Spain’s Rafael Nadal has clinched the 2013 year end number one ranking. The 28 year old, who also held the top spot at the end of 2008 and 2010, achieved the feat by beating Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6, 7-6 in his second match at the ATP WTF in London.
Nadal did not get the number one ranking easily. Wawrinka pushed him all the way in a tight match, his backhand and net play threatening at times to overwhelm the defensive Nadal. But at the crucial stages of both sets, Nadal played more aggressively, particularly on his forehand.
A clearly tired Nadal was jubilant after taking the match, the year end number one confirming what we all knew: no one played better than Nadal in 2013.
Majors in Paris and NYC, five masters titles in Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome, Montreal and Cincinnati, and titles in Barcelona, Sao Paulo and Acapulco, and head to head leads over main rivals Federer and Djokovic mean it will go down as one of the great number one seasons regardless of his first round Wimbledon defeat.
The next task for the Spaniard is to win his first WTF title. There would be no better way to punctuate the great comeback 2013 has been.
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