A fabulous 2010 season saw an array of records being set and being broken on tennis courts around the world.
Nadal's historic US Open triumph
World number one Rafael Nadal scripted history with his maiden US Open title in September. The Spaniard finally clinched the elusive trophy in New York for his ninth Grand Slam title. Nadal beat Novak Djokovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the final. In doing so, he became the youngest and the seventh player in history, third in the Open era, to complete a Career Grand Slam. The 24-year-old Spanish left-hander joined tennis greats Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Don Budge and Fred Perry in having won Wimbledon and the US, French and Australian Open titles.
Federer's fantastic finish
Roger Federer capped a see-saw 2010 season with a mammoth victory for a fifth ATP World Tour Finals title on November 28. The 16-time Grand Slam champ equalled the record of most number of Finals title with Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl. After winning the Australian Open in January, Federer went title-less till the Cincinnati Masters in August. But the Swiss fought back to silence his critics with one of the best victories of his career as he downed world No.1 Nadal 6-3 3-6 6-1 to clinch the Finals title for a perfect finish to the 2010 season.
Bopanna-Qureshi’s US Open final
Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi took the world by storm when they made the US Open doubles final. Though the Indo-Pak Express went down fighting in their first-ever Grand Slam final to top seeds Bob and Mike Bryan, the heartbreaking 6-7 6-7 loss showcased their exciting talent.
The longest battle - Isner vs Mahut
History of tennis witnessed an encounter that redefined all other battles at the 2010 Wimbledon first round match. John Isner took 11 hours and 5 minutes to beat Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 70-68 over the three-day period of 22-24 June, in the longest-ever match in the history of the sport. The fifth set alone was the longest set ever in terms of duration and number of games (8 hours, 11 minutes, 138 games), and longer than any previous match in entirety. The set itself broke the duration and number of games records of entire matches (previous records: 6 hours, 33 minutes duration; and 112 games in singles, 122 games in doubles, respectively).
Kim’s US Open romance continues
Kim Clijsters proved that her 2009 conquest of the Flushing Meadows was no fluke! The defending champion powered past Vera Zvonareva for her third US Open title, avenging defeats in their last two meetings with a 6-2 6-1 victory. The win was Clijsters' 21st straight at the Open, the second-longest winning streak in New York in the Open era, trailing Chris Evert's 31. If Clijsters’ 2009 win was rather surprising considering she came out of retirement last year, this season was even more pleasing to see what a dominant force she still is.
Henin returns!
Former world No.1 Justine Henin’s passion for tennis reignited as she ended a 20-month retirement. The 2004 Australian Open winner’s return was no less than a fairytale comeback as she stormed into the AUS Open final, her second tournament since getting back to professional tennis. But the dream run missed its happy ending by a whisker as the Belgian lost the final 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to defending champion Serena Williams. Henin had overcome many tough opponents en route the final like world No.5 Elena Dementieva, Yanina Wickmayer, Zheng Jie and Nadia Petrova. She might have fallen one win short, but for many, what mattered was she was back where she belongs!
India’s return to Davis Cup World Group
Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna scripted India’s return to the elite Davis Cup World Group in Chennai. The two paved the way for a 3-2 win over Brazil in the play-offs on September 20. Doubles veterans Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi initiated India’s resurgence from a 0-2 deficit by winning the doubles rubber. Making amends for their singles defeats, Somdev downed his opponent when at 7-6 (3) 4-0, world No.27 Thomaz Bellucci conceded the first reverse singles before 479th-ranked Bopanna beat 75th-ranked Ricardo Mello 6-3 7-6(2) 6-3 in the fifth rubber to complete an amazing come-from-behind win.
Defiant Serbia take the Davis Cup
As if Serbia’s heroic journey to their maiden final of Davis Cup was not enough, Serbia sealed this dream run with their first Davis Cup trophy on December 5. Led by world no.3 Novak Djokovic, the hosts beat nine-time former champions France. Despite being down 1-2, Djoker did his bit by beating Gael Monfils in the first reverse singles rubber to pull level. But the onus was on Victor Troicki, not a seasoned singles player but a rising star nonetheless. The gamble of replacing Janko Tipsarevic paid off as Troicki thrashed Michael Llodra of France for the title.
Golden Boy Somdev
Indian ace Somdev Devvarman has been a complete fireball in 2010. After finally breaking into ATP top-100, Somdev’s first 2010 title and second overall on the Challenger tour came at Izmir, Turkey. He then backed up his hard work with the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games men's singles event, defeating Australian Greg Jones 6-4 6-2. But that was not all! Somdev struck gold again at the Asian Games singles tennis and another in the doubles with Sanam Singh at Guangzhou.
Bryans record 62 !
After being tied with Hall of Famers Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde with 61 titles, Bob and Mike Bryan finally won their record 62nd career doubles title on the ATP Tour on August 1. The twins beat Eric Butorac and Jean-Julien Rojer in the Farmers Classic, the Bryans' 100th career final. Not far from their hometown of Camarillo in Ventura County, the brothers became the most successful team in tennis. An ecstatic Mike jumped into Bob's arms to celebrate as parents Wayne and Kathy watched from the stands.
No comments:
Post a Comment