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Djokovic Beats Nadal on Clay; Can Become #1 With One More Tournament Win
Serbian Tennis Great Novak Djokovic on Fire
On Sunday, Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic beat Rafael Nadal 7-5, 6-4 in the men's finals match of the 2011 Madrid Open.
The impressive victory represented a number of important things. It was the first time in 10 tries that Djokovic beat Nadal on clay. It marked Djokovic's 32nd straight win of the season. It ended Nadal's 32-match win streak on clay. It marked Djokovic's 3rd straight defeat of Nadal in finals matches this season.
"Under the circumstances I was playing an unbelievable match. ... I stepped onto the court today believing I could win. I needed to be aggressive and it was a great match," said Djokovic.
Nadal was gracious in his defeat, admitting that Djokovic is having a great season and played a better match.
"I came up against a great player obviously -- he's having a monster year," said Nadal. "He was better, you have to accept that."
Djokovic is now just one tournament win away from surpassing Nadal in the rankings and becoming the first player other than Nadal or Roger Federer to be ranked #1 since 2004.
If Djokovic wins this week's Italian Open and Nadal fails to reach the semi-finals of the event, then Djokovic will earn the #1 spot.
Nadal says that, if Djokovic keeps playing like he has been playing, it is only a matter of time before he earns the #1 spot.
"The No. 1 ranking is not in danger -- it's finished. Let's not lie to ourselves, that's the reality," said Nadal. "Nobody likes to lose. I have to see what's missing and working with a cool, open mind to decipher things and find the solutions. To try to do a little better next time."
Djokovic knows that he will have to put in the work to get to that spot though.
"If I want to reach No. 1, I will have to play consistently well because that's what Rafa and the other players will do," said Djokovic. "I'm playing the best tennis of my career -- I'm probably one of the favorites [at Roland Garros]."
On Monday, when the new world rankings in tennis were released, no American man or woman was in the top 10 for the first time in the 38 year history of the rankings.
(Sources: ESPN.com, Associated Press)
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