Nadal Defeats Novak Djokovic to Claim Ninth French Open Title…

Posted on June 9, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is still the King of Clay…

The 28-year-old Spanish tennis star won an unprecedented ninth title at the French Open, defeating Novak Djokovic 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-4, in the men’s final at Roland Garros.

Their match couldn’t compare to last year’s five-set classic in the semifinals or their six-hour duel at the Australian Open in 2012 but the final outcome has allowed Nadal to tie Pete Sampras with 14 major titles, three behind the all-time leader Roger Federer.

Djokovic’s victory over Nadal in the Rome final in May, his fourth straight overall against the left-hander, gave his fans greater hope.

“My best wasn’t (like it was) against him in Rome,” Djokovic told reporters.

Nadal stormed into this year’s finale in record time — for him — playing a near flawless three final sets against 2013 finalist David Ferrer, crushing Andy Murray in the semis and lifting his game when it mattered against Djokovic, minus a rare hiccup late in the fourth set.

“Mentally I was so strong,” said Nadal. “I really wanted to defeat him. When there were problems cropping up, I managed to find the solutions.”

With the win, Nadal is now 66-1 at the French Open, with those nine titles alongside.

Nadal Crushes Andy Murray to Reach French Open Final

Posted on June 7, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is one win away from his record-extending ninth French Open title.

The 28-year-old Spanish tennis star, already an eight-time champion with a 65-1 career record at Roland Garros, needs just one more victory on the red clay to make him the first man to win five in a row and give him his 14th Grand Slam title — a tie in second place with Pete Sampras.

Nadal advanced to the final by soundly defeating Wimbledon champion Andy Murray 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 on Friday on Court Philippe Chatrier, the stadium Nadal calls his favorite place to play.

He jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set, then broke early again in the second and third sets. Nadal had six break points in the entire match and converted each one.

Murray, meanwhile, didn’t even earn a single break point.

Nadal will next face Novak Djokovic, who defeated Ernests Gulbis 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the first semifinal.

Nadal has beaten Djokovic at the French Open in all five of their previous meetings, starting with a quarterfinal victory in 2006. They also met in the semifinals in 2007, ’08 and ’13, and in the final in 2012.

The second-seeded Djokovic, however, has beaten Nadal the past four times they have played, including on clay in the final in Rome last month.

“I’m going to try to be aggressive because that is the only way I can win against him,” Djokovic said. “I know that, of course, this is the court he’s most dominant on. He has only lost one time in his career. This is where he plays his best.”

The winner on Sunday also will be ranked No. 1 on Monday. Nadal is currently at the top but needs to extend his French Open winning streak to 35 matches to stay there.

Besides his eight titles at the French Open, Nadal has also won twice at Wimbledon, twice at the U.S. Open and once at the Australian Open. Sampras won 14 major titles in his career but never the French Open. The record holder is Roger Federer with 17 Grand Slam titles. He won his 14th in Paris in 2009, the only French Open in which Nadal lost a match.

Nadal Defeats David Ferrer to Advance to the French Open Semifinals

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Despite a slight hiccup, Rafael Nadal is still the King of Clay at Roland Garros.

For the first time at this year’s French Open, the 28-year-old Spanish tennis star, an eight-time champion at the tournament, dropped a set during his quarterfinal match.

His opponent: David Ferrer, who was not only the runner-up to Nadal at Roland Garros a year ago, but he also beat Nadal on red clay the last time they played each other.

And even though he lost the first set, Nadal rallied to come back and beat Ferrer 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1, setting up a semifinal Friday against Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.

“At the beginning,” Nadal acknowledged, “David was playing with a higher intensity than me.”

But once Nadal made a key adjustment, deciding to dispense with backhands and hit forehands as much as possible, he took over. After committing 28 unforced errors across the first two sets, Nadal had zero in the third and only three in the last.

Ferrer, for his part, said that in the latter stages, “I lost my concentration, my focus.”

It was Nadal’s 33rd consecutive win at the French Open, improving his record at Roland Garros to 64-1.

Giraldo Overwhelms Andy Murray to Reach the Madrid Open Quarterfinals

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It took a few attempts, but Santiago Giraldo has finally beaten a top-10 player… And, he’s registered back-to-back wins against two big name players in tennis in the process.

Following his second-round upset win over World No. 13 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round, the 26-year-old Colombian tenista slaughtered Andy Murray on Thursday in the third round at the ATP Mutua Madrid Open.

The Wimbledon champion was simply overwhelmed by Giraldo, who is currently ranked No. 46 in the world.

Giraldo beat Murray 6-3, 6-2 in a mere 70 minutes.

Murray’s play was erratic throughout the match against the Colombian qualifier, who earned his first career victory against a top-10 player in 20 attempts.

“He played very well from start to finish,” Murray said. “Towards the end I didn’t put enough pressure on him to force him to make errors. He dictated most of the points and deserved to win. I didn’t envisage the match finishing like that.”

Giraldo will next face Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarterfinals.

Garcia Defeats Vania King to Reach Her First WTA Women’s Final

Posted on April 13, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Caroline Garcia is one win away from the first Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) title of her promising professional career…

The 20-year-old half-Spanish tennis player from France, currently ranked No. 74 in the world, posted a 6-2, 6-4 win over American Vania King in the semifinals.

Garcia, the tournament’s fifth-seed, will next face Jelena Jankovic in the Claro Open Colsanitas championship match on Sunday.

It’s the first WTA final for Garcia, whose best previous result was a semifinal appearance in Acapulco back in February.

Garcia turned pro in 2011. Following her performance against Maria Sharapova at the 2011 French Open, only her second Grand Slam, Andy Murray tweeted that Garcia was destined to become world No. 1, and Martina Navratilova said, “She has the goods.”

Asked on Tennis Channel if she was looking at Garcia the way she had looked at Steffi Graf at the same age, Navratilova replied, “Absolutely!”

The 2014 Bogota titlist will earn $43,000.

Nadal to Participate in the Inaugural Edition of the International Premier Tennis League

Posted on March 2, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is preparing to join a league of champions in Asia…

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star has signed up to participate in the inaugural edition of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).

Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Serena Williams are all confirmed for the exhibition league that begins in late November in Asia.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and Li Na are not set to take part in the IPTL.

Indian doubles specialist, Mahesh Bhupathi, came up with the idea for the league, which will hope to be as successful as cricket’s Indian Premier League.

Tennis legends’ surprising comebacks

“The IPTL is the ﬁrst-of-its-kind Asian tennis league with a unique concept bringing together the best tennis players from across the world on the same platform,” the IPTL said in a news release.

The format sees five teams, based in Mumbai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and a yet to be confirmed city, play home and away matches. The matches are best-of-five sets but incorporate different sets — men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles and legends.

The official players list includes Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras in the legends category.

Questions still remain about how many matches the top players will play and how players will manage their schedules leading into January’s Australian Open.

Over the years, players have complained about how long the tennis season lasts — between 10 and 11 months — and the IPTL is scheduled to run from November 28 to December 20.

Nadal Named the Top Seed at the Australian Open

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It comes as little surprise… But Rafael Nadal has been listed as the top seed at the Australian Open, which gets underway on Monday at Melbourne Park.

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, recently extended his points lead over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic after clinching the title at the Qatar Open.

Djokovic, the defending champion, is the No. 2-seeded man, followed by David Ferrer, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, Juan Martin del Potro and 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer at sixth.

The other Latino seeds include Spain’s Nicolas Almagro at No. 13, Spain’s Tommy Robredo at No. 18, Spain’s Feliciano Lopez and No. 27 and Spain’s Fernando Verdasco at No. 32.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams has been made the top seeds at the Australian Open.

Defending champion Victoria Azarenka is No. 2, followed by Maria Sharapova, Li Na, Agnieszka Radwanska and former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in sixth.

The only Latina to earn at ranking at this year’s Australian Open is Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro at No. 16.

The 32 seeds were only altered twice from the rankings, both because of injuries. No. 29-ranked Jurgen Melzer is not playing due to a left shoulder injury and Maria Kirilenko, who would have been seeded 18th, has a left knee injury.

Nadal Extends His ATP Rankings Lead Over Novak Djokovic

Posted on January 7, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like Rafael Nadal isn’t planning to give up his recently reacquired World No. 1 ranking anytime soon…

The 27-year-old Spanish tennis star has increased his points lead over Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in the recently released ATP rankings, due to his victory at the Qatar Open over the weekend.

Nadal won his first title of the season and 61st of his career at the tournament over the weekend after defeating France’s Gael Monfils 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2.

The win expanded Nadal’s lead over Djokovic, the world No. 2, while Spain’s David Ferrer kept his hold on the No.3 spot.

Nadal has 13,130 points, while Djokovic has 12,260 points.

Britain’s Andy Murray comes in at No. 4 and Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro is No. 5 in the world.

The world’s top tennis players are gearing up for the Australian Open, the tennis season’s first Grand Slam event, which begins on January 13.

Ferrer: The Highest-Ranking Latino Tennis Player in the World

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Move over Rafael Nadal… David Ferrer is still the highest-ranking Latino tennis player in the world…

The 31-year-old Spanish tennis star has climbed to the No. 3 spot in the ATP rankings for the first time in his career.

Ferrer had never before managed to crack the Top 3 since beginning his pro career in 2000.

He followed up his first Grand Slam final appearance at the French Open by reaching the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, where he lost to Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro.

Meanwhile, Switzerland’s Roger Federer fell to the No. 5 spot, his lowest ranking in 10 years.

Federer, for his part, dropped in the rankings after being stunned in the second round at Wimbledon by unheralded Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5).

The Swiss great, winner of a record 17 Grand Slam men’s singles titles and seven championships at the All England Club, was the defending champion at Wimbledon.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic retained the No. 1 spot, while Scotland’s Andy Murray stayed at No. 2.

Spain’s Rafael Nadal, who also made an early exit from Wimbledon this year, is in the No. 4 slot.

Belgium’s Steve Darcis knocked off Nadal 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 at Wimbledon, marking the first time the Spaniard has lost in the first round of a Grand Slam event.

Nadal Defeats Tomas Berdych to Reach Rome Masters Men’s Final

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal continues to shine in his post-injury return to competitive tennis…

The 26-year-old Spanish tennis superstar produced some of his best tennis at the Rome Masters on Saturday to earn his place in the finals.

Nadal started the semi-final match on fire and finished strong to claim a 6-2, 6-4 win over Tomas Berdych.

In Sunday’s final, the six-time Rome champion will play his archrival Roger Federer, who defeated surprise semifinalist Benoit Paire of France 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in the night match.

Nadal was in absolute peak form in the first set, seizing control of almost every point with deep, accurate and heavily spun ground strokes.

And on the rare occasion when Berdych dictated play, the world No. 5 typically won the point anyway with impressive defensive gems.

The second set was more evenly matched, but Berdych’s fate was virtually sealed when he lost his serve in the ninth game, and he was unable to mount a miracle comeback like the one he pulled off in Friday’s quarterfinals against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

“I played at a high level and everything went well with no mistakes. I was dominating the points and following to the net. I think I played one of my best matches since I am came back” Nadal said in a post-match interview, referring to his long injury layoff from July 2012 until early this year.

Nadal has made a miraculous return to the ATP Tour since recovering from a knee injury, reaching eight straight finals dating back to a small clay-court tournament in Viña del Mar, Chile, in February.

Nadal and Federer have played 29 times, with Nadal holding a 19-10 advantage. Sunday’s final will be their 15th meeting on clay, with Nadal holding a 12-2 advantage on his favorite surface.

Nadal can move up to No. 4 in the rankings – and avoid a possible quarterfinal matchup at the French Open against either Djokovic, Federer or Andy Murray – if he wins Sunday’s final, which will be the best of three sets.

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