Rafa on top of the world

Rafael Nadal finally completes the career Golden slam! Despite rain on Sunday that forced the final to be played on Monday, Nadal beat current world #2 Novak Djokovic in four sets to claim the US Open crown. This was an incredible achievement on so many levels:

• He is only the seventh man in history to complete a career Grand Slam. That is, winning each of the four Grand Slam titles (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open) at least once in his career.
• He is only the third man to do this in the Open Era. It's amazing to think about this because some of the greatest tennis players in history - Sampras, Borg, McEnroe, Lendl, Connors, Wilander, Edberg, and Becker - were unable to achieve this rare feat.
• With his Olympic Gold back in 2008, Rafa also joins Andre Agassi as the only two men to have won all four slams plus the Olympic Gold medal. The only other player in history to achieve this feat is Steffi Graf (who of course won all four slams + the Olympic Gold in the same year - 1988!)
• Rafa now has 9 Grand Slam titles. This puts him in 7th place all time. Two more slam titles will put him on equal fourth, tying him with Bjorn Borg and Rod Laver.
• This win also assured Rafa of ending the year #1.

I am hoping Rafa can win a few more slams in his career and maybe end up with at least 12-13 Grand Slams. But even if he doesn't, his strong results in the last 6 years have now placed him firmly among tennis' elite. I do hope he doesn't stop at 9 though. In fact, an Australian open title in January would be incredible. Coz that would mean he'd win a non-calendar Grand Slam. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that. :)