US Open 2010: Nadal and Clijsters Champions

The US Open 2010 recently concluded at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, where inclement weather pushed the men's singles finals to Monday for the 3rd straight year. In this year's Monday final it was the Top Seed Rafael Nadal who came thorough victorious.

MANY CONGRATULATIONS TO

The 2010 US Open Men's Singles Champion
Rafael Nadal

and

The 2010 US Open Women's Singles Champion
Kim Clijsters

Rafael Nadal's dominance continues, and this time we are not talking about just the clay surface. From his emergence as probably the best clay court player ever, Nadal is fast moving to becoming the best tennis player in the history of the sport. Of course, he still has a long way to go, but with the way he is playing tennis of late, there seems to be no stopping him. Till about a few years ago, Nadal was just a shade below Roger Federer, but in recent times he has improved leaps and bounds, and is now at par, or even a shade above Federer. His ranking, the world number 1, shows that statistically he is way above Federer, and his victory, or victories at Federer's favorite grounds is just pushing him further up the ladder.

Before the 2010 US Open, Rafael Nadal was lacking just the Flushing Meadows title to complete a Career Grand Slam. He tried his luck for 8 years at the courts of Flushing Meadows, and finally on the 8th time he proved lucky. However, luck has nothing to do with his victory, meticulous planning, tactics and strategy is what helped Rafa win on his least favorite surface. He now has won all the grand Slams at least once, and is looking to be a serious contender for Federer's 16 Grand Slam titles. For those of you that don't know, the US Open win will be Nadal's 9th Grand Slam Title. He also has won the last 3 consecutive slams, and will no doubt be looking to take the Australian Open as well, making it 4 out of 4 in slams, something that has not been achieved since Rod Laver did it in the late 60s.

In the 2010 US Open, Nadal was to play the 3rd seed Novak Djokovic bareley 20 hours after Djokovic survived a 4 hour 5 setter against Federer to come to the final. However, the tired Serb got a reprieve when rain affected day's play and the final was pushed to Monday. Unfortunately for Djokovic, the rest was not enough and he went down fighting to Nadal in 4 sets, in a rain-affected Monday final. In the entire US Open 2010, Djokovic was the only man who could take a set off Nadal, validating his presence in the final. But a set was not good enough and Nadal won, conquering all the surfaces of the Slams.

He now has won 3 of the 4 Grand Slams of the year, and moves into 2011 with the best chance to win a True Grand Slam. But before that he also stands a chance of winning the Career Super Slam, which includes the 4 Grand Slams, the Olympic Gold, and the ATP World Tour Finals. For a player who had knee problems on both knees just a year ago and missed most of the season, Nadal has done extremely well this year. A salute of one of the most competitive, talented, and successful players on the men's tour. Well done! Rafael Nadal.

In the women's event, the 2nd seeded Kim Clijsters was just too good for the 7th seed Vera Zvonareva, and won the 2010 US Open title in straight sets. Both players had amazing runs to reach the finals, with Zvonareva defeating the top seed Caroline Wozniacki, and Clijsters defeating the 3rd seed Venus Williams. However, in the finals it was the defending champion Clijsters who powered through, giving Zvonareva not even a slight look at the title. Clijsters has thus successfully defended her 2009 title, similar to what Venus Williams did way back in 2001. Unfortunately for her, she drops 2 places in the rankings to the 5th rank, in spite of winning the title. Williams jumps up a place to 3rd, and Zvonareva moves in to 4th thanks to her US Open performance, leaving the 5th spot for Clijsters. Now Clijsters has back-to-back US Open titles and will no doubt be looking to improve her ranking in 2011.

So that's it for the US Open 2010. See you in about 2 months for the ATP World Tour Finals. Till then, once again, congratulations to Rafa and Kim.