Tennis

Top-seeded Spaniard Rafael Nadal claimed his fourth straight title at the Conde de Godo Trophy in Barcelona defeating No. 2 seed and countryman David Ferrer 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.  After converting three of five break points to secure the first set, Nadal was then faced with seven break points against him in the second set, two of which Ferrer converted to help level the match at one set all. Nadal regained command in the third set though, winning 13 points more than Ferrer and breaking serve twice to secure the title victory in 2hrs., 14mins.Nadal’s record in Barcelona now stands at 21-1. His only loss came against countryman Alex Coretja in the second round on his debut appearance in 2003. In the past three years, he has defeated Juan Carlos Ferrer, Tommy Robredo and Guillermo Canas to win the title three times. He clinched his fourth title this week with the loss of just one set, winning in straight sets against Potito Starace, Feliciano Lopez, Juan Ignacio Chela and Denis Gremelmayr.Earlier in the season, Nadal finished runner-up in Chennai and at the Sony Ericsson Open, while also recording semi-final finishes at the Australian Open and ATP Masters Series Indian Wells. World No. 5 Ferrer was contesting his second final of this season. He claimed his first title of the season, and the sixth of his career, two weeks ago in Valencia.At this moment, the up to day ATP Ranking is: Roger Federer 6775 points, Rafael Nadal 5930, Novak Djokovic 4750, Nikolay  Davydenko 3440, David Ferrer 2780, Andy Roddick 2260, David Nalbandian 2110, James Blake 1965, Richard Gasquet 1690 and Tomas Berdych 1615.         And the ATP 2008 Race is: Rafael Nadal 409 points, Novak Djokovic 376, Roger Federer 265, Nikolay  Davydenko 260, David Ferrer 188, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 177, Andy Roddick 168, Nicolas Almagro 156, James Blake 156, David Nalbandian 141.       Another of the Rafael Nadal’s records on clay courts are his 103 wins and only 1 defeat.

It was in 1953 when Carlos Godo Valls, the ‘Conde De Godo’ gave the trophy for a new international championship, in the opening of the new Real Club de Tenis Barcelona-1899 site in Pedralbes. The new international championships followed the tradition of several past tournaments since 1903. The first edition was played from July 3rd to 7th, and American Vic Seixas was the first winner.  In 1954 after the international success of first edition, the ‘Conde De Godo’ Trophy changes its dates to join the European clay-court season. In 1960 and due to it’s increasing success, the building of a new centre court is necessary, which can hold 3,000 spectators. The opening ceremony coincides with first ever-Spanish victory, when Andres Gimeno -from RCT Barcelona-1899- achieves the title with a victory over Giuseppe Merlo of Italy and in 1961 Australian Roy Emerson captures the first of three singles titles winning the final over rising young Spanish star Manolo Santana. In 1967 the centre court is known as the “talisman court” thanks to the Spanish Davis Cup team success, and it enlarges its capacity up to 8,500 spectators. In 1968 the ‘Conde De Godo’ trophy becomes the International Championships of Spain, after the agreement with the Spanish Tennis Federation. 11 Spanish players have win at least once the trophy being Manolo Santana and Rafael Nadal the most relevant winners.Roy Emerson, Ilie Nastase, Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lend and Mats Wilander are also important international players that also win this tournament.

The Open Sabadell Atlantico Barcelona 2008 “56º Trofeo Conde de Godo” to be played at RCT Barcelona from Saturday 24^th April to Sunday 4^th May is set to feature four of the top seven ranked ATP players, headed by Rafael Nadal, winner of the past three editions of the event as well as the last three Roland Garros titles. Nadal is aiming to become the first player ever to win four titles in Barcelona.
Joining Rafael Nadal are some of the world’s greatest players, including Nikolay Davydenko from Russia, Tennis Masters Cup finalist David Ferrer from Spain and David Nalbandian from Argentina. The 43 players entered also include the likes of local favourite Tommy Robredo, Guillermo Cañas from Argentina, Marcos Baghdatis from Cyprus, Carlos Moya and Ivo Karlovic from Croatia, one of the fastest rising players on the circuit. Spain will once again be the best-representation nation in the draw, with a total of 11 players directly accepted into the draw according to their ranking. Nicolas Almagro,  winner of early season clay court events in Costa do Sauipe and Acapulco, will be joined by Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, Albert Montañes, Guillermo Garcia Lopez, Oscar Hernandez and Santiago Ventura. Other players who will also attend the Godo Tournament will be Stanislas Wawrinka from Switzerland, Potito Starace and Filippo Volandri from Italy and Agustin Calleri from Argentina. The definitive list of the 43 players to be directly accepted into the draw will be known few days prior to the start of the competition.Capacity of the central court has been increased up to 7,800 seats and total amount of prizes is almost one million Euro.

Tennis in France has been very important for many years now and the French Open Tennis is an event every player wishes in his/her wildest dreams to win.
Also known as Tournoi de Roland Garros, the spans over two weeks between end May and early June at the Stade de Roland Garros in Paris. Scheduled as the second Grand Slam of the annual calendar year and the supreme clay court tournament in the world, the French Open Tennis began in the year 1891 with the name Championat de France International de Tennis, the women got to participate in 1897 and it was only in 1912 that the clay court was introduced instead of lawn tennis. Playing on the clay court is really different ball game and requires special talent to play the game, let alone winning it. Many great players have struggled to make it here while they have been champions on grass. Strange as it might sound, Pete Sampras, the winner of a walloping fourteen Grand Slam singles titles, Roger Federer, the present first seed, and Jimmy Connors have won each and every other Grand Slam singles title except the French Open. On the other side, players like Rafael Nadal, Gustavo Kuerten and Juan Carlos Ferrero have French Open Tennis and rarely any other Grand Slam.
From 25^th May to 8^th June seven different tennis categories will be present at Roland Garros courts: Senior Men and Women Singles, Doubles and  Mixed Double. Junior Boy and Girl Singles. Participants among the leading female tennis players taking part in the event mention can be made of names like Justine Henin, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic, Maria Sharapova, Anna Chakvetadze, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Daniela Hantuchová and Marion Bartoli and among the male players there are also some of the illustrious names like Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Davydenko, Ferrer, Roddick, Gonzalez, Nalbandian and Robredo.

The ninth annual Laureus World Sports Awards was held in St Petersburg, Russia, on February 18, 2008. The Awards Ceremony, televised to a worldwide TV audience, was staged at The Mariinsky Theatre Concert Hall.
The Laureus World Sports Awards Ceremony brings together sporting celebrities past and present to honour the great achievements of the sports stars of today and is also a platform to showcase the work of the Laureus Sport Foundation, an humanitarian programme that operates on every continent and has improved the lives of over 150,000 young people since its inception.
Swiss tennis star Roger Federer was named Laureus Sportsman of the Year for the fourth straight time at the 2008 Awards ceremony after another superb year, which saw him once again win three Grand Slam in the season.
Tennis was the biggest winner in Saint Petersburg as Belgium’s Justine Henin won the Sportswoman of the Year award and Holland’s Esther Vergeer, the greatest wheelchair tennis star of all-time, took away the Laureus Disability trophy for the second time.
Two of the biggest names in British sport also have their hands on Laureus as Lewis Hamilton won the Breakthrough of the Year award after his remarkable debut season in Formula One, while long distance runner Paula Radcliffe had the Comeback of the Year award.

There has been many changes in the Top 10 ATP Rankings over the past four years. Players have come and gone, some bursting on the scene as a teenager while others have retired after an outstanding career.
But one ranking position has remained constant occupied by Roger Federer. Last weekend Federer reached the four year anniversary mark as the No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings.
It was Feb. 2, 2004 when the Swiss superstar claimed the top position in men’s tennis after winning his second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.
For four years, or 210 weeks, Federer has been the only player to remain a constant fixture in the Top 10.
During Federer’s incredible streak at No. 1, the longest in professional tennis,
he has won 41 titles, including 13 ATP Masters Series and 10 Grand Slam crowns. Only another player has obtained excellent results but not comparable with Swiss performance - Rafael Nadal who with 23 titles, including 2 Grand Slams crows, has scaled from No. 40 four years ago to No. 2 of the ATP Ranking where the Spanish still remains and will try to be closer from the Swiss as soon as important events on clay commence – Monte Carlo, Barcelona (Godo), Rome, Hamburg and Roland Garros where Nadal feels very comfortable.