Nadal-The greatest Grand Slam champion of all
Even winning one Grand-Slam title, a player will perpetuate the name in global Tennis history. Winning Grand-Slam titles in the open-era demands sacrifices and perseverance nearly that of a monastic pursuit. In a race to win more Grand-Slam titles, three players, Federer, Djokovic and a Spaniard were on track. The Spaniards personality and the brand of Tennis is out of the ordinary. He fascinated millions and made Tennis super attractive to the world in last two decades.
Rafael Nadal of Spain
Nadal the Spaniard reached the winning post first claiming his 21st Grand-Slam title in Melbourne in January 2022. He is 35 and his playing style has wrung his body to an extent that has seen doctors for surgery good many times. Roger Federer sent him a note praising his discipline and dedication. Federer even called him to be the inspiration for his own achievements. They are good friends.
Nadal’s first coach was his Uncle. A known Football coach of Spain. This influence placed footballer’s agility into Nadal. The athletic ability of Nadal is an attraction to the spectators and fearsome to the opponents. Tennis court is the largest surface area in individual sport. In the Australian-Open of 2022, ball-speed reached 230 kmph. Tennis court is roughly about 24 meters long, at that speed his opponents did not get even half of a second to notice, reach and to execute a shot effectively to survive.
Nadal’s influence in Tennis has made the game very fast. To control the ball at those speeds, top Spin is essential. Instruments can measure them. Along with the speed, they also read the rate-of-spin RPM [rotations per minute]. Today among the best, it stands at 2000 RPM. Execution of that kind of shots are energy sapping and tiring. Nadal accommodated it for five hours in Melbourne. Rallies went pass 30 shots at an average speed of over 100 KMPH.
Tennis has not seen another player built like him or with his abilities in the history of the game. In fact, he does look over built compared to his two rivals, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. At their peak, these two players outplayed Nadal. Most of the Nadal’s defeats came from these two players.
Melbourne 2022.
For Nadal, Melbourne title was a need to establish himself into the record book. Australian-Open draw lost Djokovic due to Covid 19 precautionary regulations. Federer has quasi retired. [May be planning to play after the clay court season]. The Australian draw had enough players to test Nadal even without Djokovic. German Zevrev, Greek Tisitsipas, Canadian AliAssime, Russian Medvedev and few more have registered wins against Nadal in the recent past. To win, Nadal often uses two weapons effectively. One is to outlast the opponent in endurance and the second to beat opponents with speed in every department. In Melbourne Nadal got his 21 Grand Slam title.
In the final, Nadal lost the first two sets to Medvedev and beat him in the fifth set after playing five hours and 24 minutes. This is Nadal’s second Australian Open Title. On sand courts, he has the best performance record. He has won the French-Open Title 13 times on Paris sand courts.
Ashleigh Barty after four decades
Australians had to wait 44 long years to see another women’s singles winner from their soil. The last Australian women player to win the women’s title was Evonne Goolagong in 1977. This year there were many Australians in the finishing final rounds.
Ashleigh Barty, the world’s number one has been the most consistent player in women’s Tennis in the recent past. Much of the last year she could not travel. Her current position of world’s number one ranked player of WTA vouches her ability. At 25 years, she has the potential of being the top player for the next few years. Many women Tennis players from Western Europe, Baltic States, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and North Africa have emerged. Barty is a perfect all-rounder. Performs comfortably in all departments of the game. Her game is a classical replica of original Lawn Tennis. The well-known Australian mould.
The easy to notice Australian Nick Krygios and his partner Kokkinakis won the doubles title. Their opponents were also Australians. Mixed doubles saw another pair of Australians in the final they lost to Mladenovic and Dodig.
Apart from these in Australia, USA women made a strong statement. Madison Keys staging a comeback ranked 57 reached the singles semi-finals. She lost to the eventual winner. Then 27th seeded Daniella Collins of USA went to the final beating Poland’s Swiatek and some more known names. In the finals, Collins lost the first set to Barty and then got a 5/2 lead in the second set and was very close to winning the second set. Here Barty proved to be a stronger competitor.
Revival of post Covid-19 Tennis?
Australia’s stringent virus prevention measures left the grand stand empty of spectators until the semi-finals but bought back the global enthusiasm for Tennis. Players’ from fifty nations participated in the event. Using the electronic eye the event went without lineman. After the early rounds, surviving players raised the game with fluency, accuracy and speed in stroke making and with surprising tactics. Most of the doubles matches exhibited all court power packed surprising combinations.
–George Paldano, European and Asian competition player; Accredited Coach of German Tennis Federation; National coach Brunei and Sri Lanka; Davis-Cup, Federation-Cup; coached top 200 ATP,WTA & ITF top 50. — 077 544 8880.