Spain's Rafael Nadal beat Novak Djokovic in the finals of the last Grand Slam of the year. The 27-year old won in four sets, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. This is his second US Open singles titles and 13th Grand Slam overall. He also won another Grand Slam in 2013, in Roland Garros. With 13 GS titles, Nadal moves up behind Federer (17) and Sampras (14) on the all-time Grand Slam singles title list.
So far the 2013 season is superb for Nadal, having reached the finals of 12 events, winning 10, including consecutive hard court titles in Montreal and Cincinnati.
In a weird third day of Wimbledon, defending champion Roger Federer lost in his second-round match against a guy who did not even qualify in Eastbourne last week, Sergiy Stakhovsky, losing 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6.
Federer followed Rafael Nadal's first round exit on Monday, which opened the draw for Andy Murray.
Rafael Nadal made history today by willing his eighth Roland Garros trophy, beating David Ferrer, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3. It is the first time that one man has won a Grand Slam event eight times. Nadal now owns an astounding 59-1 record in 9 tournaments of the French Open, his only loss coming from Robin Soderling in 2009.
Nadal defeated rival Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, winning in five sets, while Ferrer reached his first Grand Slam final by defeating Jo-Wilfred Tsonga.
In the men's doubles, the Bob and Mike Bryan won their second Roland Garros trophy, defeating the French duo Nicolas Mahut and Michael Llora. It is the Bryan brothers' 14 Grand Slam crown.
Andy Murray of Great Britain finally won his first Grand Slam, defeating defending champion Novak Djokovic in an epic 2012 US Open final, 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2. Murray is the first Briton to win a Grand Slam since 1936. Aside from Djokovic he defeated Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Milos Raonic, Feliciano Lopez, Ivan Dodig and Alexander Bogomolov en route to the championship. Murray also won the gold medal in the London Olympics men's singles event.
Andy Roddick is an American professional tennis player. He recently retired, after competing in his last match (fourth round versus Juan Martin del Potro) at the 2012 US Open.
Roddick won one Grand Slam, at the 2003 US Open, and he also reached the finals of Wimbledon in 2004, 2005 and 2009, as well as the US Open in 2006. He reached the number 1 ranking in November 2003, spending 13 weeks at the top.
Roddick is married to model Brooklyn Decker.
Born: August 30, 1982 in Omaha, Nebraska Height: 6'2" Weight: 195 lbs Website/Social Media:andyroddick.com, Twitter
Career Highlights:
career prize money: $20,517,390
career singles titles: 32
career doubles titles: 4
career singles win-loss record: 612-212
reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009
Masters Series singles titles: 5 (4 runners-up)
previous holder of fastest serve in professional tennis: 249.4 kph
2004 ESPY Award for Best Male Tennis Player
youngest American to hold the number 1 ranking since 1973
first American to finish the year with number 1 ranking since Agassi in 1999
Andy Murray is a Scottish professional tennis player, currently ranked No. 4 in the world. His highest world ranking is No. 2, which he reached in August 2009. He is also the number one British player.
By winning his semifinal match against Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in 2012 Wimbledon, he became the first British to reach a Wimbledon final since 1938. He was thrice a finalist at the Australian Open (2010, lost to Federer and 2011, lost to Djokovic) and US Open (2008, lost to Federer).
Born: May 15, 1987 in Glasgow, Scotland Height: 6'3" Weight: 190 lbs Website:Twitter
Achievements/Career Highlights:
First British to reach the finals of Wimbledon since Bunny Austin in 1938
Career prize money: $20,376,752 (as of July 2012)
Career win-loss record: 345-115 (as of July 2012)
ATP singles titles: 33, including 8 ATP Masters 1000 titles
Fabio Fognini is an Italian professional tennis player. He is ranked No. 2 in Italy, and has reached a high of no. 32 in the ATP world rankings. He is currently world no. 63.
His best showing in a Grand Slam event is quarterfinals in 2011 Roland Garros. He lost to Roger Federer in the second round of the 2012 Wimbledon.
Born: May 24, 1987 in San Remo, Italy Height: 5'10" Weight: 160 lbs Website: Twitter
Career Highlights:
Career win-loss record: 86-115
Career prize money: $2,126,295 (as of June 2012)
won one ATP doubles title (with Simone Bolelli) in Umag, Croatia
finalist in ATP singles event in Bucharest, lost to Giles Simon
Rafael Nadal bested Novak Djokovic in four sets, to win his record-breaking 7th French Open title, one more than Bjorn Borg's.
The victory is Nadal's 11th Grand Slam title, and he is now tied with Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver for fourth with the most number of Grand Slams. Only Roger Federer (16), Pete Sampras (13), and Roy Emerson (12) has more.
Nadal also improved his record in Roland Garros to 52-1, with the only loss coming from Robin Sodering in the 2009 French Open 4th round. This is also his 35th title on clay, cementing his moniker as "The King of Clay."
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a French professional tennis player, currently ranked number five in the world, a career high (as of June 7, 2012). He is also the No. 1 ranked French player.
His highest achievement is reaching the finals of the 2008 Australian Open. So far he has won eight ATP singles titles, including the 2008 Paris Masters, as well as four ATP doubles titles. He recently reached the quarterfinals of the 2012 French Open, losing to Novak Djokovic in five sets.
He turned pro in 2004. Tsonga has French and Congolese parentage.
Rafael Nadal again defeated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, 7-5, 6-3, for the second time in a row to win the 2012 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. The victory is Nadal's sixth title in Rome. He also avenged his loss to Djokovic in the final last year. The title in Foro Italico is also Nadal's 49th overall ATP titles, and his 35th on clay. He will also ascend to number 2 ranking, which he lost to Roger Federer last week.
Djokovic defeated Federer in the semifinals, while Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard David Ferrer in straight sets to reach his 70th final. Nadal now holds a record 21 Masters titles.
Rafael Nadal set another record when he won the 2012 Barcelona Open last weekend. By beating David Ferrer 7-6, 7-5 in the finals, Nadal now has won the tournament seven times. The victory came at the heels of his record eighth title in Monte Carlo two weeks ago.
Nadal defeated Fernando Verdasco in the semis, while Ferrer defeated Milos Raonic to book a place in the finals.
Nadal debuted in professional tennis in the same tournament in 2002, as a 15-year old. Nadal He now has 48 ATP singles titles, 34 of which are in clay. He also became the first tennis player in the open era to win seven straight titles in two tournaments.
Robin Soderling is a Swede professional tennis player. Soderling, who
turned pro in 2001, is currently No. 29 in the world. He reached his
highest ranking in November 2010, at No. 4. He has 10 career ATP
singles titles and 1 doubles titles to date.
He beat Rafael Nadal in the 4th round in 2009 French Open Soderling,
then won two more matches to reach the finals of the claycourt event.
He is the first Swede since Magnus Norman in 2000 to reach the final
of a grand slam. He lost it to Roger Federer in 3 sets. He reached the
finals of the French Open again in 2010 but lost to Nadal in the championship.
He missed most of 2011 and the start of the 2012 season due to mononucleosis.
Two of the world's biggest athletes go head-to-head in a battle of explosive speed. On-court, Rafael Nadal's supremacy is almost unrivalled. But against Cristiano Ronaldo and the new Mercurial Vapor VIII, he faces a challenge like never before.
Dmitry Tursunov is an American-trained Russian professional tennis player. The right-handed baseliner came to the United States when he was 12 years old to train. He represented his mother country in group competitions, leading his team to win the 2006 Davis Cup and helping it reach the 2007 Davis Cup finals.
He reached the semifinals of the French Open in 2008, his best showing in a Grand Slam. His first ATP singles titles was won in Mumbai in 2006. He has reached a career high of no.20 in the rankings (achieved in October 2, 2006)
Robert and Michael Bryan are twins who play professional tennis, specializing in doubles competitions. Together they hold the most number of weeks as no. 1 team in the ATP tour doubles, at 270 weeks. They also hold the record for most doubles titles ever, which stood at 76 (as of March 2012).
The Bryan brothers has competed in 7 straight Grand Slam finals between 2005 and 2006, winning three. In total they both appeared in 20 Grand Slam doubles finals and won 11 trophies: 5 Australian Open, 1 French Open, 2 Wimbledon, and 3 US Open titles.
The Bryans also play in mixed doubles. Bob won 7 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles, while Mike won 2.
Born: April 29, 1978 in Camarillo, California (Mike older by 3 minutes)
Height: 6'4" (Bob), 6'3" (Mike)
Weight: 202 lbs (Bob), 192 lbs (Mike)
Achievements/Career Highlights:
named ATP Team of the Decade (2000-2009)
won bronze medal in 2008 Beijing Olympics, losing to eventual gold medalists Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka
ITF World Champion in doubles, 2003-2007, 2009-2011
Fernando Verdasco is a professional tennis player from Madrid, Spain. Currently no. 22 in the world, he reached his highest ranking in April 20, 2009, at no. 7. He turned pro in 2001, and won his first career ATP title in Valencia, in 2004.
Verdasco, who plays left-handed, reached the semi-finals of Australian Open in 2009, losing to Rafael Nadal, who went on to win the title. He also reached the quarterfinals of the US Open in 2009 and 2010. He recently lost to David Ferrer in the finals of Mexican Open in Acapulco.
Off court, Verdasco models for Calvin Klein underwear.
Born: November 15, 1983 in Madrid, Spain Height: 6'2" Weight: 179 lbs
Achievements/Career Highlights:
Career prize money: $8.07 million (as of Mar 5, 2012)
Marat Safin is a Russian tennis player. He reached the world no. 1 ranking in November 2000, a few weeks after winning his first Grand Slam, the 2000 US Open, where he defeated Pete Sampras. The fiery-tempered Russian held the no. 1 spot for a total of nine weeks.
Safin, who turned pro in 1997, won the Australian Open in 2005 to clinch his second Grand Slam. He also reached the semi-finals of Roland Garros in 2001, and Wimbledon in 2008. He has a total of 15 career titles, including 5 Masters Series tournaments. He plays right-handed.
Safin retired in 2009. He ran for and won a post in the Russian parliament, representing the Nizhny Novgorod region.
Born: January 27, 1980, in Moscow, Russia Height: 6'4" Weight: 195 lbs
Achievements/Career Highlights:
Won ~$14.37 million career prize money
Career win-loss record: 421-266
he and his sister Dinara both held the no. 1 ranking
won his first ATP Tour title at age 19
Due to his fiery temper on court, he managed to break 1055 rackets during his entire career
Rafael Nadal is a Spanish tennis player. He is currently ranked No. 2 in the world, having been No. 1 for weeks 102 weeks. He is regarded as the greatest clay court player of all time. He won 10 Grand Slam titles and a total of 46 singles titles (as of Feb 2012).
Nadal is one of the only two players to achieve a career golden Slam: an Olympic gold medal in singles tennis event, and winning the four major tennis tournaments, namely the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Born: June 3, 1986 in Manacor, Mallorca, Spain
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 188 lbs
Nadal is coached by his uncle, Tony Nadal.
Achievements/Career Highlights:
won his first Gland Slam singles title in Roland Garros in 2005; he won a total of 6 French Open titles
won his first Wimbledon title in 2008; won it again in 2010
won his first Australian Open in 2009
won his first US Open title in 2010
won 19 Masters events, a record
career prize money: $46.3 million (as of Feb 2012)
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