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Rafael Nadal smiles US Open 2019
Tennis News

Today the Olympics, tomorrow the world for Rafa


Rafael Nadal takes over at the top of the ATP rankings for the first time tomorrow, and showed just why with a gold-medal winning performance against Fernando Gonzalez in Beijing.

Rafael Nadal was threatened just once, saving two set points in the second set, but held every one of his service games to win 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3 and claim Spain’s first ever tennis gold medal.

Nadal is the first player ranked in the world’s top five to win the gold, a result that may go some way to justify the inclusion of tennis in the Olympic Games.

He dominated against Gonzalez from the start, breaking in the second game to secure the first set. Nadal didn’t face any break points until the end of the second set, when he was down 5-6, 15-40.

But Gonzalez, who found some joy particularly with his inside-out forehand in the second, failed to convert his chances, pushing a volley wide and netting a forehand.

The Chilean, whose spirit look to be broken following that missed volley, then made five unforced errors in the tie-break to give Nadal a two-set lead.

Nadal ripped a backhand passing shot to break at love for a 3-1 lead in the final set, and erased two more break points to hold for 5-2.

He needed four match points to close out the victory, ripping an inside-out forehand of his own that Gonzalez could barely reach.


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.