Rogers cup (Men's Singles Final)
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ATP Results
Nadal Closes In On Federer After Toronto Win
Rafael Nadal (pictured) took a giant step towards dethroning Roger Federer at the top of the South African Airways ATP Rankings by capturing his 12th ATP Masters Series shield at the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Sunday, defeating Nicolas Kiefer 6-3, 6-2 in the title match.
Nadal, who has ranked No. 2 for a record 157 weeks, will become the new No. 1 next Sunday if he wins the title at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati and Federer loses before the semifinals. After Federer’s second round loss to Gilles Simon earlier this week, Nadal has now cut the gap to a mere 300 points and is potentially just one week away from ending Federer’s 234 week reign (since February 2004) at the top spot (see below).
"Every player wants to be No. 1, no? I would love to be No. 1, but I am No. 2 right now," said Nadal. "I'm very happy for be No. 2. Because with my titles, with my points, in a normal situation I, well, would have been No. 1 before. So I think I have to be happy, very happy anyway if I am No. 1 or No. 2. Because if I am No. 2 it's because in front of me there is amazing player like Roger (Federer)".
The victory is Nadal’s 30th ATP singles title, making him the third youngest player – at the age of 22 years, one month and 24 days – to capture 30 titles. He is behind only Bjorn Borg (21 years, 7 mos., 9 days) and Jimmy Conners (22 years, 20 days). His record in ATP singles finals now stands at an impressive 30-8 – four of those losses have come against Federer.
Mallorca native Nadal leads the ATP circuit with 61 match wins (61-7 record) and seven titles this season. The Manacor resident has won 29 straight matches since falling second round to Juan Carlos Ferrero at Masters Series Rome on May 7. He has since gone on to capture his first title at Masters Series Hamburg (d. Federer), his fourth successive Roland Garros title (d. Federer) and his first grass-court title at Queen’s Club (d. Djokovic), and to defeat five-time defending champion Federer in the Wimbledon final.
Earlier in the season, the left-hander had triumphed at back-to-back clay court events at Masters Series Monte-Carlo (d. Federer) and Barcelona (d. Ferrer), and finished runner-up at Chennai (l. to Youzhny) and the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (l. to Davydenko).
Nadal was dominant throughout in tricky conditions in Sunday’s final at the Rexall Centre, giving Kiefer little chance to make an impression. He broke serve in the fifth game to lead 3-2 and again at 3-5 as Kiefer surrendered the first set. After a tense game at 2-2, where Nadal eventually held serve for 3-2, the Spaniard then went on to break Kiefer immediately for a 4-2 lead before breaking the German for a fourth time at 2-5, smashing an overhead on match point after 1 hr., 29 min.
"Well, the result was easier than the match I think," said Nadal. "But I have a tough moment at 2-2 in the second set. A lot of breakpoints against me. Some two, three, so it was a difficult moment. But it was very difficult to play today, no? Was a lot of the wind, moving a lot. It's not all the time in the same direction, no? So it's moving around a lot. Was very difficult to play. Finally I win, so matches like this the important thing, the only thing, is win."
"The conditions haven't been so easy today," admitted Kiefer. "We had a lot of wind. I mean, I think I played the same tennis yesterday. Yesterday was enough to beat my opponent. Today I had to play a little bit better, or maybe much better, to make my points. When I played aggressive and when I came into the net I made most of the points. Some points were very close and I didn't make them. That's the difference."
The title is Nadal’s 12th ATP Masters Series shield and his second in Canada, after triumphing in Montreal in 2005 (d. Agassi). Since making his ATP Masters Series debut at Monte-Carlo five years ago, Nadal has compiled a 115-24 record and from 2005-08 is an impressive 106-16. He has advanced to the final in eight of the nine Masters Series events (except Cincinnati) and has competed in 16 finals in total.
The 31-year-old Kiefer was bidding to become the 54th different winner of an ATP Masters Series event (since 1990), and the first German to capture a Masters Series shield since Tommy Haas at 2001 Stuttgart.
The Sievershausen resident’s best previous result in ATP Masters Series play was semifinal exits at Canada in 1999 (l. to T. Johansson) and 2004 (l. to Roddick), and Madrid in 2007 (l. to Federer); he is also a five-time quarterfinalist.
The right-hander was contesting his first ATP singles final since 2005 St. Petersburg and was bidding to claim his first title since 2000 Hong Kong; Kiefer has competed in 140 tournaments since he last won an ATP title and he has lost 10 consecutive ATP finals.
Kiefer, who has beaten two Top 10 players this week in No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 8 James Blake, was keen to take the positives from his efforts: "I think I shouldn't look only at my game today, I should see the whole week in general. I think this was a big step forward for me. This is how I have to look at it, not only the game today."
Nadal, who has ranked No. 2 for a record 157 weeks, will become the new No. 1 next Sunday if he wins the title at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati and Federer loses before the semifinals. After Federer’s second round loss to Gilles Simon earlier this week, Nadal has now cut the gap to a mere 300 points and is potentially just one week away from ending Federer’s 234 week reign (since February 2004) at the top spot (see below).
"Every player wants to be No. 1, no? I would love to be No. 1, but I am No. 2 right now," said Nadal. "I'm very happy for be No. 2. Because with my titles, with my points, in a normal situation I, well, would have been No. 1 before. So I think I have to be happy, very happy anyway if I am No. 1 or No. 2. Because if I am No. 2 it's because in front of me there is amazing player like Roger (Federer)".
The victory is Nadal’s 30th ATP singles title, making him the third youngest player – at the age of 22 years, one month and 24 days – to capture 30 titles. He is behind only Bjorn Borg (21 years, 7 mos., 9 days) and Jimmy Conners (22 years, 20 days). His record in ATP singles finals now stands at an impressive 30-8 – four of those losses have come against Federer.
Mallorca native Nadal leads the ATP circuit with 61 match wins (61-7 record) and seven titles this season. The Manacor resident has won 29 straight matches since falling second round to Juan Carlos Ferrero at Masters Series Rome on May 7. He has since gone on to capture his first title at Masters Series Hamburg (d. Federer), his fourth successive Roland Garros title (d. Federer) and his first grass-court title at Queen’s Club (d. Djokovic), and to defeat five-time defending champion Federer in the Wimbledon final.
Earlier in the season, the left-hander had triumphed at back-to-back clay court events at Masters Series Monte-Carlo (d. Federer) and Barcelona (d. Ferrer), and finished runner-up at Chennai (l. to Youzhny) and the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami (l. to Davydenko).
Nadal was dominant throughout in tricky conditions in Sunday’s final at the Rexall Centre, giving Kiefer little chance to make an impression. He broke serve in the fifth game to lead 3-2 and again at 3-5 as Kiefer surrendered the first set. After a tense game at 2-2, where Nadal eventually held serve for 3-2, the Spaniard then went on to break Kiefer immediately for a 4-2 lead before breaking the German for a fourth time at 2-5, smashing an overhead on match point after 1 hr., 29 min.
"Well, the result was easier than the match I think," said Nadal. "But I have a tough moment at 2-2 in the second set. A lot of breakpoints against me. Some two, three, so it was a difficult moment. But it was very difficult to play today, no? Was a lot of the wind, moving a lot. It's not all the time in the same direction, no? So it's moving around a lot. Was very difficult to play. Finally I win, so matches like this the important thing, the only thing, is win."
"The conditions haven't been so easy today," admitted Kiefer. "We had a lot of wind. I mean, I think I played the same tennis yesterday. Yesterday was enough to beat my opponent. Today I had to play a little bit better, or maybe much better, to make my points. When I played aggressive and when I came into the net I made most of the points. Some points were very close and I didn't make them. That's the difference."
The title is Nadal’s 12th ATP Masters Series shield and his second in Canada, after triumphing in Montreal in 2005 (d. Agassi). Since making his ATP Masters Series debut at Monte-Carlo five years ago, Nadal has compiled a 115-24 record and from 2005-08 is an impressive 106-16. He has advanced to the final in eight of the nine Masters Series events (except Cincinnati) and has competed in 16 finals in total.
The 31-year-old Kiefer was bidding to become the 54th different winner of an ATP Masters Series event (since 1990), and the first German to capture a Masters Series shield since Tommy Haas at 2001 Stuttgart.
The Sievershausen resident’s best previous result in ATP Masters Series play was semifinal exits at Canada in 1999 (l. to T. Johansson) and 2004 (l. to Roddick), and Madrid in 2007 (l. to Federer); he is also a five-time quarterfinalist.
The right-hander was contesting his first ATP singles final since 2005 St. Petersburg and was bidding to claim his first title since 2000 Hong Kong; Kiefer has competed in 140 tournaments since he last won an ATP title and he has lost 10 consecutive ATP finals.
Kiefer, who has beaten two Top 10 players this week in No. 4 Nikolay Davydenko and No. 8 James Blake, was keen to take the positives from his efforts: "I think I shouldn't look only at my game today, I should see the whole week in general. I think this was a big step forward for me. This is how I have to look at it, not only the game today."
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