Rafael Nadal embraces career-berst streak
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Rafael Nadal was a player to beat in 2008, winning two Majors and becoming world no. 1 in August. Rafa embraced 32 consecutive victories for his career-best run before Novak Djokovic ended it in the Cincinnati semi-final. Nadal claimed his fourth straight Roland Garros crown in June, dropping four games versus Roger Federer in the final.
Nadal carried that form to grass and conquered Queen’s and Wimbledon, winning his first Major outside clay. Three weeks later, the Spaniard lifted the trophy in Toronto for his fifth straight title since Hamburg, becoming a genuine contender for the ATP throne kept by Roger Federer since 2004.
Rafa did not have much time to celebrate his Canada crown, heading toward Ohio to compete at the Cincinnati Masters. Nadal wished for a more reliable run than in the previous years at one of the fastest events on the calendar.Rafa used a favorable draw and defeated Florent Serra, Tommy Haas and Nicolas Lapennti to advance into the semi-final, where he faced world no.
3 Novak Djokovic. It was already the 13th meeting between these two youngsters. Nadal had won the previous nine, including triumphs in Hamburg, Roland Garros and Queen’s in the last months. Still, the Serb ousted Nadal in March in Indian Wells, hoping for more in Cincinnati after being a much better player on the fast hard court.
Djokovic delivered a rock-solid performance to topple Nadal 6-1, 7-5 in an hour and 26 minutes, terminating the Spaniard’s career-best streak of 32 consecutive victories! Nadal had already secured to replace Federer at the top of the ATP rankings on August 18 before the match.
Still, he wanted to stay on the winning path and add the title he was missing in his collection, only to be denied by a strong rival. Djokovic struggled to find the first serve, especially in the first set.
Novak Djokovic ended Rafael Nadal’s streak of 32 wins in Cincinnati 2008.
Still, there was…
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Source : tennisworldusa
