Nadal seeded 2 at the Beijing Olympics overcame the challenge of Gonzales by beating him in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 and 6-3. He had a stiff opponent in the form of Gonsales who notched up nine aces through the course of the game, but Nadals’s powerful forehands down the baseline were a treat to watch for the hundreds who had gathered to watch the finals match and Nadal didn’t disappoint any of them. It had been a great year for Nadal after he had begun at auspicious note by winning his favourite French Open beating Roger Federer in the final. But the shot in the arm came from the Wimbledon victory when Nadal went on to beat his swiss rival in a humdinger of a match stretching into 5 sets and two days. This was the first Wimbledon triumph for Nadal after having lost the last two consecutive finals in London to Roger Federer.
For more than two years, Nadal had been ranked two and was in hot pursuit of the Swiss prodigy. But this year had been a special one for Nadal as he won two major Grand slams on clay as well as grass. The Beijing triumph will surely sky rocket the confidence of the Spaniard for the Olympics comes only once every four years. And it is a special moment to be winning gold for your country. A feeling that transcends all other Grand Slam wins. The Olympics would also turn out to be a confidence booster for the Spaniard as he sets out to play the US Open starting in a few days time after the Beijing Olympics.
Tennis lovers who were waiting to see their dream Olympic final of Nadal vs Federer had their hopes dashed once Federer was knocked out of the tournament at the hands of James Blake of the United States of America. Federer had lost out on the number 1 ranking and this seems to have psychologically affected his performance at Beijing Though the swiss made up for it by winning the doubles gold at the Beijing Olympics.
As Rafael Nadal is set to take up the Number ranking in tennis after being second for a record time, this will be the dawn of a new chapter in tennis. The Federer Nadal rivalry is something that all tennis lovers have cherished over the years but it waits to be see whether Federer has it in him to bounce back at the US open this year. For now this has entirely been Nadals year as he has gone from strength to strength and his Olympics Gold medal win will surely set the ball rolling for the No. 1 ranked tennis player in the World.
Earlier in 2006 after the Doha Asian Games, Leander Paes had questioned Mahesh’s commitment and this may have caused a rift in between them. Both of them had publicly said that they would not be playing as a team again after winning the Gold at the Doha Asian Games. It had all seemed to be over for this terrific duo. But it brings great relief to all their fans that Mahesh and Lee will be playing together. Lee and Mahesh have been really consistent and have always ranked among the top players in doubles. Sadly, they have never got India glory at the Olympics. Leander did win a bronze for India in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
A country of over a billion people but we yet do not have an individual Olympic Gold to show for it. On the other hand Chinese with similar population numbers generally finish within the top three at the Olympics. Indian Sports Infrastructure is abysmal. And there are only a few sports in which it has a serious chance of winning a medal, namely Shooting, Hockey, Weight Lifting and Tennis. India’s best chance of winning a Gold would be in the doubles event where they would have the experience of Paes and Mahesh to sail through. They had earlier won the French Open as well as the Wimbledon in the year 1999 and repeated their French Open victory on clay in the year 2001. These two have also won numerous other grand slams with other partners in the doubles and the mixed doubles category. Mahesh has to get over his back surgery so that he can be completely fit for the Olympics. It will be great if we have both of them playing with full fitness.
If India are to realize their dream of winning a Gold at the Beijing Olympics which will most definitely be the greatest sporting spectacle ever on Earth, its hopes will lie with Paes and Mahesh. These two certainly have the talent and temperament to do it. If they play with their heart and cohesively as a team, they are our best bet at the Olympics. Let’s just hope that their coming together as a team was out of Choice and not out of Compulsion.