Gasquet Returns To Szczecin Challenger 2017
Gasquet Returns To Szczecin Challenger 2017
Sep122017
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Fellow players pay tribute
After Rafael Nadal’s victory at the US Open, his fellow players have taken to Twitter to send their well wishes to the Spaniard, who captured his 16th Grand Slam championship.
Felicitaciones @RafaelNadal! Merecido campeón. ?
— Juan M. del Potro (@delpotrojuan) September 10, 2017
@RafaelNadal you are the best Spanish athlete in History!! #16thGrandSlam ????
— Fernando Verdasco (@FerVerdasco) September 10, 2017
Grande Rafa
— Mardy Fish (@MardyFish) September 11, 2017
Congratulations to @RafaelNadal on winning @usopen. Incredible athlete for all of us to keep getting inspired from. #VamosRafa
— Rohan Bopanna (@rohanbopanna) September 11, 2017
When the laws of physics don’t apply, your name must be Rafa.
— Noah Rubin (@Noahrubin33) September 10, 2017
Congrats @rafaelnadal on your 3rd @usopen title and thanks for spending a little time w/… https://t.co/ozz2nJvlJk
— Justin Gimelstob (@justingimelstob) September 10, 2017
Focus on your goals, never give up, always keep fighting… Some of the values @RafaelNadal has shown with his example. CONGRATS #VamosRafa pic.twitter.com/EyNzqtqvmu
— Rafa Nadal Academy (@rnadalacademy) September 10, 2017
Congrats Rafa ?
Roger 19
Rafa 16and counting …#legends
— Christopher Kas (@KasiTennis) September 10, 2017
The uncle and coach of Rafael Nadal weighs up his victory at the 2017 US Open
It has been a fairytale season for Rafael Nadal, winning his 10th Roland Garros crown, returning to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and now, on Sunday night in New York, capturing his 16th Grand Slam championship at the US Open. In the eyes of his uncle and coach, Toni Nadal, it is an incredible feat.
“When he was 12, 13 or 14, you never think he will get to this level,” said Nadal. “I am very happy to see my nephew lift so many trophies, knowing that he has achieved another piece of history. He has won a hard-court tournament for the first time since 2014. We are very happy that he has won another Grand Slam, his 16th, and is in a position to fight for No. 1.”
The US Open champion of 2010, 2013 and 2017 hadn’t triumphed on hard courts since 2014 Doha (d. Monfils). Since then, he had contested 34 hard-court tournaments without success. This year, he was beaten in the finals of the Australian Open, Acapulco and Miami.
Nadal’s victory at Flushing Meadows gives him a healthy lead over Roger Federer in the year-to-date standings as the two prepare to battle it out for the year-end No. 1 spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Nadal has 9,365 points to Federer’s 7,505. “He has a lead of almost 2,000 points,” said Toni Nadal. “We will see what happens at the end of the year, though, with tournaments that usually favour Federer.
“At indoor hard-court tournaments, like Basel, Paris or the Nitto ATP Finals, Federer has the advantage. But I think that Rafael’s level is high enough to do well in those events,” said Toni Nadal.
Nadal’s victory at the US Open rounded out the dominance that he and Federer have enjoyed once again in 2017, splitting the four Grand Slams between them in a season where both were coming back from injuries and loss of form. “It was unimaginable that would happen, of course,” said Toni Nadal. “But I had faith that Rafael would win one more Grand Slam, I tell you truthfully.”
Spaniard believes Nadal will be challenging at the top for years to come
When Carlos Moya joined Rafael Nadal’s team ahead of the 2017 season, he did so with total optimism. “When I joined the team I knew that there was much more to come for Rafa, that if he stayed injury free and continued training with the same motivation, desire and confidence, that the tennis would come,” said Moya.
“And in any case, we are talking about a legend, so the victories always come sooner or later,” added Nadal’s coach, himself a former World No. 1. He wasn’t mistaken. Three Grand Slam finals later, and with the US Open trophy now in his player’s hands, Moya couldn’t be more satisfied.
Their relationship and friendship is well documented, with Moya mentoring Nadal since he was a teenager. But has anything ever surprised him about Nadal during his career? “Many things have surprised me,” he responds without hesitation. “When I saw his progress, how quickly he went through every stage of development, when he won Wimbledon, when he achieved things that were unthinkable at that time in Spanish tennis… Now, nothing will surprise me anymore. He always gives the best of himself. We are talking about one of the greatest players in history and, as such, my faith in him is rock solid.”
Moya, who as a coach has guided Nadal to three Grand Slam finals this year as well as taking Milos Raonic to the Wimbledon final in 2016, sees Nadal competing for everything in the future. “If he can stay as healthy as he is now, without injury, motivated, looking after himself the way he is, we will be talking about Rafa for years to come,” said the Mallorcan.
“He is a player who broke records as a teenager and who is now breaking them as a veteran as well. This is something we haven’t see much in the history of tennis. People talk about how physical tennis is, but here he is at 31 winning two Grand Slams, right behind Federer. We mustn’t underestimate his talent, his ability to improve, to analyse things. For me, there is no reason to think he can’t spend many more years on Tour,” said Moya.
Can a World No. 1 and winner of 16 Grand Slams stay motivated? “Someone who has achieved so much will always find a new challenge,” said Moya. “There aren’t many challenges left, but there are some. He is a very competitive person, a very demanding person and that helps a lot. He will keep finding motivation and his biggest motivation will be to keep improving, keep evolving, stay competitive and he knows that if he can do that, the options to win tournaments and fight at the top will be there.”
Roger Federer will be the man to beat in 2018 provided he can stay fit, according to former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash.
Rafael Nadal, 31, extended his lead at the top of the rankings with his US Open victory over Kevin Anderson.
Federer, 36, was beaten in the quarter-finals, but Cash believes the Swiss can dominate the major titles if fully fit.
“Take away the French Open and Federer is the best all-round player in the world,” Cash told BBC Radio 5 live.
“There’s no doubts about that. He’s my favourite for everything apart from the French.
“As long as he’s fit, he’s favourite for the Australian, Wimbledon and the US Open.”
Nadal’s victory in New York brought him a 16th Grand Slam title, three behind Federer’s all-time record of 19.
The pair shared the four major titles between them in 2017, with Federer winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and Nadal the French Open and US Open.
“Will he catch Federer’s record? I don’t know if he even cares about that,” added Cash, currently coaching US Open semi-finalist Coco Vandeweghe.
“We get obsessed by the numbers thing; it’s a whole hype thing. He’s just happy to be out here and competing and if he gets near Federer…”
This time last year, Stan Wawrinka was celebrating his US Open triumph while Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic were about to embark on a battle for number one which went down to the final match of the season in London.
Both Federer and Nadal were absent as they recuperated from injuries.
Twelve months on and Andy Murray is likely to miss the rest of the season with a hip injury, in the hope that sufficient rest will allow him to play at 100% next year.
Djokovic and Wawrinka have taken the rest of the year off to recover from elbow and knee problems respectively, while Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori are also absent through injuries.
Nadal has struggled with injuries throughout his career, and only last year was forced to withdraw from both the French Open and Wimbledon with the wrist issue which would eventually end his season early.
“I thought in the back of my mind, Rafa should retire,” said Cash.
“Two or three years of playing very average tennis, I thought, ‘You know what, I don’t want to see Rafa go down like this.’
“I saw him in the first week of the year in Abu Dhabi and I went, ‘Oh my goodness, this guy is hitting the ball 20-25% harder than recent years.’ It was frightening; I thought ‘what has happened here?’
“That’s when I thought he was back.”
With three multiple Grand Slam champions working their way back to fitness, Germany’s Alexander Zverev has emerged as the leading challenger from the new generation coming through.
The 20-year-old is up to fourth in the world and has enjoyed a stellar year, but has yet to get past the second round of a Grand Slam.
Russian Andrey Rublev, 19, is the only player in the top 10 of the ATP’s next generation ‘Race to Milan’ to have reached a Grand Slam quarter-final, and he was heavily beaten by Nadal in New York.
The astonishing success in 2017 of Federer, who took six months off after Wimbledon last year, and to a lesser extent Nadal, who ended his season in October, might have inspired similar decisions among their rivals.
Murray, Djokovic and Wawrinka all plan to be back for the new season and challenging at the Australian Open in January.
“I think that’s why a bunch of the other top players are taking this extended break,” former world number one John McEnroe told ESPN. “But there aren’t a whole lot of Roger Federers around, so don’t bank on that happening.
“That’s the plan and we’ll see if any of those guys can execute the plan as well as Federer.”
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Federer had not lost a Grand Slam match this year coming into New York, having won in Australia and at Wimbledon and skipped Paris, but a back problem picked up in Montreal appeared to have a lasting effect.
He could not hide his disappointment after the quarter-final defeat by Juan Martin del Potro on Wednesday, but quickly switched focus to the next tournament.
“It’s terrible to think of what lies ahead, packing bags, going home,” said the Swiss.
“I hope I’m going to arrive really early in Shanghai to really get ready and make it a priority for me to win that tournament. I have big priorities for the rest of the year.”
Nadal, too, was looking ahead at the challenges to come within hours of lifting the trophy at Flushing Meadows.
“Well done for Roger that he is having an amazing season, and well done for me because I’m having a great season too,” said Nadal.
“Let’s see what happens until the end of season and that’s it. Tennis is not all about the Grand Slams, so there are tournaments to come and I’m excited about this last part of the season.”
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Rafael Nadal made it 16 slams, 3 behind Roger Federer, with an easy straight sets win over Kevin Anderson, 6-3 6-3…
Sloane Stephens is the new US Open champion, with a crushing 6-3 6-0 victory over her good friend Madison Keys in the final.…
US Open standout performers push for London
Two of the standout performers at the US Open have put themselves firmly in contention to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
With just eight weeks of the regular ATP World Tour season remaining, Pablo Carreno Busta and Kevin Anderson have surged forwards in the Emirates ATP Race To London as they bid to qualify for the first time.
View Emirates ATP Race To London
Carreno Busta, who reached his first Grand Slam semi-final in New York, losing to Anderson, is up to eighth in the year-to-date standings, although Stan Wawrinka at fifth has already ruled himself out for the remainder of the season. Carreno Busta was also a quarter-finalist at Roland Garros earlier in the year and won his third ATP World Tour title in Estoril (d. Muller).
Anderson, who finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at Flushing Meadows, is up to 11th, although he is still behind Novak Djokovic, who is also sidelined for the rest of 2017. The South African has risen 17 places in the standings after a remarkable run in New York, made all the more significant by the injury woes that plagued him in the first half of the season.
Nadal and Roger Federer have already secured their spots at the elite eight-player tournament, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November.
Alexander Zverev is next in line to qualify, at third in the standings. The 20-year-old German has won two ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments in his standout season, but failed to make a further push for London as he suffered a surprise second-round exit at the US Open (l. to Coric).
Dominic Thiem reached the fourth round at the US Open as he cemented his place among the Top 4 in the year-to-date standings. The Austrian is looking to qualify for the year-end championships for the second year in a row.
As the race starts to countdown, Grigor Dimitrov, Marin Cilic and Sam Querrey will all look to add crucial points to their tallies in the coming weeks.
Rafael Nadal put his remarkable resurgence down to his “love for the game” after claiming a 16th Grand Slam title at the US Open.
The 31-year-old Spaniard beat South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-3 6-3 6-4 to win his third title in New York.
Following his French Open success in June, it is the first time since 2013 that Nadal has won two Slams in a year.
“I wake up every morning with the passion to go on court and to try to improve things,” he said.
“I still want to compete and still feel the nerves every time that I go on court. While that keeps happening, I will be here.
“When some day arrives that I don’t feel the nerves or that extra passion for the game that I feel, it will be the day to say, ‘OK, I do another thing.’
“I am 31, I’m not 25, but I still have the passion and the love for the game.”
| Match stats | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nadal | Anderson | |
| 1 | Aces | 10 |
| 1 | Double faults | 4 |
| 63% | First serve | 59% |
| 84% | Pts won on 1st serve | 73% |
| 70% | Pts won on 2nd serve | 36% |
| 30 | Winners | 32 |
| 11 | Unforced errors | 40 |
Nadal’s victory took him three away from Roger Federer’s all-time record of 19 Grand Slam titles, and the pair shared all four major victories between them in 2017.
That came after both men ended their 2016 seasons early through injury, casting doubts on their ability to even challenge for the biggest titles again.
“I just can say thanks to life for that opportunity,” said Nadal.
“Probably that’s why I still have chances to compete in this sport and to do it well. That’s all.”
Had Nadal converted his lead over Federer, 36, in the final set of this year’s Australian Open final in January, there would be just one major title between the pair.
“I really never thought much about that,” said the Spaniard. “I just do my way. He does his way. Let’s see when we finish.
“Three is a big difference. I really don’t think much about these kind of things.
“I’m very happy with all the things that are happening to me, to win this title again. I have this trophy with me.”
The US Open was the last Grand Slam tournament in which Nadal was accompanied by his uncle Toni, the man who first put a racquet in his hand when was three years old.
Former world number one Carlos Moya, a close friend of Nadal, will take on coaching duties alongside long-time team member Francis Roig from next year.
Toni Nadal will take on the running of his nephew’s tennis academy in Majorca, which opened last year, although the world number one did not completely rule out a return to the player box for his uncle.
“He’s going to stop and going to put more attention on the academy. That would be great for my academy, and will be great for the kids,” said Nadal.
“That doesn’t mean that Toni will not travel any more. No, no, I believe that it will be stupid to say that.
“But of course he will not be in the diary of my practices and of my travels.”
It is a bolt out of the blue to some, but just reward for years of gradual improvements in Kevin Anderson’s eyes. Now the big-serving South African is backing himself like never before.
A maiden Grand Slam final may not have fallen his way on the scorecard after a straight-sets dismissal at the hands of Rafael Nadal, but it is a two-week stretch that has laid the foundations for the 31 year old to finish the year with a bang. The long road back from an injury-riddled 2016 and first half of 2017 only makes his run sweeter.
While defeat was still fresh, Anderson said once the dust had settled he would look back on his US Open run with only great memories. He came up against one of the game’s greats on the day and was forthcoming in his praise of what gave Nadal his edge.
“Definitely the first one, as I said quite a few times, is his competitiveness, consistency at that level. He never goes away,” Anderson said. “He brings that high energy every single point. I think that’s probably one of the biggest ones.
“It goes without saying his groundstrokes, his movements, defensive skills, it all comes together. I think he blended that very well tonight against me.”
A projected return to No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Rankings puts Anderson within striking range of a career-high No. 10, achieved on the back of a quarter-final run at Flushing Meadows two years ago. Having started his season at World No. 80 it warrants a welcome rethink of goals for the remainder of 2017.
“The target of getting back to 10 is something I set myself a little while ago. I got off to a bit of a tough start at the beginning of the year, but this summer I have really put myself in a good position.
“I feel like when I’m taking care of the stuff I need to, the ranking will take care of itself. It’s great to sit back at the end of the week and see the jump that I have made and the spots I have been able to climb, something I can be very proud of.
“Regardless of what happened these two weeks, I can take confidence. But I’m really going to have to reset and would love to have obviously a very strong finish to the year. I think maybe missing the beginning of the year has set me up well in terms of freshness.”
Two years ago, the South African finished a few spots shy of a maiden Nitto ATP Finals appearance. A strong finish to the year will put him well within the mix again.
“It would be great. That definitely wasn’t on my radar sort of in March/April this year after missing the beginning,” Anderson said. “I felt it was right there. My body was healthy, I spent a lot of time on my physical conditioning and I was hitting the ball great.
“I just needed to find that form on the match court. I feel like I have really done that. Looking back at the summer, I have had some really good results. I’ve put myself in contention.”