Murray takes three spot and makes history. From Manon. Thanks.

MANON

Murray takes three spot and makes history

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8030391.stm

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/tennis/article6217008.ece

How many titles will Nadal win this season? He is at five already.

Another Nadal-Djokovic battle on clay from last year?

Photos.

Djokovic’s Reluctant Nadal Impersonation in Rome.

Matchpoint: Nadal vs Djokovic @ Rome.

Nadal wins fourth Rome title without dropping a set.

The end of the first set with a flurry of service breaks leading to the tie break was the closest Nadal would allow Djokovic before running away with the title.

It was important for Nadal to not drop a set to avenge the ‘insult’ of losing a set to Djokovic at Monte Carlo. That means progress to him and retreat for Djokovic.

Just taking Nadal to a tie break on clay today appears to be something players will talk to their grandchildren about with pride. Nadal is now working to make the kind of history that WILL make everything Federer has done so far pale and mundane.

This was his 15 Masters title, one more than Federer. With calendar Slam hopes alive and kicking at least as of today, the adrenaline rush Nadal must be feeling must be ridiculous.

But with his track record, will Nadal be able to have the last laugh at Roland Garros given the four back to back gruelling events he will have played by the time the train touches the FO station?

This amazing run from Nadal has to be enjoyed and witnessed in it’s full glory to completely comprehend the army of variables he has been able to hold by the balls for five freaking years.

Add the fact that he just got done winning on both grass and hard courts in a Slam and suddenly you get the urge to already place him past Federer at so many levels.

So far Federer had just his slump to worry about, but as of today he may have just joined Sampras in that boat of ‘please don’t let my records fall – please, please’ syndrome.

Even Federer wouldn’t have thought he would be looking over his shoulder even before he is done with his own remarkable career, forget about the pundits.

I feel, Nadal should not get carried away now and opt out of Madrid for the sake of calendar Slam, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. But it appears the No. 1 rank has superseded all other carrots for him today in his attempt to eclipse Federer’s record.

You can bet Nadal and his camp is measuring everything with what Federer has done to leave no doubt as to who is the real GOAT. Nadal tremors may even be reaching as far as Laver with his two calendar Slams considered absolutely untouchable today.

And all this at age twentyfreakingtwo? Unless this is his absolute peak the road ahead looks laid with flowers and accolades which even Federer may have skipped.

You can only hope this run is not tarnished with a loss at Roland Garros for some stupidity of just rolling along blindly. Why?

Because there’s enough evidence to prove how strong Nadal looks as he moves through the competition only to hit a wall like the one he ran into against Del Potro. He has even been bageled on this surface – in the final.

You think that will mean something to him and his advisers. If not, why should the ship behave any differently when nothing has changed over the years with four back to back events still to come – Madrid, Roland Garros, Queens and Wimbledon.

Djokovic did not cry at the award ceremony because he had already collected the booty large enough to cover those tears in his second straight win over Federer on two different surfaces.

Additionally he is just glad to be in the thick of things after having languished at the bottom for almost a year. His fitness coach appointment may also be paying rich dividends to make him look ahead with a lot more optimism than what he was staring at just a couple of months ago.

Although he lost his No. 3 rank, the prospects of reclaiming it and more look a lot brighter today to not let it overly bother him. 

But this is Nadal’s day or is it the year or is it the decade?

Photos.