Unstoppable Spaniard Rafael Nadal beat Chilean 12th seed Fernando Gonzalez in the men's singles final of the Beijing Olympic tennis tournament Sunday.
The title came as the icing on the cake for Nadal, who has been ranked No 2 in the world for more than three years but will take over the No 1 spot today.
Rafael Nadal of Spain celebrates his win over Fernando Gonzalez of Chile in their men's gold medal tennis match Sunday August 17 2008. Spain beat Chile 6-2, 7-6, 6-3. [Agencies] |
"Not in my best dreams could I have imagined this," said Nadal after the match. "It's very special just to compete here. I've had an incredible experience will all my countrymen. I have to thank everyone that has been here with me the last two weeks."
In spite of the pair squaring their previous six matches, the match turned in Nadal's favor from the very start. After notching up an early break in the second game, the bull-like Spanish champion drew the first blood at 6-3.
Gonzalez, who has won both of their matches on hardcourt, fought back into the game with his powerful forehand in the second set. He should have closed out the set when he was leading 6-5, 40-15 on Nadal's serve, but the Spaniard scored four straight points to force a tiebreak, where the Chilean was troubled by unforced errors.
Gonzalez's forehand missed target three times to give Nadal a 3-1 lead in the tiebreak and the Spaniard won it at 7-2 after another Gonzalez's long forehand.
Gonzalez lost concentration in the third set, dropping an early service game to trail 3-1 behind. Although he saved three match points in the eighth game on his own serve to stay in the run, Nadal still won it 6-3 on his fourth match point.
The Chilean created four break points but could not convert on any of them while Nadal converted on two of all his 10 break point opportunities.
Gonzalez registered 64 unforced errors to 41 from the Spaniard in the two hours and 22 minutes match.
Despite being a major tennis-piaying nation, Spain had never won an Olympic gold before the Nadal triumph. Two Spanish men have appeared in the Olympic men's singles final before but both left with silver medals - Jordi Arrese lost to Marc Rosset of Switzerland in the 1992 final and Sergi Bruguera lost in the 1996 final to American Andre Agassi.
And it also means the Spaniard has a better chance to claim the Golden Slam - four Grand Slams plus an Olympic gold medal. He now has to work on the US Open and Australian Open after winning his fourth consecutive French Open title and his first Wimbledon trophy this year.
Xinhua-Agencies
