The reign of Spain

Localisation · Top 10

Citation :: Spain is the dominant country in tennis these days. From world #2 Rafael Nadal to Spain’s 11 players ranked in the Top 100, the land of Cervantes has no quixotic quest for success in men’s tennis.

Players of the Week:

Justine Henin won her 8th title of 2007. Virginie Razzano saved multiple match points in defeating Venus Williams in the finals of the women's Japan Open. On the men's side, David Ferrer increased his chances at qualifying for the Masters Cup by defeating Richard Gasquet (who is also making a charge toward Shanghai).

Tommy Robredo defeated a rejuvenated Andrew Murray to take the title Moselle, France. Robredo is now in the 8th and final slot of the Masters Cup standings. 2007 has more computer points to be won, but Ferrer, Robredo and Gasquet are all making serious moves toward the year end championships.

Ferrer and Robredo winning tournaments this week in non-clay court events speaks to Spain's ascension in the tennis world.

The Early 1990's: Spain's Rise

Sergei Bruguera lost to Jim Courier on clay at the 1992 and 1993 Italian Open events. Each match was a routine straight set victory for Courier. The two most important clay court matches for these two men still loomed. Both reached the French Open final in 1993 just a few weeks after Courier beat Bruguera in Rome. Bruguera won 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 and prevented Courier from winning his 3rd consecutive French Open title. In 1994, Bruguera and Courier met again in the French Open semifinals. Once again Courier came up short with Bruguera winning 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

This set up a Grand Slam final that foretold the future of clay court tennis: Bruguera vs. Alberto Berasategui. Both men were from Spain and Bruguera prevailed 6-3, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1.

The Late 1990's: Spanish Expansion

1997 opened with a bang for Spain's Carlos Moya. The youngster defeated defending champion Boris Becker in the 1st round of the Australian Open 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4. He kept winning and reached the semifinals where Moya defeated then world #2 Michael Chang 7-5, 6-2, 6-4.

Moya's magic run ended with a straight set loss to Pete Sampras in the Australian Open final, but a Spaniard in a non-clay court Grand Slam final was a major step. Sergei Bruguera continued Spain's runner-up year in 1997 by losing in the French Open final to Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil in straight sets.

1998 was Spain and Carlos Moya's year at the French Open. Moya reached the final in Paris by defeating countrymen Felix Mantilla in a 4 set semifinal. Moya then met Alex Corretja, also of Spain, in the final.

Moya defeated Corretja 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 in a wind swept match. Moya's solid year continued with a 4 set semifinal loss at the 1998 U.S. Open. Corretja upset Pete Sampras in the semifinals of the 1998 ATP World Championships (now the Masters Cup) only to face Moya again in the final.

Two Spaniards in the final round of a fast indoor court event whose draw was made up of the top 8 players in the world was a sign of dominance indeed. Corretja prevailed 3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-5. Moya briefly assumed the #1 ranking in early 1999 establishing another first for Spain before a stress fracture in his lower back derailed his dominance.
Given Moya's early success in Melbourne, New York, and on indoor courts and given his current top 20 ranking despite being 31 years old, it is not unreasonable to think had his back not gone bad in 1999 that Moya might have been a dominant #1.

2000-2004: 2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back

Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten ruled clay in 2000 and 2001, but Spain was still in the mix. Kuerten defeated a young Spaniard named Juan-Carlos Ferrero in the semifinals of both the 2000 and 2001 French Opens.

Kuerten also defeated Corretja in 4 sets in the final to claim the 2001 French Open title. Kuerten's bad hip opened the door for Spain to reclaim the top prize in Paris in 2002.

The Spaniards took advantage as Albert Costa of Spain defeated Corretja in the French Open semifinals and then upset Juan-Carlos Ferrero in the final. For the second time, Spain produced 3 of the 4 semifinalists at the French Open.

2003 was a banner year for Juan-Carlos Ferrero. He opened the year with a quarterfinal run at the Australian Open. Ferrero then won the French Open, defeating Costa along the way, and established himself as the top clay court player in the world. Ferrero reached the U.S. Open final by defeating Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi on hard courts consecutively.

Andy Roddick routed Ferrero in the final, but Juan-Carlos became the second Spaniard to attain the #1 ranking. While Ferrero finished 2003 #3 in the world, he did finish the year with the best record in Grand Slam play (20-2) and 3 Masters Series shields. To my mind, Ferrero had a better 2003 than either Roddick or Federer even if the computer said otherwise.

Ferrero reached the 2004 Australian Open semifinals before chicken pox, injured ribs and a dip in confidence led to a career decline that may never reverse itself.

Spain also took home the 2000 and 2004 Davis Cup crowns. In 2000, Australia was Spain's victim on clay. Juan-Carlos Ferrero delivered 2 points to Spain in defeating Patrick Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt. In 2004, the U.S. lost to Spain, and Calros Moya was the ace.
Moya defeated Mardy Fish and Roddick in order to deliver Spain 2 points. Little known Rafael Nadal defeated Roddick for Spain's other point. Nadal was only 18 years old and demonstrated a lot of nerve in beating world #2 Roddick just months after Roddick humiliated Nadal at the U.S. Open.

2005-Present: Nadal & the Armada

While Bruguera, Costa and Corretja have retired, Spain is a bigger force in men's tennis now than it ever has been. Rafael Nadal is a large part of this dominance. Rafa has won 3 consecutive titles at Monte Carlo, Rome and the French Open. Nadal set the all time clay court winning streak at 81 matches! Rafa also has spent over 2 consecutive years ranked #2 in the world.

Nadal's 81 match winning streak on clay includes 6 victories over Roger Federer. There is much more to Nadal than his clay court acumen. Nadal is the toughest competitor on the men's tour. He has two runner-up finishes at Wimbledon including an instant classic 5 set loss to Federer this year.
Nadal owns 10 Masters Series titles placing him (for now) as the 4th all-time best Masters Series player behind Agassi, Federer and Sampras.

Beyond Nadal, veterans Carlos Moya and Juan-Carlos Ferrero are still posting positive results. Moya was a quarterfinalist at the French and U.S. Opens and has reached 3 tournament finals in 2007 including a win in Croatia. Ferrero reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals this year.

David Ferrer reached the U.S. Open semifinals in 2007 while Tommy Robredo reached the quarterfinals of the 2007 Australian and French Opens. Nicholas Almagro is easily one of the most dangerous clay court players in the world. Fernando Verdasco is a talented and dangerous shot maker. Feliciano Lopez pushed Federer hard for 2 sets at the U.S. Open this year.

All told, Spain has produced 11 of the current top 100 players in the world. Nadal is #2, Ferrer #8, Robredo #9, Moya #15, and Ferrero #23 giving Spain 30% of the current top 10 and 20% of the current top 25 in the world. In 2007 alone, Spain was the home of 2 Australian Open quarterfinalists, 3 French Open quarterfinalists including the champion, 2 Wimbledon quarterfinalists including the runner-up and 2 U.S. Open quarterfinalists. Therefore, Spain produced at least 25% of the quarterfinalists at each of the Grand Slam events in 2007.

Clay is no longer the only surface where Spain reigns. Nadal dominated Andy Roddick on a hard court in California in March, and in August Ferrer beat Roddick in straight sets on a hard court in Cincinnati. Ferrer and Robredo just won events on outdoor and indoor hard courts this past week. In the past 15 years, Spain has produced 8 French Open champions, 5 French Open runner-ups, 2 players that attained the #1 ranking, 2 Davis Cup titles and 4 runner-up finishes at the non-clay court Grand Slam events.

Soon, Spain will produce a hard or grass court Grand Slam title, and the dominance will be complete. Until then, the Spanish Armada will continue to assault the ATP Tour. After, the Spanish will move from Armada to Empire.

Source: Across The Net

Credit montage: Moi

Localisation · Gagne son premier titre

Pour moi c'est L'Espagne^^ sans rancune arabem je sais pertinament que ton petit Richard compte beaucoup à tes yeux^^ :smiling:

Localisation · Administrateur

j'ai mis l'espagne mais franchement ça m'a fait mal qd même...

parc'que très honêtement, la Russie et les USA mérite autant le "titre"...
pour moi les trois se talonnent, avec peut etre en fait un leger avantage pr la Russie... ouais j'aurais dû voter Russie (gros oubli amelle dans le sondage... Rolling Eyes

) !! j'ai étais trop sympa !! disturbed

Localisation · Moderateur

L'espagne sans aucune hésitation ça fait des années qu'ils ont des joueurs et beaucoup parmi les meilleurs qui vont loin dans les tournois et qui gagnent pas mal de titre ... pour moi c'est tout a fait mérité

Nadal, Ferrero, Bruguera, Costa, Moya ont gagné un GC

Ceux la même plus, Robredo, Corretjs ont gagné des MS ou ont participé aux masters... il n'y en a pas qu'un ils osnt plusieurs ce qui fait d'elle unenation forte en tennis ...et c'est souvent la nation la mieux representée dansles tournois

Localisation · Top 10

LaRa a écrit:: j'ai mis l'espagne mais franchement ça m'a fait mal qd même...

parc'que très honêtement, la Russie et les USA mérite autant le "titre"...
pour moi les trois se talonnent, avec peut etre en fait un leger avantage pr la Russie... ouais j'aurais dû voter Russie (gros oubli amelle dans le sondage... ) !! j'ai étais trop sympa !!

Putain ce que je suis con je savais que j'avais oublié qq chose The reign of Spain 189714

c pour ça que j'avais mis 'autres' The reign of Spain 189714

bref autres= la russie ok les gens? Laughing

Localisation · Top 10

Tezuka a écrit:: L'espagne sans aucune hésitation ça fait des années qu'ils ont des joueurs et beaucoup parmi les meilleurs qui vont loin dans les tournois et qui gagnent pas mal de titre ... pour moi c'est tout a fait mérité

Nadal, Ferrero, Bruguera, Costa, Moya ont gagné un GC

Ceux la même plus, Robredo, Corretjs ont gagné des MS ou ont participé aux masters... il n'y en a pas qu'un ils osnt plusieurs ce qui fait d'elle unenation forte en tennis ...et c'est souvent la nation la mieux representée dansles tournois

C'est exactement ce que je pense je ne vois rien a ajouter Wink

L'article reflète bien mon opinion également

Localisation · Administrateur

J'ai voté Spain ds mon objectivité la plus totale et impartiale smokin

Localisation · Administrateur

Je revote Spain parce que quand on voit la majorité des gens en quarts à Bercy ba je dis smokin

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