Rafael Nadal has proved to the world that his Australian Open win last month was far from a fluke. He has now won the ATP 500 event in Acapulco, beating Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final, and world number 6 Cameron Norrie in the final.
This time, against Medvedev, Nadal started strong. He eventually won 6-3, 6-3.
Medvedev was on the back foot from his very first service game. Nadal continued his momentum into the second set, breaking Medvedev’s serve early and going 1-0 up.
Medvedev improved as the second set progressed and began winning points with his backhand drop shot.
Despite earning himself 11 breakpoints over just two of Nadal’s service games in the second set, he wasn’t able to convert them into wins, with Nadal managing to hold his nerve.
Djokovic got beaten surprisingly early in the tournament, losing his ranking as #1 in the world in the process (meaning Medvedev is now the world #1).
There you have it: despite last year’s injury concerns, Nadal’s career is far from coming to an end. The Spaniard’s Australian Open win was not a fluke, and if he keeps this momentum up Federer and Djokovic had better watch themselves.
Perhaps he’ll even win another grand slam and extend his record further beyond Federer and Djokovic’s 20 grand slam wins each (after the Australian Open win, Nadal currently has won 21 grand slams).
One imagines the marketing executives at Nike are twitching their feet in anticipation, wondering how they are going to spin this latest win into a provocative advertising campaign…
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