Starting on December 7—the 25th day left in 2010—TENNIS.com will countdown from the year-end No. 25 on both tours with "The Last Word," a look back at the year that was and a look ahead at the season to come. Here's who we've looked at so far.
Best of 2010
Nadal completed the career Grand Slam and solidified his hold on the year-end No. 1 ranking when he won the U.S. Open, a tournament that up until this year formed a big question mark in his mind.
Worst of 2010
You don’t get to be No. 1 in the age of Roger Federer by losing second- or third-round matches, even occasionally, and especially in majors. So the loss to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the semifinals of Bangkok is the best we can come up with.
Year in Review
Nadal’s was a tale of going from excellent to superb to outrageous to supreme. Although he lost in the final in the first tournament he played (in Doha, to Nikolay Davydenko) and had to abandon his quarterfinal against Andy Murray in Australia because of physical issues (Nadal was down two sets when he quit), he posted a pair of semis at the big hard-court Masters 1000 events in the U.S. It was good prep work for the European clay, where once again he was beyond good. He won all four clay-court events he played, culminating with a fifth French Open title, and then bagged Wimbledon once again. But this was the year when he surmounted that final obstacle—the U.S. hard court summer circuit—with his magnificent win at Flushing Meadows. That he continued to play well in the fall helped confirm the feeling that Nadal is, finally and truly, a player for all seasons and all surfaces.
See for Yourself
Although Nadal had his serve broken (for only the second time in the entire U.S. Open) in his semifinal against Mikhail Youzhny, he put on a marvelous show, trotting out all the newfound variety in his game:
The Last Word
Nadal has the entire calendar to defend this year, but what the hail, he’s more or less accustomed to that. Back when he first conquered Federer at Wimbledon and then experienced a bit of a letdown (partly due to injury), it was fair to ask if he wasn’t the kind of player who’s better when he’s doing the chasing than when he’s being chased. So much for that theory. Nadal showed in 2010 that, barring the unforeseen, he’s going to continue piling up the titles and hounding Federer. I wouldn’t worry about a letdown in 2011; Nadal is the consummate professional and he’s on a mission.
—Peter Bodo