Ever since Roger Federer began to dominate men's tennis a few years back, there was the question of how long his reign would last. We might have finally seen the end of it this summer.
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(rafael nadal holds the u.s. open trophy yesterday)
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Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic yesterday in the finals of the U.S. Open, giving Nadal his first U.S. Open title and his ninth grand slam title overall. With his win, Nadal also became only the seventh tennis player in history to win all four Grand Slam tournaments. The only question, now, for Nadal, is how far will he go?
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Roger Federer first won the #1 ranking in Feb. 2004, and until this summer, had never fallen lower than #2. But with his semi-final loss to Djokovic a few days ago, Federer slipped to #3. And at age 29, Roger's dominant reign might be finally coming to an end. Can he still win another Grand Slam? Absolutely; in fact, he could still win several more. But this is about Nadal. How many more Grand Slams can Rafael Nadal win?
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.(federer and djokovic, the winner and runner-up at the 2007 u.s. open)
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At age 24, Nadal already has three more Grand Slams than Federer did at 24, but this is why we think Rafael won't break Federer's record of 16 Slams. Nadal plays a very physically demanding game which is incredibly fatiguing and taxing on his body; he's already had a stomach tear and knee problems. Federer's game is much more smooth; at the end of some matches he looked like he had barely perspired, the result being that Federer has enjoyed a longevity in the game that we don't think Nadal will. In other words, we think Nadal's body will give out long before he can threaten Federer's record. But only time will tell.
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