It seems that 2008 has been great for the number 1 ranked men’s singles tennis player in the world, Rafael Nadal. Though he has had many accomplishments in 2008, it did not come without some cost. On October 31, 2008 in Paris, Nadal had to withdraw from the ATP Masters Series at the Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy where he was locked up in a match with Nikolay Davydenko of Russia. Rafael tired to continue the match but just could not go on after receiving treatment on the sidelines. Now he will miss the finals of the Davis Cup against Argentina because of a knee injury. He has been struggling with tendinitis in his right knee following a week of treatment and he finally listen to his knee telling him no more.

With that said, he has had a great run in 2008 and if he accomplishes nothing more, he has achieved a lot. There was one spell during the year that he went on a 32 match winning streak. It was during this time that he captured one of the most important victories for him; achieving the number 1 ranking atop the ATP. He was also successful in beating Roger Federer in Roland Garros this year. But, what might actually be sweeter for Nadal than the thrashing that he gave to Federer at Roland Garros would be the win over Roger at Wimbledon. Nadal have to overcome everything that could be thrown at him for this win. Then, to put the cherry on the top of his desssert, Rafael went to the 2008 Bejing Olympics and walked away with gold.

Nadal had several other wins throughout the year, but these were his major victories. It just makes one wonder, how do you top this?

It is amazing what a year can do for someone. At the beginning of the 2008 season Roger Federer was ranked number 1 in the world and Rafael Nadal was second. Today;s current rankings have them flip flopped. I believe that the biggest reason the ATP did this was Nadal’s win at Wimbledom. Even though Rafael spanked Roger in Roland Garros, beating him at Wimbledom was so much more to the tennis world. Rafael has dominated the clay courts for some time so the weight of that win is less.

I have taken the liberty to post the top ten men’s singles players in the world as list by the Association of Tennis Professionals. It has the player’s rankings and point totals as currently listed. I find some of these positions surprising to say the least.

ATP Expanded Rankings

This weekend was an exciting one at Wimbledon. One thing can be said for this day for sure. It was a changing of the guard at Wimbledon. I have to say for this household we were all attached to the television to see it first hand. So, lets take a look at the results. I have hyperlinked the pictures to take you to the associated pages.

The first of the championship matches might be one of the least changed. Mike Bryan and Katarina Srebotnik was defeated by Bob Bryan and Samantha Stosur for the mixed doubles. They lost in straight sets 7-5 and 6-4.

The Ladies Doubles were a suprise as the Williams sisters Serena Williams and Venus Williams dismantled the duo of Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur in straight sets 6-2 and 6-2 for the Women’s Doubles Title.

For the Men’s Doubles it was weird not seeing the Bryan brothers playing for the championship as the were put out in the semi finals. With that said, it was the first place team of Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic beating Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett (who put out the Bryans) in 4 sets 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, and 6-3.

The singles championship matches have to be the two matches that allowed for the most surprises in the matches. Well, at least for me it was. With that said, I was betting on the two that won both singles so I was a happy man.

In the women’s finals, it pitted both Serena and Venus. The match seemed to start out ok, but soon Venus showed that it was her year to shine at Wimbledon and for her to do that, she would have to beat the younger sister Serena. Venus proved to be up for the task as she won in straight sets 7-5 and 6-4.

As for the men, it was game on as Rafael Nadal set out to make history and become the first player since 1980 to win both Roland Garros and Wimbledon back to back. However, the number 1 seed and the number 1 player in the world, Roger Federer, stood in his way. Not only did Rafael have to fight Federer on the court, he also had to battle the elements of Earth as Mother Nature decided to shower on Rafael’s parade. With that said, he was a man on a mission. Rafael led Roger at the first break 6-4 6-4 4-5. When play resumed, it was Roger who turned up the juice and then took Nadal to the limit and beyond. By they end of the 5th set, in which they played a total of 16 games in, Rafael looked as crisp as he did at the onset. The 2 sets prior he made Roger take him to the wire losing each one 7-6 with a 5-7 tie breaker and then 8-10 tie breaker on 3rd and 4th sets respectively. After 62 games and 2 tie breakers, Rafael Nadal finally realized his dreams at Wimbledon. He got to bite the trophy.

For the 4th straight time, Rafael Nadal shows Roger Federer who is the clay master as he beats him in straight set fashion 6-1 6-3 6-0. Nadal emulated Bjorn Borg’s record of 28 consecutive wins at Roland Garros on his way to his French Open 2008 championship. It is no doubt that Rafael has etched his place in Roland Garros history.

Once this match got underway, it was no doubt that Nadal was going to show his dominance of the clay court. As he took the lead, it left no questions as to the outcome of the match. As they entered into the third set, Rafael clamped down and put the finishing touch on the match by shutting Federer out for the third set.

Yesterday was the 4th round of the Women’s Bracket and Roland Garros 2008. It was anything but boring as the number 1 seeded Russian Maria Sharapova fell to fellow Russian and 13th seeded Dinara Safina . The first two sets were split with Maria wining the first 7-6 and Dinara took the second set 7-6. What seemed to be an even match then proceeded to fall apart and Dinara started to dominate the match and ended it with a 6-2 victory. With the quarter finals playing out next, it will be interesting to see who rises to the top.

Both American sisters Venus Williams (seeded 8th) and Serena Williams (seeded 5th) made their exits yesterday in the third round of the Roland Garros 2008 French Open . It is not that it is so surprising that they lost in the third round as much as it is so surprising that they both lost in straight sets to the 26th and 27th seed respectively. One has to wonder if one losing affects the others play. If you want to see the playes overview, just click on their respective pictures.

With the departure of these two greats of the game, it definitely makes the task a little bit easier now for number 1 seeded Russian Maria Sharapova to walk away with another trophy for her case.