeccable this year (27-1), and he is playing the most aggressive hard court tennis of his career. He has played much closer to the baseline and dominated and bulldozed opponents with his rocket forehand. He has victories over Federer and Djokovic in fast hard courts of Cincinati and the U S Open respectively. 

All these point towards a good season end performance by Rafa in the remaining 2 Masters at Shanghai and Paris, and at the World Tour Finals in London. 

Also, Rafa’s clay court dominance over the years would help him defend the points won over the clay season in 2014. Also, he has no points to defend at Wimbledon. All this would mean Rafa would hang on to the no. 1 raking at least till August next year. Then the biggest challenges would start for Rafa when he would have to defend big points over the US Open 2014 series.

It would thus be safe to say that tennis world would see Rafa at the top for a long period now, with Djokovic and others playing catch up for much of the coming 12 months.

Analysing the draw at the Beijing Open

The draw for the Beijiing Open is out. Amongst the top players, Nadal seems to have got an easier draw compared to Djokovic. 

Nadal opens his campaign against a qualifier, followed by a possible 3^rd round meeting against Kohlsreiber. His potentital quarter final opponent could be Haas or Hewitt. None of these players pose a real threat to Rafa.  Nadal’s first true test would come in the semis when he may face Berdych or Isner.

Djokovic meanwhile has a slightly trickier draw with Wawrinka in his quarter of the draw. He opens his campaign against Lukas Rosol, Nadal’s conqueror at Wimbledon 2012, and could face Verdasco in the 3^rd round. A tough quarterfinal test could present before Djokovic in form of Wawrinka, who has stretched him to limits twice this year in the Australian Open and the US Open, losing both matches in 5 sets.

All in all, this draw favors Rafa more and has increased his chances to reach the finals at the Beijing Open and regain the no. 1 ranking.

Rafa Nadal would regain no. 1 ranking at the Beijing Open

Rafa Nadal has embarked on his journey to reclaim his no.1 ranking. The Beijing Open, starting 30^th September, provides him an opportunity to get back to no.1 .

Rafa only needs to reach the final of Beijing Open to get back to no. 1 in the ATP rankings. Considering his form on hard courts this year (22-0), it’s not wise to bet against him doing so.

Also with Andy Murray out with injury, the only serious threat to Rafa would be Djokovic, who won’t meet him before the finals. So, Rafa reaching the finals and dethroning Djokovic is a big possibility.

This would be his 3^rd reign at no. 1 and considering his current lead of nearly 3000 points over Djokovic, this might well be a long reign at the top of the rankings.

Why Rafa Nadal is the G.O.A.T

With the U.S.O pen title win over Novak Djokovic, Nadal is close on the heels of Federer’s Grand Slam haul of 17. The G.O.A.T discussion is alive again.

 

Rafa Nadal already has arguably the greatest resume of titles for any tennis player in history. With 13 Grand Salms, 26 Masters Series titles, 4 Davis Cups, 1 Olympic Gold medal and 102 weeks at no. 1 as of now, Rafa can rightly stake claim to being the greatest tennis player of all time.

If we look at various factors that need to be considered in judging an all time great, Rafa qualifies on most of them.

Rafa has won Grand Slams on all surfaces and can complete a 2^nd career Grand Slam by winning the Australian Open 2014. He has faced top level competition in the form of Federer and Djokovic throughout his career and defeated them to win most of his Grand Salm titles. He also holds a positive,   dominant head to head against all his top rivals.

Comparing this to his 3 rivals in the G.O.A.T debate, we can argue Rafa’s superiority over all of them.

1.      Pete Sampras

Pete won 14 Grand Salms, but never could win anything on significance on clay. That is 1 out of the 3 playing surfaces. Comparatively Rafa is an all surface great.

Apart from that, Sampras didn’t have to have the greatest ensemble of tennis players ever in form of Federer, Djokovic and Murray that Rafa had to face throughout his career.

Above all, his lack of success on clay leaves him behind Rafa in the G.O.A.T debate.

2.      Rod Laver

Laver played most of his tennis on grass and clay, with 3 of the 4 slams being played on grass in the 60s. Just imagine how many slams Rafa would have if 3 Grand Slams were played on clay!

Also, when we talk of his rivals, no such all time great come in the picture compared to Rafa who had to contend with Federer and Djokovic his entire career. Rafa arguably has a much tougher competition. Also, the competition hadn’t reache dits peak in the 60s with tennis still limited to a few centres  during Laver’s time. 

Add to this , Laver never played on hard courts to win Grand Slams, the physically most demanding surface. All these indicate Rafa to be better than Laver.

3.      Roger Federer

One statistic brings the real picture here. 10-21 ! Such a negative head to head against a fellow player puts a big question mark over Federer’s claim as the G.O.A.T.

Also, during his peak years from 2003-2007, when he won most of his Grand Salm titles, the level of competition wasn’t great. Almost all of his rivals including Hewitt, Safin, Roddick lacked the skills as well as the dedication to become a great rival.

Ever since Nadal and Djokovic matured, Federer’s domination has crumbled, and especially Nadal has bullied and dominated him on all surfaces. He holds records of 12-3 on clay &  7-2 on outdoor hard courts against Federer. That’s where 3of the 4 Grand Slams are played.

If Federer isn’t the best player of his generation, which these stats clearly show, how can he be considered the greatest of all time?

All these point to the conclusion that Rafa indeed is the G.O.A.T and with 13 Grand Salms already at the age of 27, he can shatter the GS record of 17 held by Federer and be universally proclaimed the greatest ever tennis player of all time in 2 years from now!

That would put to an exclamation point on this G.O.A.T debate with Rafa rightfully assuming this mantle.