02. 07. 2011. ·
Photo: AP
Thirteen days of unbelievable tennis at the All England Club are behind us.
Before Wimbledon, Nole had two goals. To make it into the finals and become the 25th player to reach no.1; and to win the title at the most prestigious tournament. He has realised his ambition with yesterdays’s fantastic semi-final victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3-1. Less than 24 hours is left till opportunity to realise his dream.
No.1 and no.2 seeds of the tournament, Rafa and Nole, are into the finals of the 125th Wimbledon after six wins in the main singles draw. They will face eachother in historic final on Sunday.
En route to the final in London, the defending champion Nadal beat Russell, Sweeting, Muller, del Potro, Fish and Murray. Nole eliminated Chardy, Anderson, Baghdatis, Llodra, Tomic and Tsonga.
The finals of the third Grand Slam of the season will be the 28th match between the Serb and a year older Spaniard.
Rafa leads 16-11, but Nole won their last four encounters, all in 2011 ATP finals: Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Rome.
They’ve met twice on grass, Nadal was better both in Wimbledon 2007 semi-final and Queen’s 2008 final.
Nole will appear in his 39th career ATP-level final, seeking a 26th trophy. The 24-year-old Belgrade native is 7-0 in his 2011 finals, including a major title in Melbourne and big Masters wins in Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid and Rome. He also won Dubai and Belgrade. Rafa was victorious in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Roland Garros.
Novak has a 47-1 record this year, while Nadal won 51 out of 58 matches played.
The Serbian star will become the newly-crowned world no.1 on Monday, July 4, but the difference in points will depend on the outcome of Sunday’s grand finale.
If he wins the title he will have 13,285 ATP points, in case of a different result 12,485. Rafa will have 12,070 points if he defends the trophy, if not he will have 11,270.
If our wishes come true, the difference between Nole and Rafa can be 2, 015 points.
The blockbuster final is scheduled at 15.00 CET.
Good luck Nole!
