Nadal's Challenge
Tennis legend Bjorn Borg never won the U.S. Open, but he did win four straight French Open titles and five straight Wimbledon titles – even winning both titles three consecutive years! In 2008, Rafael Nadal also won the French Open and Wimbledon titles, as well as the Olympic Gold Medal in Beijing. However, Nadal arrived at the 2008 U.S. Open seemingly exhausted again from having played so much and so well from April
through the 2008 Beijing Olympics in late August. The tennis schedule is very long and tiring on the players, but Nadal’s challenge seems to be what Borg faced decades ago which is to be able to win the U.S. Open after winning titles at the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season. Clearly, it’s a difficult task and although Nadal reached the semis for the first time at the 2008 U.S. Open, Rafa was not the same player who won at Roland Garros and Wimbledon earlier in the year. Nadal has improved his hard court game over the past couple years and therefore, he is a definite contender for both the Australian Open and U.S. Open titles. However, it seems more likely that Rafa could win the Australian and French in the same year or the French and U.S. Open or Wimbledon and U.S. Open. It would still seem very unlikely that Nadal, or any other player, could win the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open in the same season, i.e. almost a calendar year Grand Slam… it’s possible, but would be very daunting for even the most talented, strong and dedicated of tennis pros.
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