world #1 rafael nadal of spain defeated world #3 novak djokovic of serbia 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 to capture his first us open singles championship. the 24 year-old sexy spaniard becomes the first man since (fellow lefty) aussie rod laver in 1969 to win three consecutive majors in one year; earlier he won the french open & wimbledon. nadal's historic victory makes him the seventh man to claim all four majors in a career. amazingly for one who grew up on clay, he has nine major singles titles.
nadal impresses folks with his determination, humility & willingness to improve every aspect of his all-court game. his serve, once a liability, is now clocked at 135 mph. he volleys with conviction. nadal's aggressive backhand is a major weapon off the ground & when he moves forward he rarely misses an overhead. his conditioning, power & speed are equally exciting for fans & intimidating for opponents.
after nadal won a highly competitive first set, djokovic won four of the next five games. nadal broke back to tie the second set at four games all but the match was re-scheduled for monday due to the rain. when play resumed nadal got stronger & eventually wore down the personable serb. djokovic showed tremendous poise in defeating roger federer in five hard-fought sets during their third str8 us open semi-final showdown, destroying the possibility of a crowd-favored, media anticipated nadal-federer final.
kim clisters of belgium beat vera zvonereva of russia 6-2, 6-1 to win her third us open singles crown. clisters defended her title with powerful ground strokes, solid net play & unwavering defensive ability. clisters won the hearts of millions last year upon returning to the tour after early retirement. she became the third mother to win a major. clisters defeated 30 year-old american hopeful venus williams in a three set thrilling semi-final.
the 26 year-old zvonereva, playing the best tennis of her career, reached her second str8 major final; she lost the wimbledon crown to serena williams. the talented russian seemed overwhelmed from the start, making unforced errors from all parts of the court. clisters' experience was more than enuf to rattle her opponent, as she played with confidence, maturity & patience. during her acceptance speech, zvonereva was in tears, yet warmed the hearts of the crowd when she said, "i love new york." clisters' ranking climbed to #5 & zvonereva has achieved a career high #4.
the us open men's doubles title went to american twin brothers bob & mike bryan. the bryans are the winningest men's doubles pair in history. the women's doubles crown went to american vania king & serbian yaroslava shevdova. king & shevdova won wimbledon earlier this year. the mixed doubles title went to americans bob bryan & liezel huber.
i am
- mark j. tuggle
- harlem, usa
- same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.
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