It's time.
Rafael Nadal's convincing win at All-England Club gave him second Wimbledon title in four consecutive finals. With a flawless display of speed, blistering and curling forehand, sweet volley, and improved serve turned in a weapon, Nadal is ready to dominate the game again.
Having claiming fifth French Open crown and the top ranking he once held for almost a year, he bounce back — stronger, faster, and healthier.
He started to dominate in 2008 but was halted almost prematurely due to injury. From being stunned at his favorite surface at Roland Garros to not defending his crown at All-England Club to personal concerns, Nadal faces the down side of his great tennis career.
While trying to salvage such downside, he suffered loses unexpectedly which resulted to not winning a title for 11 months.
But that was then. Having shown better performances at ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells and Miami, he had enough confidence to carry on the clay court season, his favorite season.
At ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo, his brilliance on clay is once again witnessed. He thrashed his compatriot Fernando Verdasco in the lopsided final 6-0|6-1, ending his title drought.
Nadal felt his hunger for the title as he played at ATP Masters 1000 Rome once again displaying how great he is on clay. In the final, he faced his compatriot David Ferrer. With such dominance on clay, he captured his record-tying 18 ATP Masters 1000.
Nadal wants more.
He came at The Caja Majica with high level of confidence where he faced his rival Roger Federer in the final again since last year. Nadal is truly unstoppable as he downed Federer in straight sets when the Swiss wasn't able to put the ball in play. That win gave Nadal a record-breaking 19 ATP Masters 1000 title, surpassing Andre Agassi.
It seemed like Nadal wants to get back the glory that was taken from him when he was away. He went at the Roland Garros with one special purpose—to reclaim the crown and be the king again.
The draw seemed to be in his favor as Robin Soderling, his conqueror, will be facing defending champion Federer. Soderling dispatched Federer in his stunning performance in the quarterfinals. It seemed that Nadal and Soderling were destined to meet again, this time in the finals.
Would it be a revenge for Nadal or would it be an authentication Soderling's win over Nadal, the match was truly intriguing and interesting—due to the fact that Nadal is health?
In the end, the King of Clay reclaimed his crown for his fifth French Open title. It was an evidence that nobody can stop Nadal on clay. With that win, Nadal has already has seven Grand Slam titles and of course, with Federer's loss before semifinals, he is guaranteed to be back at the top of the rankings too, pushing Federer down to No.2.
Having swept all the clay tournaments, Nadal have no reason of turning back. He prepare himself for the grass court season at the Queen's Club. Expected or not, Nadal bowed out to his compatriot Feliciano Lopez, unable to reclaim his Queen's Club title.
A feel of grass on his feet is enough as he chases to reclaim his Wimbledon title.
Having reclaiming the No.1 ranking, he came at All-England Club as the No.2 seed behind world No.2 Federer. It seems like the formality of changing off the guards will be as easy as it went to Nadal's favor.
Having not defending his 2008 crown, Nadal lived up to the time when he played the greatest match of all time as step on the Center Court. He easily found his range on grass. He cruises on his way to quarterfinals with a test coming from Robin Haase of The Netherlands in the second round and Philipp Petzschner of Germany in the third round.
But his rival and defending champion Federer, having lost the final to Lleyton Hewitt at Gerry Weber Open, was tested and almost faced an upset against Alejandro Falla of Columbia in the opening round and Ilija Bozoljac of Serbia in the second round. He progresses easily in his next two matches.
Something might be settled anytime as Federer bowed out in his quarterfinal match against Tomas Berdych, while Nadal beat Soderling again since their French Open final match.
With his win over Federer, Berdych carries on when he also dispatched Novak Djokovic in their semifinal match, while Nadal defeated Andy Murray disappointing the British people and continuing to suffer for Grand Slam title drought.
In the final, Berdych can't sustain the confidence he had when he defeated Federer and Djokovic. The weapon that kill the No.1 and the No.3 seed is almost off. He saw himself finishing second to Nadal when he was broken the very crucial final game and the perfect passing shot forehand winner on match point, that sent Nadal's back on the ground. Simply too good? No. It is simply the perfect display Nadal had, since his 2008 Wimbledon final.
Berdych maybe has a great plan but he was outplayed by the best player Nadal. Berdych was even outnumbered by Nadal in the department that brought him to his first Grand Slam final — in terms of forehand winners and number of aces. Nadal saved all break points he faced, while Berdych has been broken in crucial moments. In the end, Nadal captured his second Wimbledon title, his eight Grand Slam title overall.
With that win, Nadal deserves a grand vacation and a preparation to get ready to conquer New York, the one that eluded him so far. Should his knees rested well and play even better than he displayed at SW19, no wonder he will captured the elusive title.
As the undisputed world No.1 men's tennis player, Nadal is to dominate the game again. Is he ready to the people expectations?
"How many Grand Slam titles will Nadal won in his career?" is one of the questions buzzing around the tennis world right now, including "Will Nadal be able to surpass Federer's 16 Grand Slam title?". Some say yes with 18 to 20 and some say no with 10 to 12. Some leave it to Nadal's hands, some leave it to Nadal's knees.
But Nadal's main concern is to win US Open, that's a timely goal and as long as he hasn't win one, it will be one of his target.
Nadal is way above his contemporaries. With more or less 4,000 points ahead of Djokovic and Federer, he will most likely end up the year as the ATP World Tour Champion. Nadal is currently the best tennis player in the world and for the years to come.
For now, it's time to celebrate the victory!
This article was originally published at Bleacher Report.
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