Whether it’s because he has a shy personality, or simply because football was back, it somehow got lost that Rafael Nadal became only the seventh man to complete the career grand slam yesterday in tennis.  He defeated Novak Djokovic in four sets to complete a dominating tournament in which he was never seriously challenged.  He is now only an Australian Open title away from completing a calendar Grand Slam and no it appears that no one will stop him.  The Washington Post was there and reported:

“Nadal’s U.S. Open victory, and the manner in which he finally won it after seven years of trying, will no doubt be added to a long list of exhibits in the argument over whether he or Federer is the better player and, should their dominance continue, who is more likely to retire as the greatest in history.

Nadal steadfastly refuses to submit his name for such debate, seizing every opportunity to praise Federer (who has won a record 16 majors to his nine) for having achieved something that’s nearly impossible.

On Monday, so too did Nadal, who just a few years ago was regarded as a clay-court specialist whose skills would never translate to hard courts or grass.

Nadal has now won three consecutive majors in a four-month span, each on a different surface. And he did so by re-inventing his game – beefing up his serve, sharpening his volley, flattening his groundstrokes, developing a slice backhand and altering his court positioning to lurk closer to the baseline.

What distinguishes Nadal from other top players – even more so than the muscularity of his strokes and his single-mindedness of purpose – is the same thing that distinguished Federer during his five-year reign atop the sport. Even after reaching No. 1 in the world, Nadal has continued to improve. In Nadal’s view, as in Federer’s, reaching No. 1 was not culmination of anything. His goal remains as elusive as ever: To develop the ideal tennis game.”

Scary.  How long before we compare Nadal and Tiger?

[Washington Post]