Congrats to Our Hero, Rafael Nadal, for his superb win over John Isner today at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. Rafa took the title in two close sets 7-6(8), 7-6(3) for his first ever win at the tournament. It was actually Rafa's first final in Cincy as well. Both guys played an incredible match with unbelievable serving. There were no breaks in the match and only a handful of break opportunities. It call came down to the tie breaks, when Nadal managed to get a little more edge. That's why he's such an amazing champion! But credit to Isner for having an amazing tournament as well. He got through Raonic, then stopped Novak in the quarters (thank you SO MUCH for that, JI!) and then survived a match point against Delpo in the semis. He's looking really good right now heading into the US Open. I hope he does well there. It's really rough when the Americans have a poor showing at home.
So now on to some more almost unbelievable Nadal stats. He's now claimed his record-extending 26th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title and his 9th title in 2013 for 12 twelve events entered. He has
extended his career-best hard court winning streak to 15-0. He's an absurd 53-3 for the year. He and Novak are now the only players to win five Masters 1000 crowns in a single year. This win marks the first time in his career where Nadal has won back-to-back hard court title in consecutive weeks. The win also means that Nadal will overtake Andy Murray in the rankings and will be the No. 2 seed at the US Open. He'll be at the top half of his draw! Hooray!
Rafa has just been on fire lately. He's playing with such precision and confidence and looks to be in excellent physical condition. Could this be the year he wins his second US Open title? It's going to be a very challenging tournament, and you simply never know what's going to happen. But he couldn't have put himself in a better position for success, so let's just be excited he's coming to NYC and cheer him on toward VICTORY! VAMOS!!
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