gold

he's been number 2 for the longest time (record 160 consecutive weeks), so there's no other way for him but to go up even higher. and he did! rafa's the new number 1, officially toppling roger yesterday. to top it all off, he won the gold medal in beijing olympics! spain has had a tennis medal in every olympiad since tennis' re-inception in 1988, but this was their first gold ever... el toro golden-ed spain's tennisdom! what a year for him so far. i hope that he plays well to end the year as number 1. the season is still far from their year-end extravaganza in shanghai, so rafa still needs to wield out those wheels and muscle his way out of the u.s. open, a host of european indoor carpet tourneys, as well as prepare for davis cup. vamos!

"Nowhere in my best dreams I can imagine something
like what I did this year," - Rafael Nadal, Beijing, 17 August, 2008.