Nadal Wins French Open 9th Time Defeating Djokovick in Final

The no.1 tennis player in world Rafael Nadal proved once again why he is referred as the "King of Clay Court" defeating Novak Djokovick in final to win French Open for record 9th time in his incredible tennis career. Before this French Open 2014 finals Nadal and Djokovick had faced each other in 41 matches out of which 22 were won by the Spaniard Nadal while 19 matches were won by the Serbian Djokovick. This is 6th win for Rafael Nadal over former world number 1 Novak Djokovick in French Open and he is yet to loose a match to the Serbian.

Rafael Nadal with French Open 2014 Trophy (Credit : telegraph.co.uk)

Semi-Final : Rafael Nadal defeated British tennis star Andy Murray in straight sets by 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 quite dominating to cement his place in the finals of French Open for the record 9th time while his opponent in the final Djiokovick defeated Ernests Gulbis to book his place in the finals for 2nd time against the same opponent who defeated him in 2012 French Open finals.

Rafael Nadal started as the favorite due to his amazing record at Paris in French Open where he has lost only 1 match in 65 matches he played before this final. Playing for his first French Open to complete his career slam Djokovick started well and won the first set by 3-6 quite convincingly and took all important lead over Nadal. The way Nadal struggled with his serve and return in first set it looked like as Djokovik is going to complete his career slam this time. But in second set Nadal fought hard to win the set by 7-5 to make it 1-all.

Loss in 2nd set changed the game of Djokovick and he lost the 3rd set in no time to Nadal by 6-2. Nadal was looking as if he is going to finish the match comfortable as Djokovik looked completely lost with his game. Nut, in fourth set Djokovick tried to get back in the match and fought hard before losing the set by 6-4 and also the match and handed 9th French Open title to Nadal. The final ended in 3 hours and 30 minutes in front of the 15,000 spectators.

     "If I were a left-hander, maybe I would win the tournament"-  Novak Djokovick

Djokovick & Nadal with their French Open Trophies (Credit: sportskeeda.com)

French Open 2014 is 9th Rolland Garros title for Nadal and he has won it most in the history of French Open and also he is only player to win a single Grand Slam for more than 8 times. With this win over Djokovick, Nadal also extended his head-to-head lead against Djokovick to 23-19 in 42 matches while Win-Loss record at Paris by 66-1 which is simply incredible.

        "For me, playing here at Rolland Garros is just Unforgettable "  - Rafael Nadal 

Rafae Nadal received his 9th French Open title from legendary tennis player Bjorn Borg who also won this prestigious title for 6 times in career.  Now Rafael Nadal have 14 grand slam titles in his name and he is at second position jointly along with tennis legend Pete Samprass while this list is topped by Swiss Great Roger Federer who has won 17 Grand Slam titles in his career.

Grand Slams Won by Rafael Nadal in his career :
   
Wimbledon      :   2
US Open          :   2  
AUS Open       :   1
French Open   :   9

Rafael Nadal can surely break the record of 17 grand slams record by Roger Federer as age is on his side all he needs is a good fitness where he has struggled whole his career. Winning French Open Nadal also increased his bank balance by $ 2.25 Million while runners up Djokovick got richer by $ 1.12 Million.

Rafael Nadal also became first player in French Open history to win this 5 times in a row beating the record of 4 times set by Bjorn Borg who was also there in the stands and later he delivered the winners trophy to Rafael Nadal.

Djokovick Beat Nadal To Win Sony Open Title 2014

World number 2 Novak Djokovick defeated world no. 1 tennis player Rafael Nadal to win Sony Open title for 4th time in his career.  Novak djokovick dominated the final and looked in his best form. Sony Open is a Masters 1000 tournament with the total prize money of $ 4,720,380. This year this tournament saw the presence of players like Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovick, Roger Federer, defending champion Andy Murray, Stansilas Wawrinka, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Jo Wilfred Tsonga and many others.

Nadal and Djokovick with their Sony Open 2014 Trophies

Both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovick got bye over their opponents in the semi-finals. So, the stage was set for the 40th meet between these tennis giants. In the earlier 39 meets Nadal has won 22 matches while his opponent Djokovick has won 17 matches. Rafael Nadal was eying for the first Miami Open (Sony Open) in the 10th attempt while Djokovick was looking for his 4th Sony Open title and second straight Masters 1000 title.

Novak Djokovick who was coming into this tournament after winning the Indian Wells Open 2014 was favorite to win this title. Rafael Nadal who played exceptional tennis during the whole tournament looked completely lost in the final. Nadal lost the first set by 6-3 in just 40 minutes. Trailing the first set by 3-6, Nadal started the second set in same fashion and lost it too by 6-3.

   

"Novak was better than me" - Nadal

This was 3rd straight win for the Serbian over the Spaniard in last four encounters. Winning the Sony Open title Novak Djokovick became only second player in tennis history to win Indian Wells Open and Sony Open back to back twice after the Roger Federer. This was 18th victory for the Serbian over the Spanish no. 1 in 40 encounters.

 " This tournament has been perfect for me " - Djokovick

Novak is ranked 2nd in all time Sony Open winners list with 4 titles and he is behind of the great US tennis player Andre Agassi who has 6 Sony Open title in his name. Novak Djokovick pocketed $ 787,000 along with the 1000 ATP points while Nadal despite losing the final pocketed the amount of $384,065 along with 600 ATP points. 

Djokovick Defeats Federer to Win Indian Wells Open 2014

Former world number 1 Novak Djokovick defeated highest grand slam winner Roger Federer in the hard fought finals of Indian Wells also known as BNP Paribas Open. Indian Wells is a ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament with the prize money of $5,240,015  organized at  Indian Wells, USA. Indian Wells saw the participation from the tennis stalwarts like world number 1 Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Juan Martin Del-Porto, Richard Gasquet, Stanislas Wawrinka, Tomas Berdych, JW Tsonga in the list of 96 players. Out of these 96 players Novak Djokovick and Roger Federer cemented their place in the finals.

Federer and Djokovick with Indian Wells Trophies (Photo: thehindu.com)

World number 2 tennis star Djokovick defeated local star John Isner in the semi-finals to secure his place in the finals. Djokovick won his match by 7-5, 6-7, 6-1 breaking the hearts of local supporters. While in other semi-final Federer defeated Alexedra Dolgopolov in straight sets by 6-3, 6-1. Dolgopolov made huge upset in his way to the semi-final by defeating Rafael Nadal in 3rd round match.

Federer and Djokovick had faced each other 32 times before this out which 17 matches were won by the Swiss legend Federer while 15 were won by Djokovick. Still Novak Djokovick started as the favorite because of his form and the dominance he has displayed over other players in last couple of years. Before coming into the finals of Indian wells 2014 Federer has won this title 4 times while Djokovick won it 2 times.

Federer started the finals in excellent way and took 3-0 lead over the Djokovick. Federer wasted no time and won the first set by 6-3 in just 31 minutes. Second set was complete opposite of the first set and Djokovick won it by 6-3 make the match 1-1. Djokovick continued his rhythm from second set and took the lead of 5-4 in the tight 3rd set. Federer saved his serve and also broke the Serb to take lead for the first time in 3rd set with 6-5. Djokovick broke the serve of Federer and won the tie-breaker by 7-3. Djokovik won the set by 7-6 and also the match with scoreline of 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 to win Indian Wells for 3rd time.

"I am just very happy and thrilled to be able to win the first title in this season" - Djokovick  

Roger Federer despite loosing the final against Novak Djokovick looked fairly satisfied with his performance in the Indian Wells.  

"It was overall a good performance" - Federer

Indian Wells 2014 his 42nd career title for the Serbian and his 16th win over the Federer in 33 matches. Djokovick has now won 17 Masters 1000 tournaments in his career and he is jointly at 3rd position with Andre Agassi behind of Federer who won 21 and Rafael Nadal who has won record 26. Winning Indian Wells Djokovick pocketed $1,000,000 along with 1000 points while Federer despite losing the final pocketed $500,000 along with 500 points.

Rafael Nadal Wins 62nd Title With Rio Open Win Over Dolgopolov

World number 1 tennis player Rafael Nadal defeated Aleksandra Dolgopolov of Ukraine in straight sets to win the Rio Open 2014 tennis title.  Rafael Nadal who is considered as one of the greatest tennis player of all time and greatest tennis player of clay court won the final in straight sets. Rio Open was organized for the first time in Brazil and it was $1.5 Million prize money event. This ATP 500 event of Brazil saw the participation from star tennis players like world number 1 Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer, Nicolas almagro, Fabio Fogini, Tommy Robredo. Playing in the inaugural edition of Rio Open, Nadal looked in his sublime playing on his favorite clay court.

Rafael Nadal with Rio Open trophy (Photo credit : indianexpress.com)

On his way to final of Rio Open, Nadal had to sweat long against the fellow Spaniard Pablo andujar. Nadal won the semifinal against Andujar by 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 to book his final berth. Aleksandra Dolgopolov made a big upset in semifinal when he defeated 2^nd seeded David Ferrer of Spain. Dolgopolov defeated David Ferrer in straight sets by 6-4, 6-4.

Nadal made number of mistakes in the semi-final, but he recovered quickly and improved quickly when it needed the most to win the title. Nadal looked in control of the match and won the first set by 6-3 in quick time. The way he played in first set it looked as if it is going to be a one sided affair. But, in second set Aleksandra improved his game and put up a tough fight against the number 1.

King of clay court Rafael Nadal has to struggle against the Ukrainian before winning the 2^nd set by 7-5 and also the match in straight sets. With the win in 2^nd set Nadal won the inaugural Rio Open 2014 title in straight sets over the Aleksanda Dolgopolov. Rio Open is 62^nd tour level title for Rafael Nadal and his 2^nd title in 2014 after Sydney International Open 2014 title.

Rafael Nadal is tied 7^th with Guillermo Vilas in Open era title winners list and he is two trophies behind of the Bjorn Borg and tennis legend Pete Sampras. The title win in Rio de Janerio made Rafael Nadal richer by $316,400 and also 500 ATP points. Dolgopolov despite losing in final got richer by $142,650 and also by 300 ATP points.

Always, when you win a title, it’s special!- Rafael Nadal

World number 1 Rafael Nadal has a 16-1 win-loss record in 2014 calendar year, he lost in the final of Australian Open against Stanislas Wawrinka. Nadal looked in great shape fitness wise and looked equally potent as he used to be after returning to tennis circuit after the injury. The way he played and won the Rio Open title, he looks pretty much on the way to his 9^th French Open Title.

Somdev Devvarman Wins Delhi Open Challenger Title

Somdev Devvarman ace tennis players from India defeated Aleksandra Nedovyesov of Kazak in straight sets to win ONGC-GAIL Delhi Open challenger title.  Delhi Open is a $100,000 prize money event played on hard court. The atmosphere in the RK Khanna tennis stadium was quite electrifying and it was at par with the Davis Cup matches. Inspired by the presence of huge crowd chanting “Somdev-somdev” , Devvarman displayed incredible tennis and won the game and the title with complete authority over Aleksandra in straight sets.   

 

Somdev Devvarman and Aleksandra Nedovyesov with Delhi Open titles 
(Photo credit : indianexpress.com)

Indian no.1 and world ranked 96 tennis player Somdev defeated Evgeny Donskoy of Russia who was seeded 4^th in straight sets by 6-4, 6-2 in 108 minutes to cement his place in final. Somdev also took the revenge of loss against the Donskoy in Semi-final of Kolkata open 2014.top seed Aleksandra defeated unseeded Illija Bozoljac of Serbia by 4-6, 7-6, 6-3 in a tough outing.

In final match Somdev Devvarman took the match under his control from the word go. At one time the score was tied at 3-3 but Somdev broke the serve of top seed and got the lead by 4-3. Somdev won his serve and broke the serve of his opponent again the finish first set by 6-3.  In second set Somdev got the lead of 5-0 in no time and finished the 2^nd set by 6-1 to win the set as well as the match in just 59 minutes.

Somdev devvarman who is trying hard to improve his ATP ranking was playing in his final after 2011.  This is 3^rd challenger title for while he won last challenger title in 2010. Somdev was very happy with his performance in final of Delhi Open and it can be easily felt in his speech.

“I don’t remember the last time I won a match losing just 10 points on my serve.” – Somdev Devvarman

Somdev Devvarman won 100 points which helped him to climb to the rank of 78 in the world. Somdev Devvarman will next play in Debai Open for which he got wild card entry.

Doubles Final:

Wild card entrants Sanam Singh and Saketh Myneni defeated 2^nd seeded pair of Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana of Thailand in final of Delhi Open 2014. Unseeded pair from India defeated the thai players team in straight sets by 7-6, 6-3. This is 2^nd consecutive challenger title for Indian pair after the win at Kolkata Open 2014.    

Sanam Singh and Saketh Myneni Winners of Delhi Open Challengers

Thomas Berdych Wins ABN AMRO Title Defeating Marin Cilic in Final

Thomas Berdych of Czech defeated Marin Cilic of Croatia in straight sets to win 41^st edition of ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament 2014. The ATP 500 point tennis tournament was organized at Ahoy Rotterdam, Netherlands between Feb. 10^th to Feb. 16^th 2014 which saw the presence of star tennis players like defending champion Juan Martin Del Potro, Andy Murray, Richard Gasquet, Jo-Wilfred Tsonga, Tommy Haas and many others.  ABN AMRO world tennis tournament is a hard court event with prize money of 1,369,305 Euros and it is also one of the most popular ATP 500 tennis tournamnet.  This tournament is also called as the Rotterdam Open.

Marin Cilic and Thomas Berdych posing with ABN-AMRO-2014 Titles (photo:@atpworldtour.com)

Thomas Berdych defeated E. Gulbis of Latvia in straight sets by 6-3, 6-2 to get into the finals. Marin Cilic defeated wild card entrant and home crowd favorite Igor Sijsling in hardly fought match by 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 to make his way into the finals. Before this final they have faced each other 6 times out of which Berdych won 4 matches while Cilic has won 2 of them.

Marin Cilic and Thomas Berdych both had great run in the tournament on their way into the finals. But, Cilic started quite opposite and Berdych took quick lead over him. Cilic committed too many double faults and unforced errors which helped Thomas Berdych to win the first set by 6-4. The story continued in the second set and it got worse with the time in match. Berdych maintained his cool & calm composer which helped him win the second set by 6-2 and also the match in just two sets. Berdych now leads their head to head encounter by 5 wins from 7 matches.

Thomas Berdych ended his 16 months long title drought by winning this ABN AMRO World Tennis title in straight sets.  Thomas Berdych won the ABN AMRO tournament for the first time in his career. This is 9^th title of Berdych in the 20 final outings in his tennis career. The way Thomas Berdych dominated over Marin Cilic in the final it is good sign for him for the upcoming tennis tournaments.

Berdych is first Czech player to win this title after the Radek Stapenak who won this title in 2006. Winning ABN AMRO title Berdych added 500 ATP points to his points tally and also got richer by 330,750 Euros while his opponent Marin Cilic got 300 ATP points and also got richer by 149,135 Euros.   

Highest Tennis Grand Slam Winners in Men of All Time

              Tennis also known as Lawn-Tennis is one of the most popular sports in world. In the world of tennis greatness of a player is measured in terms of the number of Grand Slams won by the him. Grand Slams are the major tennis championship organized for the professional tennis players. There are number of tennis tournaments played throughout the year but Grand slams are the special ones. There are only four grand slams in a tennis calendar year and they are also the oldest tennis tournaments. These four tennis grand slams are Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open and they are held every year in Australia, France, England and USA respectively. In this post we are going to see the list of top 10 tennis grand slam winners in men circuit of all time.

You May Also Like : Is Rafael Nadal Better Than Roger Federer?

Tennis-One of the Most Followed Sport

Player Name	AUS Open	French	Wimbledon	US Open	Total
Roger Federer	4	1	7	5	17
Pete Sampras	2	0	7	5	14
Rafael Nadal	1	8	2	2	13
Roy Emerson	6	2	2	2	12
Rod Laver	3	2	4	2	11
Bjorn Borg	0	6	5	0	11
Bill Tilden	0	0	3	7	10
Fred Perry	1	1	3	3	08
Andre Agassi	4	1	1	2	08
Ken Rosewall	4	2	0	2	08
Jimmy Connors	1	0	2	5	08
Ivan Lendl	2	3	0	3	08

Roger Federer : Highest Tennis Grand Slam Winner

Roger Federer the Swiss great is highest tennis grand slam winners with 17 grand slams in his glorious career. He is also considered as classic tennis player for the way of ease with which he plays his tennis. He ruled the tennis arena for around 10 long years and remains at the rank 1 for record 302 weeks. Grass court is favorite court of Swiss player Federer and it is quite visible through his 7 grand slam win at Wimbledon.

Rafael Nadal with US Open Trophy

Apart from Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal all tennis players in this list are already retired. Roger Federer getting old as well as inching closer to retirement. Rafael Nadal is only player at present who looks to top this list of highest tennis grand slam winners in near future. He is only 27 and already won 13 grand slams and he is also only player to win a grand slam for 8 or more times. Nadal has won French Open for 8 times in his sizzling career which is more than anyone in the tennis history.


              Can Rafael Nadal win highest number of grand slams in Tennis history ? Can Rafael Nadal cross the mark of Roger Federer's 17 career grand slams ? What do you think ? Feel free to speak your mind in comment-box !

Rafael Nadal Wins US Open Defeating Djokovick in Final

               US Open last grand slam of tennis calendar ended with a bang. As, I predicted in my earlier post Rafael Nadal made it to the final of US Open where he was against world number 1 Novak Djokovick. It was record 37^th clash between two greatest rivals in open era of tennis history out of which 21 matches won by Nadal while 15 matches by Djokovick before this match. This was 4^th straight final at US open for Novak Djokovick while 3^rd US Open for Rafael Nadal. With the kind of form Nadal has been on Hard court recently I declared him favorite in my last article on US Open Final against Novak Djokovick for win.

US Open Finalist Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovick

Rafael Nadal popularly known as “King of Clay Court” for his 8 French Open titles defeated his opponent Novak Djokovick in four sets. It was expected to be close encounter as Hard court is favorite surface of Djokovick while Nadal is in good form on the same surface already winning Cincinnati Masters and Rogers Cup. Nadal who lost more matches to Djokovick in 2011 and 2012 had better results this year. Rafael Nadal has defeated Serbian Novak Djokovick six times in last 7 matches they played.

Eying 13th grand slam of career at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Rafael Nadal started very well and  took a lead of 3-1 in no time breaking the service of Djokovick twice. Novak Djokovick tried to fight back but too many unforced errors in first match goes against him and he lost first set by 6-2 giving lead of 1-0 to Spaniard. Novak Djokovick looked completely erratic and made number of silly mistakes and committed too many unforced errors.

Djokovick after winning the point after 54 shots long rally

Second set was completely opposite of first set. In second set Nadal struggled very badly and his service was broken twice by Djokovick to make score 5-2 in favor of the Serbian. Novak Djokovick hold his serve to win second set with 6-3 and match tied at 1-1. Rafael Nadal looked a bit unhappy with the noises made by the fans in the stadium too.

Like second set Djokovick broke the service of Spaniard and got a lead of 3-1 in 3rd set. But, Nadal bounced back quickly making it 4-4 in no time. Nadal down at 0-40 wins it to get a lead in the 3^rd set for first time with 5-4. Djokovick slammed the ball into net and the set went to Rafael Nadal 6-4 who was trailing 1-3 at one time. Nadal was leading the match 2-1 and a set away from the 2^nd US Open title.

Rafael Nadal reacting after winning a point in final

In fourth set where Djokovick needed to win to be in competition looked completely lost. He looked very tired in no time he gave away the match by score 5-1 in favor of  Nadal who was to serve for match and championship. Rafael Nadal didn’t waste too much time and finished the set with the score of 6-1 and wins  US open title for the second time. Rafael Nadal proved his dominance on hard court in fourth set by winning the set in just 40 minutes. Nadal won the 2nd Grand slam of the year in 3 hours and 21 minutes.

Nadal after Winning the Final match against Djokovick

Analyzing the match we see that too many unforced errors from Novak Djokovick cost match to him. Djokovick made 53 unforced errors while his opponent Nadal made only 20. Rafael Nadal played best of tennis in front of the Queen of Spain and Football star David Beckham in spectator area along with 23,000 spectators at Flushing Meadows in New York city.  

PRIZE MONEY

Winning final match Nadal got his hand not only on 2^nd US Open title and 13^th grand slam but, also a huge paycheck. Rafael Nadal pocketed $ 2.6 Million for winning the US Open champions along with $ 1 Million as bonus for winning the US Open Series like Serena Williams. US Open title is 60^th title for Rafael Nadal in his incredible tennis career.

Rafael Nadal in his Signature Style with US Open Title

This season has been undoubtedly the best hard court season for the Spaniard in his illustrious tennis career. He has played 22 matches on the Hard court winning all of them. Rafael Nadal has won 10 titles this year including the French Open and US Open since making his comeback from injury. Rafael Nadal is looked quite unbeatable no matter on which surface he is playing if we keep aside the first round exit at Wimbledon.

Highest Grand Slam winners of All Time

                         Player Name                                 No. of Grand Slams

                         Roger Federer                                              17

                         Pete Sampras                                              14

                         Rafael Nadal                                            13

                         Roy Emerson                                              12

                         Rod Laver                                                    11

Rafael Nadal is just one title away from Pete Sampras and four titles away from Swiss Legend Roger Federer but, the way he has played this season it doesn’t look too far from him. This year Rafael Nadal has played 60 matches winning 57 of them losing only 3. This tennis season has been almost perfect for the “King of Clay court“.

Roger Federer Tops the Grand Slam Winners List

As it was said by Novak Djokovick day before the match “Rafael Nadal is best in the World”. He has certainly justified that with his sizzling performance once again and the debate will start all over again whether Rafael Nadal is better than Roger Federer? Rafael Nadal is ultimate warrior in Tennis history and his relentless has made him one of all time greats. Rafael Nadal has already won 13 grand slams in his career and he is just 27 so the 17 grand slam titles of Federer is not too far if we look at the amount of age Nadal got to catch that.  

Paes–Stepanek wins US Open 2013 Mens Double Title

Radek Stepanek and Leander Paes with Doubles US Open Trophy

Leander Paes became oldest player in tennis history to win the US Open in Doubles. 40 year old Paes partnering with Radek Stepanek defeated 2^nd seeded team of A Peya and B Soars in straight sets to win the title. This is 14^th grand slam for the Leander Pace while 3^rd grand slam for the Radek Stepanek. This is 3^rd US Open title of 40 year old Leander Paes while first for his partner Stepanek. Paes and Stepanek who defeated title favorites Bryan Brothers in semifinals to insure their place in final won it in straight sets with the score of 6-1, 6-3.