After receiving the ATP tour trophy for the number-one ranked player, Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal said that the ranking is an achievement for his performances in the entire year.
Nadal had replaced Serbia’s Novak Djokovic as the number one player on November 4 this year. The Spaniard had a stellar season on the court this year as he captured two Grand Slam titles and two ATP Masters 1000s titles.
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Among Grand Slams, Nadal managed to win French Open and US Open. He has compiled a 53-7 match record in 2019.
“This trophy is an achievement for all year round, so personally today I cannot thank you all enough for all the support for this match today and all the time I have been playing here in London”, Atptour.com quoted Nadal as saying.
“It’s very difficult to describe the feeling when you are on the court, when you walk on and you feel the support and the love from that many people. So just thank you very much, everybody, all around,” he added.
The 33-year-old Nadal is the oldest player to finish the year as the number one ranked tennis star in the history of the ATP rankings since 1973.
He is also the first player to hold, lose and regain the year-end number one spot four times. He is also the first player to finish at the top spot five times in non-consecutive years.
“I am super happy. Honestly, after all the things that I went through in my career, in terms of injury, I never thought that at the age of 33 and a half, I would have this trophy in my hands again. So it’s something really, really emotional for me,” Nadal said.
“A lot of work goes on in the shadows to be where we are today. And without all my family, who are here next to me, this would be impossible. I just want to say thank you very, very much everyone for the support,” he added.
This is the 16th time in a row that the year-end top spot has been held by a member of the ‘Big Four’ comprising of Nadal, Roger Federer, Djokovic or Andy Murray.
(ANI)