uno!

after a nice meal with kr and mujin at avenetto in glorietta, i instinctively went to check if rafa's already sealed the number 1 ranking. and he did! you see, i was practically on my knees last night begging for him to win that match coz if he reaches the final, he'll clinch it. i guess the curse of my tuning in to live scores or watching his live matches still paints a bad luck and is continuing on, as he dropped an 8-6 final set tiebreak decision to simon. waaaaaaaaaa! good thing, roger also lost in the semis, so no more waiting till paris to determine who's going to end the year as number 1. yipeeee!

anyway, it's still good, 'no?!!! considering what he's achieved this year, he greatly deserves the number 1 ranking. he's racked up 80 wins so far, resulting to 8 titles: 4th straight roland garros crown; epic win at wimbledon, denying federer his 6th straight title; 3 masters series shield (monte carlo, hamburg and toronto); titles at london queen's club and barcelona; and the gold medal at beijing olympics. all these while also helping spain to reach this year's davis cup final against argentina.

i know a lot has been written against his grueling type of tennis. but his presence and heroic pursuits are bringing the game to a new level. even djokovic and murray are trying to achieve his disciplined musculature, sublime stamina and overall athleticism to up the ante on their quest for even greater glory. and to this day, he's the only one who's consistently provided the stumbling block to federer's dominance... it's not nice to see federer win 'em all! with his rivalry with federer, tennis has been more exciting, more focused on the game rather than personalities. his and roger's contrasting styles have provided a new standard for up-and-coming players and i think his wins have inspired other players to believe that they can beat federer and bag significant wins like what djokovic, karlovic, simon and murray did this year. even federer now thinks that he needs to improve his game, as gone are the days when he always beats all players. rafa has shown that it's never too late to work on honing your game to suit other surfaces, given that he's so at home playing on clay but has struggled at times on harcourt and on indoor carpet.

"To become No. 1 during the year was one of my goals and it is important to have achieved it. Moreover, if you finish the year as No. 1 it is even more special. I am also very happy to bring something more to Spanish sport, something for Spanish history and for our great tennis tradition." - Rafa, 18 Oct 2008.