Top five moments of the 2010 tennis season
From the Australian Open in January to Paris, London, New York and everywhere in between, 2010 has been quite a year for tennis. There have been new champions and new nations emerging at the helm of the sport, close encounters and rivalries brewing and of course those at the top of the game continuing to prove they are the best.
With the Davis Cup final in Serbia marking the end of the season, I take a look back at five of my best moments from the tennis year.
Rafael Nadal
The performances of Rafael Nadal are one of the highlights of the 2010 tennis season
It is hard to pick out one particular standout moment of the world number one’s year when there were so many highlights. The Spaniard won the French Open for the fifth time, Wimbledon for the second and claimed his first U.S. Open crown in September to seal the career grand slam and become the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to win three majors back-to-back.
Add to that Nadal only dropping two sets in a phenomenal unbeaten clay-court season, and it is easy to see why many experts are already hailing the 24-year-old as one of the greatest players of all time.
And when you consider his year in 2009 – losing in the fourth round of the French, being unable to defend his Wimbledon crown, watching his parents get divorced, and having to retire from the Australian Open in January 2010 with ongoing injury problems – everything he has achieved since is all the more spectacular.
French Open final, Schiavone v Stosur
It was not the big-name line-up that the press had been hoping for, but the final between Italy’s Francesca Schiavone and Australia’s Samantha Stosur was one of the best Roland Garros has hosted for many years.
Champion Schiavone was a worthy winner of the crown – Italy’s first female grand slam single’s winner – and at 30 years old proved that it is never too late to achieve your dream.
In reaching the final both Schiavone and Stosur took advantage of the gap at the top of the women’s game, and have become serious contenders at all future tournaments.
Wozniacki becomes number one
There has been a great deal of controversy surrounding Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki’s rise to the top of the women’s rankings this year, with the 20-year-old having never won a grand slam title — just like her recent predecessor’s as world number one Jelena Jankovic and Dinara Safina.
However, Wozniacki has progressed to the top of game through consistency and winning a lot of tournaments – unlike Jankovic and Safina who one could argue only got there at the expense of others.
Yes Serena Williams in injured, but Wozniacki is the greatest active player in the world at the moment and at such a young age her time will surely come to win a grand slam.
Isner/Mahut at Wimbledon
It is a match I and many other people will never forget, particularly as I was lucky enough to see several hours of the 11 hour and 5 minute contest, which took place over three days at Wimbledon this year.
The longest tennis match in history, American John Isner eventually beat France’s Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the final set – a scoreline that will surely never be repeated.
Just a first round game, both players spent more time on court than 2009 women’s champion Serena Williams did for the whole of that tournament. It was a shame either had to lose but they both received a commemorative trophy for their part in the record-breaking match.
Serbia win Davis Cup final
Serbia making history by claiming their first Davis Cup title, beating France at home in Belgrade, was the perfect way for the 2010 tennis season to come to a close.
The former Yugoslavian state only entered the competition for the first time in 1995 and did not take part as an independent Serbia until 2007. Nevertheless, with the support of the crowd and the excellent play of their top players, the nation beat the nine-time Davis Cup champions France by three rubbers to two.
World number three Novak Djokovic described at as the biggest success his country has ever had, confirming Serbia’s status as a tennis superpower.
