Sport Slices

Yesterday, Rafael Nadal took the court at Roland Garros in an attempt to win his thirteenth French Open title. Unprecedented. No one has close to winning that many titles, nor has anyone come close to winning as many clay court titles as Nadal.

Three tennis players have dominated the game for the last 15 years: Nadal, Roger Federer, and Novak Djokovic. Each has won many tournaments, and has enjoyed great financial success as well. Nadal has more than $ 120 million American dollars in earnings, from tennis alone.

Now 34 years old, Nadal was born on the island of Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands, in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Spain. A promising soccer player in his youth, he decided to stick to tennis after winning several matches.

Although he appears to be rather small on our television screens, compared to most players, he is actually 6' 1”. We have become accustomed to his personal idiosyncracies as he prepares to serve, quick flips to wipe his brow, moving wisps of hair behind his ears.

He began his domination on clay with a victory over Roger Federer at the French Open in 2005. He has been playing Federer since 2004, and has a 24-16 overall advantage against the Swiss player. Djokovic holds a slight lead over Rafa in their personal contests, 29-26. But when it comes to the clay surface, Nadal still has the edge, 17-7. Federer is not playing in this year's French Open. Djokovic and Nadal are not slated to meet until the finals, should they both advance to that position. Hopefully, we will see that match later on this week.

I found two quotes from a pair of the greatest players from the past. Andre Agassi had this to say: “Rafa has had to deal with Federer, Djokovic and Andy Murray in the golden age of tennis.” Jimmy Connors dominated men's singles prior to the turn of the century. He knows a thing or two about the game. “He's built out of a mold that I came from. You walk out there, you give everything you have from the first point to the end, no matter what the score. You're willing to let it all out on the line, and you're not afraid to let the people see that.”

Nadal has won 19 Grand Slam titles: 4 US Open titles, 2 at Wimbledon, and one in Australia, as well as his French Open victories. He needs one more to bring him even with Federer. He has 85 career championships, including Olympic Gold, and 5 Davis Cup triumphs for Spain. He won the Rogers Cup in 2018 and 2019, giving us Canadians a chance to see him work his magic.

The Buffalo Bills are 4-0, after last weekend! The baseball season is winding down, with 8 teams remaining. The Yankees bested the Rays on Monday night to take an early lead, in the best of 5 series. The Astros did the same to the Athletics. The Dodgers and the Padres go head-to-head in the National League, as do the Braves and the Marlins.

Essentially, nice distractions from the you-know-what.

James Hurst

October 6, 2020

# posted by James Hurst @ 3:20 PM